The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Art is an interdisciplinary program for students interested in developing a serious and engaged art practice. Here you’ll be challenged by new methods of experimentation, gain a critical understanding of historical and contemporary contexts, and pursue an informed, independent practice, specific to your intentions and sensibilities.
Working within and across our media areas, the curriculum combines the best of both disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary thinking. Students have contact with faculty members through graduate reviews, independent mentorship, and interdisciplinary course work. Questions about the Department of Art Graduate Program can be sent to artgraddir@uoregon.edu.
The Student Experience: MFA Program
The MFA program is a three-year period of rigorous studio investigation, critical discourse, and conceptual development. Emphasis is given to developing a course of study tailored to the needs of the individual student, while encouraging exploration and risk-taking. The program supports a thorough engagement with the processes and principles fundamental to the discipline, as well as an informed awareness of issues and practices within the larger art community. Developing fluency in critical discourse, analysis, and writing are important parts of the MFA program, which culminates in a yearlong terminal project and group terminal project exhibitions at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland, Oregon. The program recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary by recognizing and profiling a few of our MFA graduates.
Creative, Collaborative Community
Approximately 20 students constitute a tight-knit community of MFA candidates. MFAs have frequent contact with professionally active faculty members, nationally and internationally recognized visiting artists, critics, and curators. Working intensively in independent studios on the Eugene campus, students benefit from the context of a world-class research university.
Engaged Faculty
As practicing professionals, the Department of Art faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized artists with active exhibition and publication records. Each one is committed to both practice and teaching. Through seminars, critique colloquia, studios, and independent mentorship, students interact with an inspiring and diverse faculty. Enhancing that discourse, an active Visiting Artist Program brings a broad range of innovative artists and critics to campus.
Funding
The Department of Art provides generous funding for MFA Candidates during their three years of study. All students in good standing are given free tuition through a combination of Graduate Employee Fellowship support and tuition remissions. A GE fellowship provides the opportunity to teach and results in a tuition waiver, stipend, and insurance coverage. Additionally, the Department of Art offers yearly competitive scholarships for all students.
Let us show you around
We encourage applicants to visit the facilities and meet the faculty members. We offer tours during most of the year.
Alumni Spotlight ’20
Elnaz Talaei (MFA, ’20) first studied biology in Iran before she became a fiber artist because she was uncertain of a career in the arts. After relocating to the U.S., Talaei reconnected with the arts, drawing on her childhood of learning how to work with fibers from her mother, a dressmaker. In her black-and-white fiber installations, Talaei explores long-distance connections including her relationship with her mother, who lives in Tehran.
“My mom has been working for more than 25 years now and her voice has never been heard. Through my fiber art, I want to honor a tradition I started with her,” said Talaei.
Our Accreditation
National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
The University of Oregon is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of more than 60 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada.