MFA in Art

Our generously-funded three-year MFA program provides intensive professional training in the study of art at a major public research university. We emphasize both  interdisciplinary and medium-based approaches to artmaking, offer graduate students a solid grounding in a variety of art practices; diverse contemporary art discourses; and critical theory. Students undergo a rigorous course of study, combining one-on-one meetings, seminars, and group critiques in a supportive environment made up of a community of artists and thinkers. Students participate in numerous exhibitions in three professional galleries and a state-of-the-art black box theater on campus and avail themselves of presentation and exhibition opportunities throughout greater Los Angeles.

Key components of the curriculum include a dynamic visiting artist lecture series and numerous innovative exhibitions/events that take place on campus. Each year graduate students and faculty collaborate to bring renowned artists, writers, critics and curators to campus in the Visiting Artist Lecture Series and the Graduate Colloquium. Recent on-campus exhibitions include American Monument by lauren woods, which examined the cultural conditions under which African-Americans lose their lives to police brutality. Upcoming on-campus projects in 2020-21 include Towards a Raw Materialism, curated by Simon Leung, with Patty Chang, David Kelly, Ravi GuneWardena, and Miles Coolidge, which explores the use of “raw materials” as both content and medium in art dealing with the politics of extraction and materiality in the Anthropo/capitaloscene; and The Black Index, curated by Bridget R. Cooks, with Dennis Delgado, Alicia Henry, Kenyatta Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, Whitfield Lovell, and Lava Thomas, which build upon the tradition of Black self-representation as an antidote to colonialist images. Beyond the department, MFA students take advantage of the academic excellence of UC Irvine as a “Research 1” university by enrolling in courses in other departments. Some students, in addition to their primary graduate degree in Art, also obtain emphasis certificates from the graduate programs such as Feminist Studies, Visual Studies and Critical Theory, for which UC Irvine is well-known.

Fellowships and funding opportunities
The department is committed to offering all successful applicants the best financial package possible so that graduate students receive full support in tuition remission. With a combination of fee waivers, stipends, and teaching fellowships, successful applicants receive excellent financial support for all three years of study. In addition, some applicants are offered recruitment fellowships; and students may also take advantage of numerous grant, scholarship and fellowship opportunities available through the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, the UC Irvine campus, the University of California, and beyond.

Teaching assistant/associate opportunities
Each graduate student is appointed approximately six teaching assistantships over the course of three years, which may include Teaching Associate positions (teaching under faculty supervision after advancement to candidacy). Some students are given appointments as Graduate Student Researchers during the academic year, and/or as instructors for Summer Academy, an outreach program for high school and middle school students. In addition, the department employs selected graduated MFA students to teach in Summer Session in the summer immediately after graduation.

Faculty: Rhea Anastas, Kevin Appel, Sarah Awad, Jennifer Bornstein, Juli Carson, Miles Coolidge, Liz Glynn, Bryan Jackson, Jesse Colin Jackson, Ulysses Jenkins, Antoinette LaFarge, Simon Leung, Joseph S. Lewis III, Monica Majoli, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Deborah Oliver, Jennifer Pastor, Simon Penny, Shelby Roberts, Amanda Ross-Ho, David Trend, Bruce Yonemoto. (Co-chairs of Graduate Studies are Simon Leung & Amanda Ross-Ho.)

Application/additional information here.