The MFA Fine Arts Program at Otis College of Art and Design is open, inclusive, and interdisciplinary. We are looking for advanced artists who are engaged and committed to exploring an art practice in its various forms, traditions, and contexts. We value interdisciplinary critical dialogue and lifelong learning within our close-knit community. Outside of rigid divisions and subdivisions, students are free to pursue a medium-specific practice - or not. Our elective course offerings in the field of Art + Social Practice present opportunities for students to engage in cross-cultural research and culturally syncretic forms of meaning-making and problem-solving.
Artists in our program are simultaneously supported and challenged. The balance of group critiques, rigorous academic coursework, and one-on-one studio visits with faculty fosters the development of sustained interdisciplinary practices.
In Critique, students acquire a critical understanding of their work and how to locate it within critical cultural debates through generous group conversations. Weekly individual studio meetings with faculty offer one-on-one conversations on work in progress, ideas, readings, or plans. Critical inquiry into various histories, methodologies, and frames of thought structures our Theory and Art History seminars. Our Visiting Artist Lecture Series brings distinguished artists, curators, and thinkers into close dialogue with students. Studies culminate in a written thesis and final MFA exhibition.
MFA students have 24-hour access to work in their individual studios located at the Elaine and Bram Goldsmith Campus. Project Rooms provide additional space for installations. Annual Open Studios, the Mid-residency show, as well as the final Thesis shows in the Bolsky gallery offer ample exhibition opportunities over the course of the two-year program. Students have full access to the state-of-the-art wood and metal shops, video, photo, printmaking, and ceramics labs, the library, as well as the gallery on the Elaine and Bram Goldsmith campus located in Westchester.
Past residencies have included Anderson Ranch, Colorado; Fundacion Sebastian, Mexico City; Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Arts Paris-Cergy, France. MFA students have the opportunity to participate in national and international study courses, including New York City; Venice Biennale, Italy; Documenta, Germany; Sculpture Projects, Germany.
Students and faculty alike help determine the direction of the program. Through student exchanges with the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, students gain a broader context. At the same time, the intimate community reflects the real working of the multilayered and diverse art, design and literary worlds, removing the walls between faculty and students.
Graduate students are accepted for admission in fall term. Spring admission is on a space-available basis only and arrangements must be made with the Graduate Chair. All named scholarships are awarded by the graduate faculty according to admissions ranking. They do not require a separate application; all accepted applicants are automatically considered. For information on how to apply for other forms of financial aid please contact admissions. Completed MFA application forms and required supporting documents must be on file at the Admissions Office by January 15 for the Fall Semester or November 1 for the Spring Semester.
Read the Current Newsletter.
MFA Fine Arts now offers an area of emphasis focused on the field of Social Practice. Learn more.
Curriculum

An overview of the MFA Fine Arts curriculum with course descriptions.
Student Work

See examples of student work in painting, installation, ceramics, and more.
Faculty

MFA Fine Arts faculty are celebrated artists who have shown around the world, find out more about their work here.
Visiting Lecture Series

A weekly lecture series where artists, theorists, and curators present their own work and discuss it with the graduate student community.
Contact

Have a question about the program? Contact us here.