studio_art
Art and Art History

Graduate Studio Art Program

Overview

A Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art is a three-year, full-time degree program with a total of thirty students and approximately thirty graduate faculty members. Ten students from all studio Areas are admitted in the Fall semester only. There is no Spring admission. The deadline for application is January 6, 2009.

Tuition and fees for the entire three-year 60-credit hour M.F.A. in Studio Art, at rates in effect on September 1, 2008, are $25,500 for Texas residents and $49,000 for non-residents of Texas. The Faculty's goal is to make awards to all non-residents of Texas that waive the non-resident portion of tuition. Tuition Waivers forgive the non-Texas resident portion of tuition for out-of-state and international students, cutting the cost in half. Therefore, it is very likely that each admitted student will only be charged resident (in-state) tuition for all three years. Tuition and fees are established by the State of Texas Legislature and are subject to change.

Philosophy

The M.F.A. program is designed for the early career artist, those individuals who show the potential for artistic and professional growth. The program provides a challenging and diverse environment where learning a discipline is still possible, and, possibly, the first step in mastery as well as the springboard into new territories. Meaningful art keeps changing and evolving. In our program, we encourage students to explore a broad range of creative expressions and studio practices while working in depth and along the edges of discrete, but still vital traditions, as well as bridging them and traversing across the boundaries.

We want our students to realize the satisfaction of working hard and well, consistently practicing their art; and making discoveries that can only be made from that kind of experience. Additionally, we want our students to be able to think and talk about their maturing art [not just to sound good, but to enhance their studio practice] and the work of their peers by participating in seminars, individual and group critiques; discussions with visiting artists and critics; often working as teaching assistants in our undergraduate program of study; and, not least, speaking with each other at all those odd, informal times when many pivotal things are said and heard.

From the statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, and a portfolio of recent work (made within the past two years) the faculty members both admit students and determine incoming fellowships. Your portfolio should reflect an informed knowledge of contemporary art and a committed, coherent, consistent body of work rather than disparate examples of pieces from undergraduate class assignments.

The University of Texas at Austin believes that a highly talented and diverse student body can significantly enhance the character and quality of the academic culture and community. To this end, the University is continuously engaged in an effort to increase the pool of graduate scholars from diverse backgrounds. "As authorized by the Board of Regents and beginning with the academic year 2005-2006, The University of Texas at Austin has added race and ethnicity to the criteria considered for admission of freshmen, graduate students, and law students, and to the awarding of scholarship and fellowships in those cases when an individualized and full file review is conducted as part of the selection process."

Questions about the academic program should be addressed to the Graduate Advisor

Professor Mark Goodman via: mgoodman@mail.utexas.edu.

Studio Art Areas

Entry into the graduate program is through one of seven Areas. While faculty in the seven Areas serve as the primary mentors of their students, interaction with faculty and students across all the Studio Areas, Design, and Art History, as well as outside the department is encouraged. Students in each of the seven areas are able to work in their concentration's facility 24/7 (except when a scheduled undergraduate class is meeting). All Painting graduate students are assigned an individual studio in a separate complex with all other painting grads.

Studio Areas

Studio Faculty

Special Programs

  • Ceramics (Sculptural): Graduate students work in a sculptural-oriented direction only, but wide-ranging as to processes and to their awareness of historical and contemporary perspectives. All construction and firing methods are available.
  • Metals: Defining their work either functionally [jewelry, objects] or non-functionally [sculpture, hollowware, installation, performance], students work intensely, one-on-one, with the faculty in metals, as well as from various other studio areas. The metals studio is equipped for fabrication, casting and smithing.
  • Painting and Drawing: Graduate students engage in a course of study where a challenging mix of ideas from a variety of ideological and cultural vantage points promotes conceptual, technical and formal experimentation.
  • Photography: Photography is broadly defined as a lens-based medium open to a variety of expressive means, ranging from black & white and color images to installation and digital prints.
  • Printmaking: Students have access to all of the traditional printmaking processes [intaglio, relief, monotype, lithography, serigraphy, paper making, book making] as well as digital facilities.
  • Scultpure: Students explore an art form that includes both discrete object-making and, more recently, has been transformed and expanded into environmental and installation arts.
  • Transmedia: Emphasis is on an experimental approach to contemporary time-based art practices, including but not limited to sound, installation, performance, video, web, interactive, digital multimedia, and hypertext.

Degree Requirements, Course Descriptions, Oral Examinations

Degree Plan

A Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art is a three-year, full-time 60-semester-hour course of study with the following degree plan:

  • Twenty-seven (27) semester hours of studio art in a combination of critique classes and independent studies. Critique classes are open to students from all three years and all studio areas.
  • Nine (9) semester hours in forum and seminar classes. These classes are solely with your peer group, the ten students who began the program with you.
  • Six (6) semester hours in art history including (3) hours in contemporary art history or criticism.
  • Three (3) semester hours in the Master's Report.
  • Three (3) semester hours in the Master's Exhibition.
  • Twelve (12) semester hours in elective courses, chosen with the approval of the Graduate Advisor.

Course Descriptions

ART 380: Critique in Studio Art (3). This is a group critique class led by a graduate studio art faculty member. Repeated three times.

ART 381: Graduate Independent Study in Student's Concentration. This is an independent study in the student's area of concentration with a graduate faculty member. Repeated six times.

ART 382: Seminar in Studio Art (3). This class addresses topics and issues in contemporary art.

ART 383: Graduate Independent Study Outside of Student's Concentration (3). Working in a studio discipline outside one's normal art practice led by a graduate faculty member.

ART 384F: Master of Fine Arts Forum (3). An orientation for first-semester students providing an opportunity to develop and practice critiquing skills, and to define effective studio habits. ART 384S follows in the second semester.

ART 398R: Master's Report (3). Written defense of the work undertaken in the graduate program, addressing concepts of and influences on the work. The document includes digital photographs of major works.

ART 398S: Master's Exhibition (3). M.F.A. Show of work undertaken in the graduate program, including display of an Exhibition Statement. The sixty-hour M.F.A. Oral Examination must be completed successfully prior to exhibition.

ART 398T: Supervised Teaching in Studio Art (3). Training in teaching methods and procedures for studio art classes.

ARH Art History (6). Six credit hours in art history including ARH 386P: Art Criticism, Theory, and Contemporary Art. Students may choose from the breadth of art history courses offered within the department.

Critiques and Oral Examinations

In addition to the sixty-hour course of study, M.F.A. candidates in studio art must complete a cycle of four graduate oral examinations including writing a short essay about her/his work and progress each time. These examinations, or critiques, consist of a viewing of the student's work to date, an oral presentation by the student, and a question and answer period led by faculty. "Critiques" occur approximately in the semester that the fifteenth (15th) and forth-fifth (45th) hours of coursework are taken, and are held before the student's four-person faculty Critique Committee. "Oral Exams" occur in the semester that the thirtieth (30th) and sixtieth (60th) hours of coursework are taken, and are held before the Critique Committee and three randomly selected Studio Art Graduate Studies Committee members. In addition, all current studio art graduate students attend as silent observers. Thirty- and sixty-hour orals must be completed successfully to continue in or complete the M.F.A. program.

Additional Financial Information

Fellowships

ALL incoming students receive fellowship support. No additional application or supporting material is required. Fellowship decisions for continuing students are made each spring after a faculty review of student artwork.

Teaching Assistantships

There are 10- and 20-hour teaching assistantships available for both incoming and continuing students. Teaching Assistants (TAs) assist faculty members in classrooms and/or monitor open-laboratory periods. All students are considered for appointment as Teaching Assistants (TAs). TA assignments are based on institutional needs and budgetary limitations. Twenty-hour-a-week Teaching Assistantships pay a salary of $10,500 per year plus $6,500 in tuition assistance. They also receive health insurance premium coverage.

Some 3rd-year graduate students may be appointed as Assistant Instructors. Assistant Instructors (AIs) are responsible for teaching a lower-division undergraduate course. The Graduate Studies Committee of the Faculty considers students who have completed thirty-semester hours of graduate coursework and passed their 30-hour oral examination for Assistant Instructor positions for a specific course.

Appointments of TAs and AIs are made on a semester-by-semester basis, rather than by annual contract. Rigorous performance evaluations are given and appointees can be terminated if they are negligent either in their duties or in their graduate studies. Appointments follow departmental criteria, receive approval by the department chair, and are subject to the availability of funds.

Student Loans and Grants

Graduate students are automatically eligible for Federal Stafford loans as independent students. Students should file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as they have completed their federal tax return. File the FAFSA by the March 31 priority deadline to be considered for University grants. Use federal code 003658 to have FAFSA Student Aid Report, SAR, sent to UT Austin. Review the Web site of the University's Office of Student Financial Services and utilize Ask Don: Data Online; or call (512) 475-6282.

A Departmental Financial Aid summary can be found at M.F.A. Studio Art Financial Aid.

Information about how to search for other sources of funding and external fellowships is available from the Graduate Recruitment and Outreach Program or call (512 ) 471-7811; or email go@www.utexas.edu.

Visits/Conversations with the Graduate Advisor

  • FALL SEMESTER VISITS - Prospective Students Only

To arrange a telephone conversation or a possible campus visit with the Studio Graduate Advisor during the fall semester, send an email to Professor Mark Goodman via mgoodman@mail.utexas.edu with your responses to the following questions at least one to two weeks in advance.

  1. In which Studio Area are you intending to apply?
  2. What previous degrees and other related educational experiences do you have?
  3. Why graduate school now and The University of Texas at Austin in particular?
  4. *REQUIRED* Include two or three images of your most recent work as an email attachment (Please! Make the file size a low dpi [72] from images scanned at a higher dpi or list the URL to any Web site of your artwork.)
  5. Included your phone number and best possible contact times.
  • SPRING SEMSTER VISITS – Applicant Finalists Only

Students selected by the studio faculty as finalists, but not yet offered admission into the class, will be invited to meet with the faculty, staff, and current gradaute students on Monday and Tuesday, February 23 and 24, 2009. If a finalist is unable to visit, this will not eliminate her/him from being offered admission into the class or the possibility of a fellowship and Teaching Assistantship. Campus visits in the Spring will be arranged for applicant finalists ONLY and NOT for future prospective students.

Students selected by the studio faculty as finalists, but not yet offered admission into the class, will be invited to meet with the faculty, staff, and current graduate students on Monday and Tuesday, February 23 and 24, 2009. If a finalist is unable to visit, this will not eliminate her/him from being offered admission into the class or the possibility of a fellowship and Teaching Assistantship. Campus visits in the Spring will be arranged for applicant finalists ONLY and NOT for future prospective students.

  • SUMMER SEMSTER VISITS– None Scheduled

Campus visits and meetings with faculty and staff will not take place during the summer. Follow the directions above to arrange your Fall visit.

Application Process

By January 6, 2009, all materials must be received by two entities: The University's Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC) and SlideRoom.

Both the University's Office of Graduate Studies and the Studio Art Graduate Studies Committee must approve your admission. Decisions are made in early-to-mid March.

Questions about applying should be addressed to the Graduate Coordinator, Judy Clack, via jclack@mail.utexas.edu or phone (512) 471-3377.

To GIAC (see details below) you submit:

  1. Online application
  2. Official copy of each of your transcripts
  3. Email addresses of your three references
  4. Application Fee ($50 or $75)
  5. Statement of Purpose [Also submit to SlideRoom. See details below].
  6. TOEFL or IELTS score (international students only); the GRE is not required

To SlideRoom (see details below), you submit:

  1. Portfolio
  2. Statement of Purpose
  3. Statement about your Artwork
  4. Resume
  5. Submission Fee ($10)

Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC) Instructions

Mail to:

GIAC
University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Box 7608
Austin, TX, 78713-7608

For overnight or package delivery, ship to:

GIAC
University of Texas at Austin
2608 Whitis Avenue
Austin, TX 78712-1534
[512-475-7390]

(1) Application: File online application for admission, available after September 1 for Fall Admission. Go to the Web site of the Graduate and International Admission Center (GIAC). Scroll down and click on either “U.S. Graduate” or “International Graduate.” Then click on and read “How to Apply”. Next, click on Apply. The “Apply Texas Application” appears. Login in by clicking on “Create Your Account.” Fill in the form and create a Password. You'll immediately be given a Username. Record your Username and Password. Click on “My Applications”, “Create a New Application”, and “Create a New Graduate School Admission Application”. Scroll down and select “Studio Art” for your major. After you complete the first page of the application, you'll be assigned an Application ID Number. Record it. With your Username, Password and Application ID number, you'll be able to get back to the application and make additions and revisions until you are ready to Submit the application. When you sign in again, scroll to the bottom where it says “Saved Applications” to make additions and revisions until you Submit it. List your specific studio area of interest in (16).

(2) Fee: Pay the Application Fee of $50 (U.S. and permanent resident applicants) or $75 (International Applicants) online by Visa or MasterCard, or mail a check or money order to GIAC.

(3) Transcripts: Forward one official copy of your transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions. Electronic transcripts are preferred to expedite transcript evaluation. Current or former UT Austin students must send $10 for the cost of duplicating their academic records. (Transcripts are not required from any college that offers no coursework beyond the sophomore level.)

(4) Letters of Recommendation: Three (3) letters of recommendation are submitted electronically. When you complete the References portion of your online application, you give names and email addresses of your three recommenders. A secure email link will be sent to each person. If a recommender is writing a letter instead, it must be placed in a sealed envelope (with signature across the flap) and submitted to the ART Graduate Coordinator at the address below. (Send no other materials to Art Graduate Coordinator.)

Mail to:

Graduate Coordinator for Studio Art
Department of Art and Art History
Univesity of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D1300
Austin, TX 78712-0337.

For overnight or package delivery, ship to:

Graduate Coordinator for Studio Art
Department of Art and Art History
University of Texas at Austin
Art Building Room 3.320
23rd and San Jacinto
Austin, TX 78712
[512-471-3377]

(5) Statement of Purpose: You may submit a "draft" of your Statement of Purpose to GIAC. Submit your "final" version to SlideRoom.

(6) Test Scores: The GRE is not required. But, international students must take either the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. Scores must be received by the January 6 deadline. If you hold a bachelor's degree from a U.S. institution or an English-only speaking country, these tests are waived. For TOEFL, go to http://www.ets.org/toefl/. For IELTS, go to http://www.ielts.org/. A TOEFL score of 550 (paper test), 213 (computer-based test) or 79 (web-based test) is the minimum acceptable for admission to the University. The code for the UT Austin is 6882. No department code is needed.

Submit NO other documents to GIAC or the Department; everything else goes to SlideRoom.

 

SlideRoom Instructions

Applicants for Fall 2009 admission must utilize a web-based portfolio and document submission system, SlideRoom. All application materials must be submitted by the January 6, 2009 deadline. Do not submit the materials listed below to the Department of Art and Art History or to Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC). Applicants are charged a small transaction fee of $10.00 to upload these materials. SlideRoom collects this fee via credit card or debit card only.

To SlideRoom, following details below, you submit:

  1. Portfolio
  2. Statement of Purpose
  3. Statement about your Artwork
  4. Resume
  5. Submission Fee ($10)

To submit portfolio and materials, follow these steps:

-Choose Program

Choose from one of the seven M.F.A. Studio Art Areas: Ceramics (Sculptural), Metals, Painting/Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Transmedia).

-Manage Portfolio

Your portfolio should reflect an informed knowledge of contemporary art and a committed, coherent, consistent body of work rather than disparate examples of pieces from undergraduate class assignments.

Portfolios will only be accepted through SlideRoom at utaustinart.slideroom.com, a web-based portfolio submission system. This SlideRoom site offers specific, comprehensive, technical instructions for submitting work online.

2-D and 3-D applicants [Ceramics (Sculptural), Metals, Painting/Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, and Sculpture] submit fifteen (15) images and no more.

Transmedia (time-based) applicants submit to SlideRoom one-minute excerpts of five works. Also mail a DVD containing full versions of these 5 excerpted pieces to the Graduate Coordinator:

Mail to:

Graduate Coordinator for Studio Art
Department of Art and Art History
Univesity of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D1300
Austin, TX 78712-0337.

For overnight or package delivery, ship to:

Graduate Coordinator for Studio Art
Department of Art and Art History
University of Texas at Austin
Art Building Room 3.320
23rd and San Jacinto
Austin, TX 78712
[512-471-3377]

Images/videos can be labeled and ordered after they are uploaded into SlideRoom. Arrange pieces in chronological order, oldest to newest. Work submitted cannot be over two years old. Each piece must be labeled with the following information: title of work, medium, size, and date.

Specifications: File size is different than image size. The maximum file size that SlideRoom will accept is 2 MB for images and 20 MB for video. For good image quality and fast upload, 1280 x 1280 pixels @ 72 dpi, is the ideal image size. Save your images as .jpg, .png or .gif. Slideroom accepts .flv, .mov, and .wmv for video. For technical assistance, contact SlideRoom at support@slideroom.com. If you have additional questions, email SlideRoom at info@slideroom.com.

-Complete Form

Statement of Purpose

(a) Write about any relevant experiences that have prepared you as an artist and describe why this is the right time for you to go to graduate school and Texas is the right place.

(b) Describe your professional goals and how you plan to actively achieve them while in school and after.

(c) What is your vision of an energized graduate program? Describe what you can contribute (initiate and risk) to enhance such a program.

Statement about your Artwork

(a) Discuss and describe the artwork you are submitting.

(b) Reflect on how you work, take chances, make discoveries and struggle when work doesn't go well, and how this process enables you to define and redefine yourself as an artist.

Resume

Your resume should include your name, address, phone(s), email, education (college/degree), awards, exhibitions, work experience.

-Submit and Pay Fee

When your portfolio and completed form (two statements and resume) are complete, check the SUBMIT arrow at the top, right corner of SlideRoom's Web page. Pay the $10 fee via Credit Card or Debit Card only. The Department will be monitoring receipt of materials and will be updating your Application Status from the Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC). Please do not contact the Department to confirm receipt of portfolio materials; instead, use the online Status Check.

Special Programs and Activities

  • The Visiting Artist Series: Each fall, internationally known artists visit the department to give lectures and to meet with graduate students for lectures, seminars and critiques.
  • Guest Artist in Printmaking Program: GAPP is an annual visiting artist program that takes place in the printmaking studios of the Department of Art and Art History
  • The Viewpoint Visiting Critics Series: Each spring, Viewpoint, comprises several multiple-day lectures, critiques, and seminars by leading commentators and critics brought in pairs to campus.
  • Residencies: Students may compete for annual funded opportunities to Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, MI; the Mattress Factory, in Pittsburgh, PA; and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. One currently enrolled student who is accepted by the Skowhegan Summer School of Art is eligible for a matching full scholarship.

     

Campus Facilities and Resources

Exhibition Spaces - Students and Others

Libraries

Computer Labs

 

Austin Arts Environments

In addition, the major museum collections of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio are within a few hours drive. Go to http://www.utexas.edu/austin/ for great links about Austin, or http://www.austin360.com/ and click on Art Events for hundreds of arts opportunities.

All the detailed information above is included in this downloadable PDF: M.F.A. Studio Art Program and Admission Guide (pdf).

Contacts:

Prospective applicants wishing to visit about the graduate Studio Art program should follow the instructions above.

Professor Mark Goodman - Graduate Advisor

mgoodman@mail.utexas.edu
Phone: 512-471-6427
Fax: 512-471-7801
Office: ART 3.344
Campus Mail Code: D1300

Judy Clack - Graduate Coordinator

jclack@mail.utexas.edu
Phone: 512-471-3377
Fax: 512-471-7801
Office: ART 3.320
Campus Mail Code: D1300

Information Request Form

Self-Guided Tour Map (pdf)