Southern Methodist University
Owen Fine Arts Center
6101 Bishop Blvd
Dallas, TX 75275
The MFA program offered by the Division of Art at SMU is a two-year program that prepares artists for professional careers as cultural producers. Students who earn the MFA in Art develop a substantial body of work of high quality and have a clear intellectual grasp of the broad contexts within which they and their work function. The degree is an intensive period of focused study, terminating with the MFA qualifying exhibition.
SMU offers up to six full fellowships each year supplemented by teaching assistantships. Funds are also available for supplies and travel. This generous bulwark of support is offered to aid students in the development of their art practice so that they can begin their careers unencumbered by debt.
The MFA program is interdisciplinary so that students are free to explore a wide range of materials, processes and histories. Each year, the most competitive, ambitious and thoughtful artists are admitted—regardless of medium.
In addition to a core faculty with rigorous practices of their own, SMU’s Division of Art hosts an ongoing series of lectures and panels by an exciting group of artists, critics and curators. This series of discursive events is not only a crucial part of the graduate and undergraduate curriculum, it also provides a space for the Dallas community to engage with art and ideas.
Visitors have included:
Doug Ashford, Julie Ault, Yael Bartana, Walead Beshty, Gregg Bordowitz, Tania Bruguera, Dan Byers, David Diao, Nicole Eisenman, Theaster Gates, K8 Hardy, Alfredo Jaar, Guillermo Kuitca, Jill Magid, Ute Meta Bauer, Thomas Nozkowski, Paul Pfeiffer, R.H. Quaytman, Walid Raad, Michael Smith, A. L. Steiner, and Nato Thompson.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex offers an exciting array of world-class institutions and collections, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Kimbell Art Museum, The Warehouse, and the Power Station.
Each year a series of programs are offered off campus, including the MFA Site Seminar, a week-long retreat held alternately in an international location and on the SMU campus in Taos, New Mexico. These intensive sessions are run by faculty along with visiting artists or scholars. In 2014, students visited SOMA in Mexico City, meeting with Yoshua Okón, Minerva Cuevas, and others. SMU also offers a New York colloquium, during which students spend two weeks of winter break exploring museums and galleries.
Finally, at the end of the two-year MFA program, one student from the graduating class is selected for a residency in New York, which includes a studio and stipend to further their work and research within the context of a major art center.
For more information, contact:
Director of Graduate Admissions, Joe Hoselton
[email protected] / T +1 214 768 3765
PO Box 750356
Dallas, TX 75275-0356
or
6101 Bishop Blvd
Dallas, TX 75205
