The Ohio State University
Department of Art
College of Arts and Sciences
258 Hopkins Hall
128 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1319
Our three-year collaborative MFA program offers its students an opportunity to extend and deepen their studio practices within the expanded context of a research university. The Art Department community is comprised of roughly 45 graduate students, 22 outstanding faculty, numerous supportive staff anda large group of undergraduate art students. U.S. News and World Report ranks our MFA program #4 nationally among public institutions and #18 among all schools.
MFA students develop their practices within and beyond the context of studio areas, including art and technology, ceramics, glass, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The curriculum balances intensive studio-based coursework with university electives. Each semester, cross-disciplinary review committees offer critical dialogue between the student and faculty from different disciplines and practices.
The vast majority of our students are fully funded by Graduate Assistantships. Funding is awarded on a competitive basis once a student is admitted to our program. GA responsibilities include teaching courses, assisting courses, assisting in labs and working in the galleries associated with the Arts Initiative.
Recently renovated facilities: Hopkins Hall houses painting & drawing, printmaking, art & technology, photography, and ceramics as well as the Hopkins Hall Gallery. The Sherman Art Center houses sculpture and glass area classrooms, studios, equipment and exhibition space. The Studio for Art and Design Research is one of the many shared labs and research facilities for our students.
Many co-sponsored visits and talks by artists, critics and curators have occurred in this past year alone. Visitors from 2013–14 include: Glenn Ligon, Lucy Lippard, Michelle Grabner, Stan Douglas, Sarah Oppenheimer, Anthony Huberman, Nina Katchadourian and Mira Schor.
Co-sponsorships between the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Department of Art’s Living Culture Initiative (a program developed by Art faculty Michael Mercil, and Ann Hamilton), and the Department of History of Art’s Curatorial Practices Initiative, among others, make this rich program of visiting artists and scholars possible. Department of Art areas and clubs support additional visitors.
Besides its own rich cultural resources, Columbus, a city of over one million people,is located within six hours of several significant urban centers including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Last year, our MFA candidates took a day trip to visit Pittsburgh’s art venues including the Carnegie International, Warhol Museum and Mattress Factory. The international programming of the world-renowned Wexner Center for the Arts of The Ohio State University brings the world to Columbus.
