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 a solid historical and theoretical grounding in a variety of art practices; and encourage engagement in diverse contemporary art discourses. 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 can 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. Recent visitors to the department include Simone Forti, Paul Chan, Cauleen Smith, Beatriz Cortez, Julie Tolentino, Arthur Jafa, Yau Ching, Tourmaline, Patty Chang, Slavs and Tatars, Mary Kelly, Andrea Fraser, Rodney McMillian, Nizan Shaked, George Hermes, and lauren woods. This academic year, under the auspices of the campus-wide “Black Thriving Initiative,” the Department of Art, in collaboration with the Department of African American Studies and UCI Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, is slated to hire a new faculty member whose art practice will explore the multidimensional experience of Black life.

Beyond the department, MFA students take advantage of the academic excellence of UC Irvine as a “Research I” 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, Law Society and Culture, 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/teaching associate opportunities
Each graduate student is appointed approximately six teaching assistantships over the course of three years, which may potentially 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 (Department Chair), Sarah Awad, Jennifer Bornstein, Juli Carson, Miles Coolidge, Liz Glynn, Jesse Colin Jackson, Antoinette LaFarge, Simon Leung (Chair of Graduate Studies), Joseph S. Lewis III, Monica Majoli, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Deborah Oliver, Jennifer Pastor, Simon Penny, Shelby Roberts, Amanda Ross-Ho, David Trend, Bruce Yonemoto.