MFA

A Three-way Approach to Artmaking

The Master of Fine Arts degree program in art embraces the broadest definition of artmaking in and outside of the studio. It connects artmaking to a variety of contexts on and off campus, tapping into the wealth of resources at Carnegie Mellon, in Pittsburgh, and beyond. No comparable art program is found in the USA. In 2008, our program ranked #1 in multimedia and #7 in overall ranking; it has been listed among the top 10 MFA programs in the country since 1997. The three-part curriculum is interdisciplinary and contextually oriented.

I. School of Art:

The School of Art is the cultural home base of the program, where the student is nourished by the heritage and processes of artmaking, participates in a peer community and is guided in integrating the three components of the program.

Each student takes the initiative to develop supportive faculty connections in the School of Art. Two art faculty members serve on the student’s culminating Project Advisory Committee. All full-time art faculty participate in the graduate program and may serve as graduate advisors for any student.

II. University:

This outreach aspect of the program enriches the student’s artmaking processes through connections to fields outside of art. Through course work, projects, and interaction with faculty members the student develops in-depth connections to other disciplines at the university, selected from:

the College of Fine Arts and its affiliated research centers,

Center for the Arts in Society,
Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics,
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry,
the College of Humanities and Social Science,
the Mellon College of Science,
the Carnegie Institute of Technology (engineering),
the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management,
the Tepper School of Business,
the School of Computer Science and its affiliated institutes,
Human Computer Interaction Institute,
Robotics Institute

Each student takes the initiative to develop supportive faculty connections in a discipline outside of art. A faculty member from this outside area serves on the student’s culminating Project Advisory Committee. To date, faculty from a wide variety of academic disciplines have enthusiastically served as advisors in this unique degree program.

III. Pittsburgh:

This outreach aspect provides opportunities to produce works in the public sphere. Projects within the Contextual Practice course respond to the social and cultural dynamics of a given place or audience. Students expand the parameters of artmaking through direct involvement with diverse communities, sites, and conditions, developing imaginative and productive relationships that transcend degree requirements. Each student takes the initiative to develop supportive professional connections related to their contextual practice projects. The fourth advisor on the on the student’s culminating Project Advisory Committee is to be drawn from outside of academia. To date, individuals connected to the students’ contextual practices have brought a wide variety of expertise and fresh perspective in their volunteer advisory roles. Image Credit: Ben Kinsley (MFA Class of 2008) conducts the "Poke Orchestra" as part of the April 2006 performance event, "Homo Ludens," presented by first years grads, at the Brewhouse on Pittsburgh's South Side. Slide projected cues of hand si Back to Top