MFA in Art & Social Practice

The Art & Social Practice MFA program at Sam Houston State University welcomes applications for entry in August 2024. The three-year MFA program supports artist and cultural producers who wish to explore the social role of art and engage with interdisciplinary, collaborative, process-based, and community-based strategies. The curriculum is designed position students in leadership roles across mediums and disciplines to create artistic, conceptual, and educational projects with community partners. The SHSU Center for Community Engagement assists students with forging community partnerships. The program also prepares students to teach in higher education and offers Graduate Assistantships and Graduate Teaching Assistantships to qualified students who apply by January 2024.

Visiting artists
The program hosts a social practice artist-in-residence to engage students and communities. The Spring 2023 Social Practice AIR was Mark Menjívar. National and international professional artists and curators are also invited to lecture and conduct studio visits with MFA students. Past visiting artists have included Jon Rubin (Carnegie Mellon), Tanja Peterson (RedBud Art Center), Ashley DeHoyos (DiverseWorks), and Rachel Adams (Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts). Students also visit and engage non profit art organizations in the area including Project Row Houses, Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, and Galveston Artist Residency.

Facilities
MFA students are provided with individual private studios in the Natural Science and Art Research Center (NSARC). The NSARC is located off campus, near downtown Huntsville in the former Huntsville High School building. The 1937 building was renovated in 2021 to include graduate studios, galleries, and community meeting rooms for students to conduct classes, workshops, and meet with community organizations. The building also houses SHSU’s collection of Natural History specimens and museum. MFA students also have access to and use of the facilities in the new 75000 sq. ft. Dana G. Hoyt Fine Arts Building. Built in 2019, the Hoyt Art Building has state of the art ventilation, studios, equipment, and digital labs for sculpture, photography, printmaking, animation, and graphic design.

Core faculty in the Art & Social Practice MFA program: Rebecca Finley (Department Chair), Jody Wood (Coordinator), Lucas Murgida, Jess Simorte, Melissa Mednicov, and Michael Henderson. Students also have opportunities to work with additional faculty in the Department of Art in studio art, photography, animation, education, and graphic design.

Application
Scholarships are available from the University, the College of Arts and Media, and the Department of Art. Out of state and international students may be eligible for in state tuition. The Assistantships and Scholarships offered offset the cost of tuition and make SHSU’s MFA in Art & Social Practice an affordable program. The priority deadline to be considered for competitive funding is January 15, 2024. We welcome applicants with a BFA in any art media, or a BA in another discipline if the applicant demonstrates a track record of interdisciplinary creative research. For more information on the program, available scholarships, and how to apply online, visit shsu.edu, or contact Jody Wood, jodywood [​at​] shsu.edu with questions.