Over the last decade, the MFA Program at MassArt has become one of the country's leading graduate schools. Our unmatched facilities, renowned faculty, and roster of exhibitions and presentations provide remarkable opportunities.

We offer six concentrations: five in the fine arts and one in design (including a part-time track). Fine arts applicants are admitted separately and meet weekly with other students in their discipline. In addition, these students attend required and interdisciplinary weekly seminars that promote dialog with students from other disciplines in the first three semesters. MassArt’s MFA program recognizes both the validity of traditional disciplines as well as multi-disciplinary investigations more in keeping with contemporary practice. Design applicants attend required classes with their peer group and select individual electives as their needs arise.

International artists and designers enter the program, drawn to the stimulating community in Boston, its challenges,opportunities, and potential rewards. The average age of graduate students is 27-29.

Fostering a sense of community and continuity is crucial in any graduate experience. Our faculty welcomes the challenge that graduate students offer and are committed to working closely with them. The curriculum is constructed to ensure that students select courses and advisors to meet their needs and that group interactions occur regularly.

An exceptional roster of visiting artists and designers provide a constant source of compelling ideas, images, and artifacts to consider. Over the last two years, art world fixtures such as Richard Tuttle, Katherine McCoy, Mary Heilman, Vito Acconci, Eleanor Heartney, William Wegman, William Bailey, Bill Viola, and Larry Poons have been complemented by newcomers such as Glen Seator, Mel Chin, Coco Fusco, Ellen Gallagher, Leslie Thornton, and Julie Hefferman. MassArt has several lecture series that provide assorted access (from studio visits to formal lectures) to these individuals.

Preparation for college teaching can be an important graduate experience. We provide extensive support for potential college teachers. Through a scripted series of interactions, assorted teaching opportunities in the undergraduate and Continuing Education Programs at MassArt, CAA Conference preparatory sessions, and extensive career counseling, our graduates have achieved remarkable success in this field. At present, recent graduates teach at Amherst College, Boston College, Holy Cross, Brandeis University, Harvard University, UMass Lowell, Keene State College, Emerson College, Art Institute of Boston, and Montserrat and Maine Colleges of Art in the New England area alone. Others teach overseas at universities in Honduras and Hong Kong. While pursuing this opportunity may be important to some students, the MFA Program stresses that this is a voluntary option, one that merely complements many of the opportunities available to our graduate students.

MassArt is a resource unlike any other. Its facilities and personnel provide far too many options and opportunities for what is often a remarkably short two-year period. The challenge is to develop an appropriate plan of action, to select the necessary courses, and to work with advisors who can provide assistance.

MassArt MFA students conclude their studies with a Thesis exhibition or presentation. This culminating event documents a sustained investigation into a core set of issues resulting in a self-directed body of work, one that demonstrates both a technical mastery and high level of innovation. A panel comprised of resident faculty and art or design professionals participate in Thesis reviews of all graduating students to ensure that these goals have been attained.