The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
MFA in Visual Arts program
700 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215
http://www.aiboston.edu/mfa/callforapplications
The MFA in Visual Arts low-residency program, offered by The Art Institute of Boston (AIB) at Lesley University, provides the ideal solution for artists, teachers, and professionals in related fields who are seeking professional advancement in the field of visual arts. The MFA program allows students, with the guidance of a faculty advisor and a local studio mentor, to design their own studio and academic plans for each semester. This MFA program builds on the traditions of collaboration, innovation, and strength in the arts that characterize existing AIB and Lesley programs. It also benefits from the success of Lesley’s low-residency model, a longstanding feature of several Lesley programs that meet the diverse needs of adult learners. The MFA in Visual Arts is a degree that can advance the careers of artists, teachers, or professionals in other art-related fields.
The interdisciplinary focus of the MFA program encourages students to explore the integration of a variety of visual arts media. The MFA in Visual Arts focuses on developing the tools and expertise to create an individual vision. Students advance their study of art history, culture, and critical thinking through the rigorous academic components of the program while discovering how to situate their own work within a broadly defined contemporary art context. The MFA program broadens the students’ knowledge of visual arts as a profession, including relationships with galleries, grant and proposal preparation, public and private commissions, and the ongoing development of media and art-making tools.
Over the course of four semesters and five residencies, students learn to devise their own methodology for producing a focused plan of ongoing studio work and research, earning 15 credits per semester. During these intensive residencies, studio work, as outlined in each semester’s study-plan contract, is evaluated for credit through critiques with faculty members, visiting artists, and peers. Academic studies are addressed through seminars, lectures, and planning sessions with academic advisors. During the semester, students’ work, both academic and studio, is supervised by both a local studio mentor and MFA faculty advisor. Studio components are 48 credits and academic components are 12 credits, for a total of 60 credits.
The MFA in Visual Arts program is fully accredited by both the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and is the only low-residency program based on the two 10-day residencies to be approved by NASAD. Lesley University is licensed by many states’ Commission on Higher Education to offer programs in those states.
MFA in Visual Arts Faculty include: Anthony Apesos, Jan Avgikos, Hannah Barrett, Judith Barry, Dike Blair, Deborah Davidson, Jesseca Ferguson, Andreas Fogarasi, John Kramer, Jack Lueders-Booth, Adam McEwen, Carrie Moyer, Michael Newman, Tim Norris, Oscar Palacio, Constanze Ruhm, Sunanda K. Sanyal, Julia Scher, Laurel Sparks, Stuart Steck, James Stroud, Oliver Wasow, and Deb Todd Wheeler.
MFA in Visual Arts Visiting Artists include: Jürgen Bock, Thomas Eggerer, Barry Schwabsky, Bill Arning, Nayland Blake, Holly Block, Barbara Bloom, Laura Donaldson, Maureen Gallace, Gamaliel R. Herrera, Dana Hoey, Jacqueline Humphries, Wendy Jacob, Byron Kim, Steve Locke, Barbara London, Annu Matthew, Tony Matelli, Marilyn Minter, Rebecca Morris, Tom Patti, Alexis Rockman, and Shelburne Thurber.
Application deadline: March 1, 2009
Email: [email protected]
Application information: http://www.aiboston.edu/mfa/callforapplications
For more information go to: http://www.aiboston.edu/mfa/callforapplications