Department of Art and Design

Art - Fine Arts (MFA)

Telephone: (302) 831-2244
http://www.art.udel.edu/graduate/master-of-fine-arts
Faculty Listing: https://www.art.udel.edu/people/faculty

Program Overview

The focus of this graduate program is working with the student to develop a solid and sustainable studio practice. We accept students on the premise that they want to build a studio practice and work to realize their personal visions. It is the belief of the graduate faculty that success in the highly competitive field of art is premised on the strength of the artwork and the artist’s active participation in the local and global discussion of the ideas surrounding creative activity. We work to maintain a high level of discussion about what constitutes a powerful artistic practice and product.

The MFA curriculum consists of three distinct yet interrelated parts of the graduate experience and education: research, practice, and discourse. Students are asked to keep up a dedicated studio practice that pushes and challenges their interests, and they come together for critique that encourages the open exchange of ideas in a collaborative environment. In addition, students are asked to take an academic course outside of the department in order to expand their creative research.

As a studio program the structure determined by the graduate faculty is oriented toward extensive personal time in the studio, supported by one-on-one discussions with faculty and visiting artists.

Requirements for Admission

Applicants must complete the online application including transcripts, resumé, and three letters of recommendation through the Office of Graduate and Professional Education. Once you have submitted your application you will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours. This confirmation will contain a student id. number (UD ID). This ID number is required when submitting your portfolio, resumé (including names of references), and artist statement via SlideRoom.

After you have submitted your application to the MFA program with the Office of Graduate and Professional Education you must submit a portfolio online via: https://udart.slideroom.com/#/Login. Be sure to upload to the MFA event.

Portfolios may include up to twenty still images or 5-10 minutes of video: (.jpg), video (.mov, .wmv, .flv) or PDF documents. For good image quality and fast upload, images should be sized no larger than 1280 x 1280 pixels @ 72 dpi. Video files must be kept under 250MB.

Our SlideRoom portal offers additional instruction for submitting work online. For technical assistance, contact http://www.slideroom.com/support.html.

The department’s application deadline is February 15 with decisions regarding admission.

The Department of Art does not require GRE scores.

Financial Aid

The University of Delaware offers generous financial aid assistance to UD/ART graduate students. The Art Department is able to give several merit-based Graduate Teaching Assistantships (tuition waiver plus a stipend in exchange for teaching and service) and tuition semesters (tuition waiver plus the possibility of adjunct teaching). The Department works diligently to help support our M.F.A. students and has, historically, been able to fund nearly half of our students. Please refer to the Office of Graduate and Professional Education for more information.

Programs

• Fine Arts (MFA)