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 six internationally recognized artists and writers, visiting faculty, and an average of 30 students, we have one of the lowest faculty-to-student ratios 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 annual 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 fifth, when every graduating student mounts a final solo show.

Fall 2026 priority graduate application deadline: January 15, 2026. Apply now! 

Graduate Art Zoom info session: Thursday, November 6, 2025, 6pm PT. Register now!

Fall open studios: Thursday, December 18, 2025, 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, Patti Podesta, Jason Smith, Diana Thater—Chair Art: BFA/MFA.

Selected visiting artists & guest lecturers 2025–26: Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Phil Chang, Aaron Curry, Andrew Durbin, Elliott Hundley, Christian Liclair, Jane McFadden, Rebecca Morris, TJ Shin, P. Staff, Jeffrey Stuker, Mungo Thomson, Athina Rachel Tsangari, J. Parker Valentine, Hamza Walker, Jordan Wolfson, Jonas Wood, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung

Stats
Degree offered: Master of Fine Arts / Students: 25–35 / Core faculty: six / Guest lecturers per year: 24+ / Los Angeles: 72 degrees and sunny! / Contact: gradart@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 Fall 2026 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@artcenter.edu to inquire as to whether we are still accepting applications.