Studio Arts, M.F.A.

The Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art is a two-year full-residency program enrolling a maximum of 20 students. Built around a core of interdisciplinary research, students work with committed faculty and fellow students; dialogue with visiting artists and scholars; seminars in contemporary theory and issues; participate in exhibitions and public projects, and international travel opportunities. Students are fully supported in a range of production disciplines ranging from studio, performance, sound, social practice, activism, and more. We support each student as they consider the multiple ways art can live in and impact the world.

New Scholarship Opportunity

Beginning with the 2021-22 Academic year, the faculty of the School of Art will direct a significant part of available scholarship funds to redress longstanding and systemic exclusions from higher education, and by extension, access to and representation in the arts and culture industry. The School of Art will recognize two outstanding applicants with $5,000 scholarships in both years of their two-year MFA. Priority will be given to applicants who show promise within the field and come from backgrounds historically underrepresented in higher education in art and the art professoriate, including but not limited to Black or African American, Hispanic or Latina/o/x, Native American and/or Indigenous communities, Asian/Southeast Asian, and people with disabilities.

Support and Opportunities

Nearly all students in the MFA program have Graduate Assistantship positions in the woodshop, sculpture yard, print shop, assisting faculty, or working with local Arts institutions such as the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Students can apply to teach a course as Instructor of Record in their final year, and currently, 3 to 4 students are selected to teach each year. Through a combination of scholarships, tuition waivers, and Assistantship stipends, most students in recent years have been fully supported throughout their two years in the program.

Program Distinctions

UNCG is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

The Student Experience

Greensboro Community
The city of Greensboro is home to multiple universities that contribute to a rich, diverse community made up of progressive and creative people from all over the world. The future and the past collide in ways that spur art practices with social and political impact. There is also great coffee, micro-brews, food, music, and literature in a lively downtown.

Studios and Facilities
Students have 24/7 access to their individual studios and are encouraged to take advantage of the Gatewood Studio Art Building’s extensive workspaces dedicated to sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and digital media. Our curriculum is designed to provide plenty of studio time for the development of independent artwork. Students take seminar/theory courses and have interdisciplinary opportunities with graduate students across the College of Visual and Performing Arts, working with fellow students from Dance, Music, Theatre, Education, Public History, and more.

Making Connections: Institutions and Visiting Artists
Graduate students are encouraged to take advantage of programs and exhibition opportunities at the Weatherspoon Art Museum and Greensboro Project Space (GPS). The Weatherspoon is one of the Southeast’s premier University museums, with an outstanding permanent collection of 20th and 21st century artworks, and an ambitious program of contemporary exhibitions. GPS is a large public project space in downtown Greensboro, operated by the School of Art, with endless opportunities for graduates to experiment.

Both institutions contribute to the amazing artists UNCG brings to Greensboro to engage with our MFA Program, including Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Sanford Biggers, Jon Rubin, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Pablo Helguera, Steve Lambert, Catherine Murphy, Peter Campus, Danica Phelps, Yoshua Okón, Fritz Haeg, Janine Antoni, Richard Mosse, and more.

Additionally, just down the street you can get involved and meet practicing artists from around the world, at Elsewhere Collaborative, a museum and artist residency set in a 3-floor, former thrift store.

Weatherspoon Art Museum
http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu

Greensboro Project Space
http://www.greensboroprojectspace.com

Elsewhere Collaborative
http://www.goelsewhere.org

After Graduation

The graduate-level work encompasses a broad range of practices, aesthetic issues, personal explorations, and technical approaches. Graduates of the program are well-prepared to be successful in a wide variety of art related disciplines.