Master of Arts: Studio Art

This program is not currently accepting students.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from this program will:

  • Have an advanced knowledge of a specialized area of studio art.
  • Develop creative, conceptual and technical skills in a variety of visual media to produce work that can effectively contribute to the larger creative community.
  • Communicate ideas visually, verbally, and through the written word.
  • Recognize and understand the relevance of global art history to the current practice of art.
  • Develop professional skills.
  • Be proficient in adapting technology for the creation of works of art, including computer skills and digital photography.
  • Students graduating with an M.A. in Studio Art will be prepared for entry into an M.F.A. program or the job market.

M.A. in Studio Art Overview

The M.A. in studio art has the following emphasis areas: painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, digital imaging, motion design, and graphic design. Most students will take the majority of their coursework as independent study classes under the direction of one faculty member in the graduate student’s area of emphasis.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 36 graduate credit hours is required for the M.A. degree in studio art, including a minimum of six hours of ART 5599, and three courses in Art History on the 400- or 5000-level. Additional courses are determined in consultation with the discipline advisor and the supervising thesis committee. Courses are usually three credit hours each and are offered at both the 400 and 5000 levels. Any course counted as part of the required 36-hour minimum must be taken for credit. Students may take no more than 14 hours of 400-level classes (40 percent of a 36-hour program). Any 400- or 5000- level course taken for graduate credit must be completed with a grade of B- (2.7) or better in order to be counted toward the M.A. degree.

ART 5599Research And Thesis6
ART-HIST Coursework (choose from the following):9
Scope and Methods of Art History
Sensing, Feeling, Thinking: Contemporary Art and the Mind
Site-Specific Art: Within and Beyond the Museum Walls
Art Museums: History and Practice
Directed Studies In Art History
ART Coursework (choose from the following):21
Practices in the Visual Arts Classroom
Graduate Photography
Graduate Painting
Graduate Graphic Design
Graduate Drawing
Graduate Print Media
Graduate Digital Imaging
Graduate Digital Video and Motion Design
Research And Thesis
Total Credits36

Each student’s program of study is designed in consultation with the lead professor in the primary discipline, who will be their principal art advisor. There is no general distribution requirement within the studio courses taken, but the student’s choice and mix of classes needs to be approved by their art advisor.  Courses in disciplines outside the Studio Art discipline may be applied toward the degree with the pre-approval of the student’s principal art advisor.