the program

Each year, the NYU MFA Program in Studio Art brings together an exceptional group of committed artists to develop their work within a community of faculty and colleagues, asking them to engage for two years in a process that is both intensely introspective and collectively open to the challenges and issues of the larger world. We invite students in the program to consider their own practices and assumptions, as well as those of the contemporary art-world, both critically and irreverently, and to pursue their visions to the point of excess as needed. The MFA program is dedicated to assisting in this endeavor.

The MFA program is small in size, with only 24 students in residence. There are no restrictions on media, and students are encouraged to work with whatever formal means are best suited to their ideas. During the two-year course of study, students engage in a team-taught interdisciplinary critique class each semester, as well as one full afternoon each week of individual studio meetings with visiting artists or critics and full-time faculty.

The acclaimed artists who make up the Full-time and Adjunct MFA faculty include artists, critics, and writers with many diverse interests and disciplines who see teaching as an integral part of an ongoing and influential creative practice. Drawn from the surrounding New York art-world, yet deeply engaged with their students, the relationship between the faculty and students represents the core of the MFA community.

The MFA studios are located in the Art Department’s 6 story Beaux-Arts Building at 34 Stuyvesant Street in the East Village. The building also houses facilities for painting, sculpture, photography, computer art, video, performance, ceramics, metalsmithing, sewing, glass, printmaking, installation, and curatorial projects, as well as Natalie Jeremijenko’s new Environmental Health Clinic. All studios, shops, and labs are available to MFA students, and courses may be taken in any of these areas.

Additional requirements include Critical theory, Visual Culture, or Interdisciplinary Projects courses, which integrate theory and practice. In addition to courses offered within the Art Department, many courses throughout the university are available to MFA students, including those in academic and creative disciplines. This flexibility encourages cross-disciplinary research and collaboration, and allows artists to place their work within a broad intellectual and cultural context.

Teaching Assistantships, with tuition remission and stipends are available on a competitive basis to both first and second year MFA students. Teaching experience is available to all students in the program through the Internship in College Teaching course.

The Visiting Artist Lecture Series is held each Thursday evening at 5pm following the afternoon studio visits. Lectures are open to the public and visitors are welcome.

Open Studio events are held once each semester, throughout the 6 floors of the art building, and combine Friday evening performances, festivities, and exhibitions with a Saturday afternoon walk-through of MFA studios.

MFA Thesis Exhibitions are held in late spring at the Art Department’s 80 Washington Square East Galleries. During their final semester, students select a committee of three artists or critics to work with them during the final stages of their exhibition and written thesis.

The 2008 MFA Thesis exhibition will be split into three shows
running from April 2 to May 24.

Opening receptions for the three shows are from 6:00-8:00pm
on Tuesdays,
April 1
April 22
and May 13

Washington Square East Galleries
80 Washington Square East
New York, NY 10003
(212) 998-5747
Email: 80wse@nyu.edu

Additional Details & Images of MFA Work

faculty

John Torreano - Director
Sue de Beeer
Lyle Ashton Harris
Rachel Greene
Carol Bove
Peter Campus
Kevin McCoy
Ross Bleckner
Kiki Smith
Jan Avgikos
David Rimanelli
Nancy Barton
Marlene McCarty
Jesse Bransford
Beverly Semmes

visiting artists & curators for 2007-2008

Sept 6: Gean Moreno
Sept 13: Judith Barry
Sept 20: Tim Roda
Sept 27: Ernesto Pujol
Oct 4: Jules De Balincourt
Oct 11: Seth Kelly
Oct 18: Huma Bhabha
Oct 25: Joao Ribas
Nov 1: Jason Fox
Nov 8: Lynne Cooke
Nov 15: William Brady (ATM Gallery)
Nov 20: Catherine Lord
Nov 29: Matt Keegan
Dec 6: Mike Pare
Jan 24: Adam Pendleton
Jan 31: Benjamin Godsill, NewMuseum
Feb 7: Alexis Rockman
Feb 14: Nicole Eisenman
Feb 21: John Miller
Feb 28: Sarina Basta, SculptureCenter Curator
Mar 6: Michael Connor
Mar 13: Matthew Ronay
Mar 27: Philippe Vandenberg
Apr 3: Darren Bader
Apr 10: Adam McEwen
Apr 17: Matt Keegan
Apr 24: James Fuentes, Gallerist
May 1: Jim Hodges
May 8: Michael Portnoy

All talks are free, open to the public, and take place at 5:00 PM in Einstein Auditorium, 34 Stuyvesant Street, Barney Building. (At 9th Street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues.) This schedule is subject to change and more visiting artists will be added throughout the year.

visiting artists & curators for 2006-2007

Olaf Breuning
Diana Cooper
Feri Daftari
E.V. Day
Dan Graham
Scott Hug
Chrissie Iles
Christian Jankowski
Mckendree Key
Josiah McElheny
Shamim Momin
Wangechi Mutu
Samuel Olou
TJ Wilcox

degree requirements

M.F.A. Graduate Studio Critique (18 points) Taken each semester in the program.

First-Year Review
During the second semester of the first year, a committee composed of the Studio Committee chair, Graduate Studio Critique instructor, and one other studio faculty member assesses each student’s work and approves enrollment in M.F.A. Exhibition and M.F.A. Thesis courses.

Art Theory, History, and Criticism
(9 points)
Three courses in the departmental critical studies area

Studio Art Electives (9 points)
Three courses, by advisement

Outside Cognates (6 points)
Two courses outside the department

Internship Courses (9 points)
Internship in the Arts I and II
Internship in College Teaching

M.F.A. Exhibition and M.F.A.
Thesis Courses (9 points)
M.F.A. Exhibition I and II
M.F.A. Thesis

Program Total: 60 points

application procedures

The application deadline is February 1, 2008. Follow the instructions outlined by The NYU Steinhardt Office of Graduate Admissions for filing your application form. The following is a list of all items that must accompany the completed application form.

1. Transcripts: Must be obtained from undergraduate and graduate institutions, if applicable.
2. Two (2) letters of recommendation: Should be obtained from academic and professional sources.
3. Current résumé
4. Statement of purpose (300-500 words): Must describe your interest in the field and the direction you wish to pursue in the graduate studio program of your choice. The statement of purpose is to be submitted in lieu of the personal statement requested on the application form.
5. Personal interview (required for finalists): If required, the admissions office will notify you by mail to contact the program director for a personal interview (or phone interview if you reside outside the metropolitan area).
6. Portfolio: All portfolios must be on a Mac OS-formatted CD-ROM or DVD.
   
   20 images of recent work submitted on a Mac OS-formatted CD-ROM (standard size, not 3”) or DVD in JPEG FORMAT ONLY, sized at 1280 x 1024 pixels (maximum 4 megabytes) for viewing on a Macintosh computer via video projection. Please do NOT submit PowerPoint or Keynote presentations.
   
   Each image must be numbered (corresponding to the order of viewing), and include title, if any, and your name.
   
   Quicktime or DVD-formatted videos can be submitted in addition to, but not in place of digital images. Videos can be a compilation of various works, but the total running time cannot exceed five minutes. Genres appropriate to video documentation include video art, performance, and kinetic art, NOT documentation of sculptures or exhibitions.
   We do not accept VHS-formatted videos.
   
   Submit a digital image inventory with your name in the top right hand corner. List the images in order of viewing, file name, dimensions of work, date of work, medium, and title, if any. Please do not submit text files with your images.
   
   Legibly print your name on all disks, sleeves, and/or cases and inlcude a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of your portfolio.
   
   

Send application materials to The NYU Steinhardt Graduate Admissions Office. For general information pertaining to admission and financial aid, and/or to download an application (PDF file), visit the graduate admission's Web site.

 

information sessions

The Graduate Student Services Counselor holds an informal information session and offers a tour of the facilities on most Fridays throughout the Fall and Spring semesters at 3:30pm. To make an appointment for one of these information sessions, please call the department’s main number at 212.998.5700.

for further information:

Prof. John Torreano, Director
(212) 998-5701

Email: jt2@nyu.edu