MFA in Painting
The Master of Fine Arts program in Painting at Boston University promotes the discipline in its varied manifestations as a fundamental form of artistic expression. At its core, the program is making-driven, with rigorous expectations about each student’s commitment to their unique artistic practice. As an art form, painting is more than an activity; it is a long-term critical engagement with materials, ideas, histories, and sensibilities. As such, dialogue, critique, and practicums supplement the program’s emphasis on making.
Graduate students develop close working relationships with faculty and peers, forging a tight-knit community that can continue beyond graduation. Weekly all-program meetings, regular critiques with faculty, and frequent visits from significant figures in the contemporary art world bolster a sense of community and prepare students for a life as an artist. Professional practice, critical thinking and dialogue, and an intensive studio climate support each student’s journey toward an ever-sharpening artistic vision.
Learning Outcomes
Development of Studio Practice:
Students will learn to develop and maintain a studio practice appropriate to life as a professional artist. They will learn strategies for prioritizing their ambitions, organizing their time and resources, and sustaining interest in creative endeavors. This develops gradually through each student’s independent work, evolving specific terms for success and failure and a robust engagement with shared ideas.
Increased Knowledge of Medium and Materials:
Through their chosen medium(s), students demonstrate intimate knowledge of materials, tools, and techniques appropriate to professional practice. The individual student develops this by establishing and maintaining a rigorous studio practice, enhanced by access to the Graduate Woodshop, the Graduate Printshop, materials workshops, studio visits with faculty and visiting artists and critics, and lectures. It is measured in the creation of artwork and evaluated through studio visits, group critiques, and final reviews.
Increased Awareness of Artistic Genealogy:
Students will acquire an understanding of their position within contemporary art and learn how to envision and articulate their contribution to a continuum of artistic production. This happens through engagement with a roster of significant visiting artists; regular conversations with faculty and fellow students; note-taking and regular arts research; and the presentation and critique of artwork in studio visits, group critiques, and final reviews.
Relationship of Individual Practice to Community Formation:
In developing their own artistic expression and practices, students will gain greater awareness of the many communities that constitute the “art world.” Through being engaged citizens of their graduate school community, students will experience a variety of approaches to contemporary painting and appreciate the differences and points of distinction in others’ work. This occurs through group critiques; as audience and hosts for visiting artists and critics; at weekly all-program meetings; and through sharing University resources and facilities.
Critical Language Abilities:
Through speaking, reading, and writing, students will become fluent in the discourses of painting. They will be able to think critically and put into language their own sensory experiences that emerge from an in-person encounter with an artwork. This takes place through regular dialogue in the studio with faculty, visiting artists, and fellow students, and is measured in writing assignments and verbal participation in critiques.
Program of Study
The MFA in Painting is a 60-unit program that requires an average of four terms to complete. Students may only enter in September.
The College of Fine Arts Policies for Graduate Students apply to this program. Students must earn a minimum of 60 course units in graduate-level coursework (500 or above) and receive a minimum passing grade of B– in each course.
- Studio activity is considered the core of the two-year graduate program. All students are expected to demonstrate a deep commitment to their practice by maintaining regular studio habits.
- The weekly seminar class comprises reading, writing, and discussion, helping students cultivate the language and context that surrounds their work and practice.
- The Tuesday Night MFA Lecture Series brings guest speakers to the studios on a regular basis. Guests deliver a lecture on their work, visit studios, and are invited to socialize with graduate students informally.
- In order to take full advantage of the benefits offered by a large university, graduate students may also take elective courses in programs across the BU community.
MFA in Painting Curriculum
| Graduate Painting (CFA AR 841, 842, 847, 848, 9 units each) | 36 units |
| Graduate Seminar/Discussion (CFA AR 843, 844, 845, 846, 3 units each) | 12 units |
| Liberal Arts elective (CAS, COM, GRS, MET, CFA FA 500 level or above) | 4 units |
| Art or General electives (500 level or above) | 8 units |
| Total units | 60 units |
