The University of Arkansas School of Art’s Studio Art MFA program combines contemporary critical engagement with technical proficiency designed to support a variety of approaches to artmaking.

All students in the MFA Studio Art program are fully supported. We provide full assistantships to all of our graduate students, including full-tuition waivers and $15,000 stipends annually for all three years of study. Also, every student receives an additional $4,000 fellowship per year.

Students enter the program through one of 6 media areas (ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, or sculpture) and work closely with faculty and graduate students from those areas while in the program. Though it is expected students have a strong background in their chosen medium, they are encouraged to work across disciplines and across media. The curriculum is designed to support a variety of approaches to artmaking, coupled with rigorous theoretical inquiry, research, and social awareness.

Propelled by transformational gifts from the Walton Family Support Foundation and Windgate Charitable Foundation, there are ample opportunities for graduate-specific travel and research grants, summer assistantships and fellowships, and established partnerships with artist residencies and centers nationally. Furthermore, the School of Art’s new 154,000 square-foot Windgate Studio and Design Center, opening in Fall 2022, will house new MFA studios, art and design classrooms and studios, shared-use labs, and galleries.

Our Visiting Artist and Scholar Series, Center for Photographers of Color, and northwest Arkansas arts institutions including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Momentary, also provide ample opportunities for critique and engagement.

To learn more about the MFA program at the University of Arkansas School of Art, please contact Donna Jones, Director of Recruitment and Outreach, at donnas@uark.edu. 

The deadline to apply is January 15, 2021. For application details and further information, visit art.uark.edu.

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