Call for applications fall 2025

The MA in Curatorial Practice at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) is now accepting applications for fall 2025. SVA is one of the largest art schools in the US, our students come from around the world, having studied many different subjects, and our program is a two-year master’s degree (not just a certificate) that focuses on every practical aspect of curatorial work toward your professional success, case studies concentrating on specific forms of curating, along with studies in art history, exhibition history, theory, philosophy, archival work, and collections management that bring context to your curatorial thinking and your fully acquired technical skills. Located in New York City, minutes from hundreds of art galleries and several of the world’s major museums, our program provides students with the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the art world, with thousands of artists’ studios nearby and the immensely rich cultural life of the city at our doorstep.

You’ll be taught in small seminars by leading curators who teach what they do at major institutions in New York, while every week for two years, you’ll meet online and in person with curators and artists from around the world, not only gaining a vast range of knowledge about every practical and conceptual aspect of curating firsthand from generations of international curators but also building a professional network that is unparalleled in its range and that can lead to prestigious work placements and projects during and after your time in the program. All of our faculty are distinguished curators and experts, and they form a group of teachers that is truly exceptional in the field of curatorial education worldwide.

We think of curating as a form of making, bringing practical knowledge and hands-on training to bear as you make not one but several exhibitions, all of them subsidized by our program. These shows have public openings and take place in our own gallery and in various industrial spaces in Brooklyn in order to teach you how to work in any environment, not just a white cube museum space, better preparing you to work wherever the opportunity arises.

As part of the program, you get to travel on a subsidized trip to a major international biennial, followed by a summer internship at a hand-picked prestigious cultural institution across the globe. By the time you finish the program, you’ll have had intense studies and practice in the core forms of curatorial work; professional practice workshops; writing workshops; and the production of a professional essay and catalogue—with attention to social activism and justice so urgent in our current times (see our book What About Activism?). As part of this, you will also have the chance to write for a professional publication to add to your resumé, as the focus of all of our practical, hands-on training and study in small classes is to be hired as a professional when you graduate. Our graduates are hired by major museums, corporate collections, private collections, auction houses, commercial galleries, leading international biennials, and more.

We are dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we offer substantial scholarships to study with us. Please visit our website to learn more about our faculty and courses, and you can apply directly here. On December 12, join us online for an Application Q&A. Join us for an Information Session about the program on January 11. Attendees to either of these events have their $80 application fee waived. If you want to visit us, just call +1 212 592 2274 or email macp [at] sva.edu! We look forward to your application.