Studio Art - MFA

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Hunter’s ideal location in Manhattan offers students and faculty many intellectual, cultural and creative resources. In New York, as nowhere else, the student has access to the changing ideas and forms of contemporary art. This is crucial to the achievement of our educational goal: to develop professional artists capable of continued growth once they leave the relatively structured university environment. The program is designed to offer broad training for the artist in the development of critical and analytical visual thinking as it relates to their work. In this programmatic context students are encouraged to develop their own art through constant peer contact in the studios, individual work with faculty tutors, critical seminars focusing on student work, and classes in the theory, criticism and history of art. Electives in a range of studio practices are also required. In addition, many artists, curators, critics and historians are invited to meet with students.

Admission Requirements

Applications are reviewed once a year. The applicant must have completed at least 24 credits of undergraduate courses in studio art and 9 credits in art history, as well as an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution. Applicants who have a previously completed MFA in art cannot be considered for admission to the studio art program at Hunter College. Applicants must submit the on-line Hunter College Graduate Application for Admission. This application, with all supporting materials, must be submitted prior to the January 15 deadline. In addition, applicants must upload their portfolio and statement of purpose to slideroom.com. Further instructions can be found on the Art Department website at:

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/art/MFA/mfa_application.htm

The Art Department Graduate Admissions Committee will select finalists for admission to the MFA program. All finalists will be scheduled for an interview. Final decisions will be determined by mid-April.

MFA Application Deadline: January 15 for admission in the following academic year.

Requirements for the MFA in Creative Art (48 cr)

Each candidate for the MFA must select one field of concentration in studio art: painting, sculpture,

printmaking/drawing/works on paper, photography, clay & casting, or combined media, and present an MFA project in that area.

Candidates must complete 48 credits, distributed as follows:

9 credits of tutorial work;
9 credits of seminar work;
9 credits of studio electives (exclusive of the area of concentration);
9 credits of liberal arts electives in the history, theory, and criticism of art;
6 elective credits which may be used for additional art history or studio electives, or non-traditional courses or projects such as apprenticeships, teaching assistantships or participation in the foreign exchange program;
Mid Program Review: Eligibility to continue to work toward the degree is evaluated by a committee of all MFA faculty in the semester of the second tutorial and seminar.
6 credit MFA Thesis Project (
ARTCR 79100
) completed under the guidance of a faculty Thesis Advisor.

All students are provided individual work spaces in the MFA Studio Building and are required to work in them throughout their residency. There are four floors (approximately 10,000 sq. ft. each) for student studios, seminar rooms, and workshop and exhibition areas. The regular curriculum will be supplemented by a monthly lecture series, providing a forum for the presentation of aesthetic ideas by artists, critics, historians, and resident faculty.

Foreign Exchange Program

Several MFA students are selected each year to receive stipends for a period of one semester at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland; the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris; the Royal College of Art, London; the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, Frank Mohr Institute, the Netherlands.

Scholarships and Travel Grants

Among other awards, the Esther Fish Perry Award for outstanding students is given each year to an MFA student in the final year of study. Also, grants from the Tony Smith find are awarded to selected MFA students upon graduation. Enrolled students are encouraged to apply for the William Graf Travel Grant: approximately two awards of up to $1,200 each are given every semester to an MA and MFA student.