The Art Studio MFA in the Department of Art & Art History at UC
Davis is a two-year, generously funded, critically engaged
graduate program that provides an opportunity for
interdisciplinary study in the visual arts. Drawing on the vast
resources of a research one university, the program offers MFA
students the opportunity to engage in intensive artistic work
supported with individual, spacious 24-hour access studios, while
interacting with other artists, scholars and STEM professionals
across campus. Art Studio is committed to delivering an
innovative educational curriculum in preparation for professional
public engagement in the arts including arts education,
exhibition and curatorial practices, and community-based work.
The culmination of two years study is presented in the
cross-campus, cross-disciplinary thesis exhibition in the
beautiful Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
The program offers three, vibrant visiting artist programs
including, The Wayne and Betty Jean Thiebaud Endowed Lecture, The
Maria & Jan Shrem California Studio Artists in Residence and
Visiting Artist Program, and the Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
Recent visiting speakers include Njideka Akunyili Crosby,
Leonardo Drew, Peter Schjeldahl, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Beatriz
Cortez, Yvgenia Baras, Samara Golden, Diana Al-Hadid, Aliza
Nizenbaum, Anne Ellegood, Rico Gatson, Edgar Arcenaux, Alec Soth,
among others.
The Art Studio MFA program offers substantial financial support
through paid teaching assistant positions and through Art Studio
and Graduate Studies Fellowships. UC Davis is an academic partner
of many professional programs, and granting agencies including
The Headlands Center for the Arts, Dedalus Foundation, the Joan
Mitchell Foundation, Skowhegan, Provincetown Fine Arts Work
Center, the Vermont Studio Center among others.
Our educational and creative community is committed to empower
diverse perspectives and varied research interests contributing
to conversations in social justice, sustainability, public
interest and public-engaged scholarship.
The deadline to apply is January 5, 2021.
Register to attend the Virtual MFA Information session on
Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 3pm (PST).
The Art Studio MFA Program offers substantial financial support
through paid Teaching Assistant positions each quarter and
through Art Studio Program Fellowships, made possible by generous
private endowments. Students may also apply for university
support through Graduate Studies Travel Awards, the Davis
Humanities Institute, and the University of California
Institute for Research in the Arts.
UC Davis is an academic partner of The Headlands Center for the
Arts, Graduate Fellowship Program, which offers a year-long
artist residency for one of our M.F.A. graduates each year. Over
the years, graduates of the program have won many nationally
competitive graduate fellowships and post-graduate awards from
the Dedalus Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation http,
Skowhegan, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, the Vermont Studio
Center, the Roswell-Artist in Residence Program, and Eyebeam.
Faculty
The entire Art Studio faculty shares responsibility for the
graduate program and teaches both graduate and undergraduate
courses. Our faculty represents a diversity of approaches
across all disciplines. Faculty include Robin Hill, Tim
Hyde, Darrin Martin, Graham McDougal, Hearne
Pardee, Annabeth Rosen, Youngsuk Suh, Gina Werfel, and Shiva
Ahmadi. See our People section
for more information about our faculty and lecturers.
Facilities
Graduate students are also provided with large, individual
studios on campus, located near the main art building with 24/7
access.
The Art Studio Program has facilities for the following
media: drawing, ceramic sculpture, painting, photography,
printmaking, video, and sculpture. See our Resources page for more information
about each facility and its equipment.
The University is an unparalleled resource in all disciplines of
research to broaden and deepen the work of an artist. Graduate
students in the Art Studio Program have many opportunities to
interact with their peers in Art History, Cinema & Digital Media,
Music, Performance Studies,and Design, through facilities/labs,
exhibitions, lecture series, and course offerings.
Visiting Artist Lecture Series
A dynamic, interdisciplinary Visiting Artist Lecture
Series is a key component of the Art Studio
MFA curriculum, providing students with the opportunity to
conduct studio visits with world-renowned
artists, critics and curators.
Past visitors have included Jerry Saltz, Phong
Bui, Joan Jonas, Gregory Amenoff, Mary Lucier, Robert
Storr, Vito Acconci, Ken Johnson, Jed Perl, Fred Tomaselli, Kalup
Linzy, Terry Winters, Larry Rinder, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy,
Rochelle Feinstein, Dana Schutz, Lucy Lippard, Angela Dufresne,
Ryan Trecartin, Shana Moulton, Rico Gatson, Rirkrit Tiravanija
and LaToya Ruby Frazier among others.
Collaboration and Resources
UC Davis offers an array of programs that draw upon its wide
range of specialized academic fields. By stimulating
cross-disciplinary approaches and using its distinctive graduate
groups, UC Davis continues to follow and redefine the mandate of
a major research university and is committed to the land-grant
tradition on which it was founded, which holds that the broad
purpose of a university is service to people and society.
The University is an unparalleled resource in all disciplines of
research to broaden and deepen the work of an artist. Graduate
students in the Art Studio Program have many opportunities to
interact with their peers in Art History, Cinema and Digital
Media, Music, Performance Studies,and Design, through
facilities/labs, exhibitions, lecture series, and course
offerings.
The Jan Shrem
and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is an institution
dedicated to combining vanguard artistic and curatorial
innovation with audience engagement. Exploring new means to
connect visitors with art and participating in the process of art
are two aspects of the new museum that are at the very center of
its vision. The museum will encourage interdisciplinary exchange,
provide means to make an impact on curricular development and
create informal educational opportunities.
About the Campus
Located in agricultural landscape of the Sacramento
Valley, UC Davis is located about an hour’s drive from
Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco; a six-hour drive from Los
Angeles; a two-hour drive from the ocean and equidistant from
Lake Tahoe. Davis is situated on the floor of the Sacramento
Valley, hot and dry in the summer and cool and rainy in the
winter, and is surrounded by fruit and nut tree orchards. Napa
and Sonoma are close at hand.
Our M.F.A. Students
The MFA in Art Studio values a diversity of viewpoints,
backgrounds, and experiences among its students as this diversity
strengthens and enriches our research, scholarship, and teaching.
Our diverse graduate student population enhances the academic
experiences for all students. We are committed to a multicultural
academic environment that supports the success of all graduate
students. Diversity among students, faculty and staff is a key,
integral factor in graduate education at UC Davis, to achieve an
equitable, hospitable and inclusive educational environment.
The M.F.A. in Art Studio is a two-year program. Our academic
year is divided into three 10-week quarters (Fall, Winter and
Spring). View the course plan details here.
