Register to attend info sessions via Zoom December 3 and January 7 12–1pm CST. Application deadline for fall 2023 admission: February 1. For more information or inquiries, please contact visualart [at] ku.edu.
The Department of Visual Art offers a fully funded, three-year long MFA program and typically admits 7-8 students per year. We provide emerging artists with continuous feedback from a critically engaged faculty cohort through graduate seminars, professional development workshops, graduate-level coursework, paid teaching assistantships, visiting artist lectures, studio visits, exhibitions, and opportunities to engage a robust arts community in Lawrence, the greater Kansas City region and beyond. As an interdisciplinary community, we believe in the inextricable tie between diversity and excellence, and we are committed to creating an equitable, hospitable, and inclusive educational environment. Applicants with diverse viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply.
We encourage expansive, interdisciplinary, and individualized approaches to art making and expression, while attuning students to the critical, philosophical, and technical conditions that shape the vital landscape of art making today. Graduate students are encouraged to work with faculty across the University of Kansas in any field of choice while they work within and across several concentration areas in the Department of Visual Art including Ceramics, Textiles & Fibers, Metalsmithing & Jewelry, Printmaking, Drawing & Painting, Sculpture, and Expanded Media.
Facilities & resources
MFA students have 24-hour access to private studios while utilizing a rich network of facilities, staff technicians, and graduate faculty that integrate knowledge of deep material traditions with emerging technologies and new artistic strategies. As a Research One institution, the resources for graduate students at the University of Kansas expand beyond our department, including funding for research and travel opportunities, access to the collection of the Spencer Museum of Art, and many other forms of institutional support.
Teaching opportunities
Graduate students receive unique opportunities to train as future art educators and are eligible to teach undergraduate level courses as an instructor of record. MFA students gain valuable teaching experience while developing strong portfolios of student work as well as receiving mentorship, feedback, and support from Graduate Faculty.
Funding & financial aid
All 1st year students receive a full scholarship covering tuition and fees with additional funding to support cost of living expenses. 2nd and 3rd year students who are eligible to work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant receive a full tuition waiver, access to health insurance and a stipend.
Graduate faculty: Marshall Maude, Department chair, Associate Professor, Ceramics / Sarah Gross, Graduate Director, Associate Professor, Ceramics / Norman Akers, Associate Professor, Drawing & Painting / Shawn Bitters, Associate Professor, Printmaking / Sunyoung Cheong, Visiting Assistant Professor, Metalsmithing & Jewelry / Steve Gurysh, Associate Professor, Sculpture / Rashawn Griffin, Assistant Professor, Sculpture / Jon Havener, Professor, Metalsmithing & Jewelry / Luke Jordan, Lecturer & Academic Program Associate / Mary Anne Jordan, Professor, Textiles & Fiber / Michael Krueger, Professor, Drawing & Painting / Michael McCaffrey, Teaching Professor, Drawing & Painting / Yoonmi Nam, Professor, Printmaking / Benjamin Rosenthal, Associate Professor, Expanded Media / Maria Velasco, Professor, Expanded Media / Gina Westergard, Professor, Metalsmithing & Jewelry .
