ALL students in the M.F.A. Studio Art program receive full-financial support!
We are able to provide full assistantships to all of our MFAs which includes a full tuition waiver plus an annual stipend and Graduate Fellowship. For the 2018-2019 academic year every one of our MFA students received a total package of $19,000 of support per year on top of a tuition waiver!
Advance your practice and learn new techniques!
Students enter the program in one of 6 media areas—ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. While it is expected that students will have a strong interest in their chosen medium, they are encouraged to explore other media and work across disciplines.World-class faculty!
Our faculty come from a vast range of educational backgrounds! Our programs max out a three students per discipline, so MFAs can get a ton of quality time with their respective faculty! In addition to topical-seminars, students may request independent studies with faculty from any media area!
Check out our Faculty page for a full-list of faculty.
Small town, global mindset!
University of Arkansas MFA students enjoy close proximity to the global art world through weekly visiting artists! Students gain insight through studio visits, lectures, and even meals with our visiting artists! 2017-2018 visiting artists in painting included Katherine Bradford, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Dana Frankfort, and Laylah Ali!
Interested in teaching? We’ve got you covered!
All MFA students who express a desire to teach are given the opportunity to work as teaching assistants during their first year. Second and third year students can apply to teach undergraduate classes as Instructor of Recod!
Interested in curatorial experience? We got you there too!
Our relationship with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art affords numerous opportunities for internships. Our students have also frequently assisted with installation at 21C Museum Hotel, Bentonville. Students are also able to gain curatorial experience on the UA campus through the FNAR Gallery, sugAR Gallery, and the Sculpture Gallery!
Spacious studios!
All MFA students receive private studio spaces to which they have 24-hour access. Painting studios are located at One East, on the Fayetteville Town Square, or on campus at Stone House or the Sculpture Building. Painting studios range between 200-300 square feet!
Facilities
In addition to studio spaces, our MFAs have access to a huge range of media-specific facilities. Painting students particularly enjoy:vinyl cutter
professional level documentation set-up
full woodshop facilities
painting-only priming and assembly stationsSee the UArk MFA Program page for a detailed list of facilities.
Living in Northwest Arkansas, not what you might expect!
HyperAllergic named NWA ‘America’s newest Art Pilgrimage!’
Located in the beautiful Arkansas Ozarks, Fayetteville frequently receives accolades as one of America’s best places to live, by such publications as Forbes, Kiplingers and Business Week. If you like outdoor recreation, the Ozarks are a hub for activities such as hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, fishing, and rock climbing.
Being immersed in the Northwest Arkansas community is important to our mission as a School of Art. Graduate studios and sUgAR Gallery are located on Fayetteville’s downtown square and participate in Fayetteville’s enormously popular First Thursday events.
Our proximity to Bentonville and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art affords numerous opportunities for student interaction.
Additional art destinations in the area include: The Momentary (Crystal Bridges’ forthcoming contemporary venue), The Walker Arts Center, and 21C Museum Hotel, Bentonville.
Travel and residency funding—need we say more?
Numerous travel grants are provided to our students to attend summer opportunities including the UA Art in Rome program, the Vermont Studio Center residencies, Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Chautauqua Institute Visual Arts Program, the New York Studio School, and Mount Gretna School of Art.
The School of Art awards four M.F.A. Project Grants each spring and fall semester, to support creative research and professional development.
Additional grants to support graduate student travel to present their work are offered through the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
HOW TO APPLY
The deadline for application to the MFA program is January 15, 2019. We welcome interested students to either visit the department firsthand or to speak with the faculty about their interest in the program before applying. To request a visit to the department or for more information, please direct inquiries to Kristin Musgnug at kmusgnug@uark.edu.
Specific instructions on applying can be found on the School of Art's MFA Program page,