MFA in Art

Graduate Art at ArtCenter College of Design is an interdisciplinary Master of Fine Arts program that encourages divergent ideas and methods. With a core faculty of seven internationally recognized artists and writers, visiting faculty, and an average of 30 students, we have one of the lowest faculty-to-student ratio among comparable MFA programs. The result is an intense work environment where concentrated art-making is assured equally concentrated and careful attention, whether within specific disciplines or among them: in film, video, photography, painting, sculpture, installation, performance and everything in between.

Fundamental to our program are one-on-one studio visits with faculty, and rigorous critical, academic and practical coursework. We extend our reach internationally, inviting artists and writers―famous and infamous―as well as historians and philosophers for weekly seminars and our biannual Open Studios.

Our home, is Los Angeles, one of the world’s great art capitals. Closer still is the world class design school to which we are connected, with leading edge software and hardware technology and the equipment that goes with it. On site, we provide students with individual studios, a cutting edge fabrication shop, multiple gallery spaces, and dedicated computing and moving image production labs. We make our public gallery spaces and project rooms available to all candidates, from the first term through the fourth, when every graduating student mounts a final solo show.

Fall 2025 priority graduate application deadline: January 15, 2025. Apply now! / Graduate Art online info session: Thursday November 7, 2024, 6pm PT. Register now! / Open studios: Friday, December 13, 2024, 6–9pm. ArtCenter College of Design South Campus, MFA Art Studios + Hixon Courtyard, 950 South Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105.

Core faculty
Kelly Akashi, Ei Arakawa-Nash, Gabrielle Jennings—Associate Chair: Art: MFA, Laura Owens, Patti Podesta, Jason Smith, Diana Thater—Chair: Art: MFA/BFA

Selected visiting artists & guest lecturers 2024–25
David Altmejd, Phil Chang, Aria Dean, Andrea Fraser, Diane Severin Nguyen, Mark Godfrey, Todd Gray, Kate Hall, Scott Kahn, Joe Mama-Nitzberg, Marc Swanson, Lisa Williamson

Stats
Degree offered: Master of Fine Arts / Students: 25–35 / Core faculty: seven / Guest lecturers per year: 24+ / Los Angeles: 72 degrees and sunny! / Contact: gradart [​at​] artcenter.edu

Selected Financial Support
Mike Kelley Endowed Scholarship, Steve Roden Endowed Scholarship, Balfour-Edwards Scholarship

All applications received by the January 15 priority application deadline will be reviewed for the following Fall term entry. Application decisions are published through the spring, usually no later than early April. After the Priority Deadline has passed, applications will continue to be accepted until our program fills to capacity. If you are planning to apply after the priority deadline, we recommend reaching out to gradadmissions [​at​] artcenter.edu to inquire as to whether we are still accepting applications.