The MFA in Art Studio engages students in a two-year, critically
engaged studio program that provides an opportunity for
interdisciplinary study in the visual arts. Students explore a
wide range of media and approaches to studio practice. Drawing on
the strengths of a multidisciplinary research campus, the program
encourages research collaborations connecting the arts,
humanities, social sciences and sciences. The program is
committed to delivering an innovative educational curriculum that
promotes the blending of art theory and creative practice, with a
goal to prepare students for professional engagement in the arts,
including but not exclusive to academic careers. We aim to
advance theories, methods, tools, and knowledge in emerging areas
of studio art practice.
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.
The MFA degree in Art Studio at UC Davis demands the highest
level of professional competency in the visual arts and
contemporary practices. To earn the MFA, a practicing artist must
exhibit the highest level of accomplishment through the
generation of a body of work. The work needs to demonstrate the
ability to conceptualize and communicate effectively by employing
visual language to interpret ideas. In addition, the MFA
recipient must give evidence of applying critical skills that
pertain to meaning and content, ultimately encouraging a
comprehensive examination and critique of the function and role
of art from a variety of views and contexts. Regardless of the
chosen area of concentration, an MFA candidate must be able to
prove not only strong conceptual development, but also the
skillful execution of tools, materials, and craft.
Financial Support
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, Lucy
Puls, 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 Department 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, and
Rirkrit Tiravanija 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
Technocultural Studies 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 MFA 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.
