Master of Fine Arts

Whether you want to exhibit and lecture about your work, teach, write a book, create an artist-run collective, or something completely different, Maine College of Art & Design’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art (MFA) program is designed to encourage and support your path as you follow your work where it needs to go.

We offer a studio-based curriculum that creates a transformative learning experience for students. Graduate students in this program define a sustainable vision for their own art practice through individualized research, critical analysis, and curatorial experimentation.

Interdisciplinary research, self-directed studio practice, national and international travel

The Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art (MFA) program at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) offers an interdisciplinary approach that encourages students to think across traditional academic boundaries, expand their art practice, and challenge their intellectual curiosity.

Our six-term curriculum emphasizes the intersection of studio practice, individual research, and critical analysis. Built on a commitment to one-on-one student mentoring by distinguished faculty, Visiting Artists, critics and curators, MECA&D’s MFA program offers a dynamic and supportive learning environment for artists who want to define and pursue a sustainable and attainable vision for their art practice.

Crucial to your success as an artist is the ability to determine where to set up your studio. That is why we offer both Low or Full Residency options to our MFA candidates during our Fall and Spring terms.

Among the first programs of its kind in the United States, our Low Residency option combines intense periods of on-campus instruction with the freedom and independence of working from any home location, anywhere in the world. Full Residency means that you take classes in person with your peers and have access to all the available facilities at the College.

Reasons to choose Low Residency

• On campus for Summer Intensive, additional intensives, and research field trips
• 24/7 access to campus and your own studio space during Summer Intensive
• Fall and Spring terms from your personal home studio
• One-on-one studio mentorship with carefully selected Non-Resident Studio Advisor (NRSA)
• Research and studio seminars held online and asynchronous during the Fall and Spring terms to maintain ongoing connection with your Full Residency peers
• Structure promotes flexibility and independence

Whether you opt for the Low or Full Residency path, you'll have access to the same classes, group and individual work opportunities.

If your needs change from one year to the next, you may choose to switch between Low or Full Residency at that time. We collaborate with you to determine and arrange what best supports your creative work and future aspirations.

Year One

Your first year is designed to help you explore new techniques and research ideas. Providing a framework to develop vocabularies and broaden resources to support your work.

Fall Term: Expansion

(15 weeks)

Low Residency students work from their home studio and Full Residency students work on campus in Portland.

During Fall term, your pace of study will slow down from summer to let you become deeply immersed in making, thinking, and critiquing around your studio practices. Full residency students have the opportunity to work as Teaching Assistants during the Fall term.

• Studio II
• Studio Seminar: Research Methodologies (online)
• Studio in Context: Views on Contemporary Art (online)

+ Winter Intensive, December (online, full cohort)

+Permission to proceed to Spring Term from MFA Chair

Year Two

Bring together ideas and influences across your practice. Through studio visits and presentations you'll create and refine language that reflects what is important to your work and your viewers.

Fall Term: Convergence

(15 weeks)

Low Residency students work from their home studio and Full Residency students work on campus in Portland.

• Studio V
• Studio Seminar: Professional Practices (online)
• Studio in Context: Thesis Proposal (online)

+ International Studio Research Trip (full 2nd Year cohort)

+ Winter Intensive, December (online, full 2nd Year cohort)

Upon completion of the program, you will walk away prepared for pursuit of future artistic endeavors and contribution to cultural dialogue.

A copy of your thesis project will live on in the Joanne Waxman Library for future artists and designers to explore, learn from and refer to.

Along with your written thesis, prior to Commencement, you will install an exhibition of your studio thesis project that will remain on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art and virtually.

MFA Thesis Exhibitions typically feature work in a variety of media including drawing, video, performance, sculpture, painting, printmaking, virtual reality, fiber, photography, and installation.

Seen together, the thesis projects hybridize a range of conceptual themes and material approaches as they relate to visual culture, the political landscape, and contemporary art practice.

One of the biggest myths about making art is the solo, artistic genius. But no artist acts entirely alone. The best work comes from research and dialogue. Artists benefit from collaborating with others and collectively working to elevate the field of art.

To encourage this exposure to and engagement with the broader global community of contemporary artists, each MFA cohort has an opportunity to travel together to visit exhibitions and participate in self-guided research.

Past cohorts have traveled to:

Venice, Italy; Berlin, Germany; London, UK; Montreal, Canada; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Boston, MA

Tracey Cockrell, Program Chair of MFA in Studio Art, Adjunct Associate Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Stephen Benenson, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art and Foundation

Sebastian Black, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Jeane Cohen, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Lourdes Correa-Carlo, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Brian Droitcar, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Annika Early, Adjunct Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Lauren Fensterstock, Assistant Professor of MFA in Studio Art

Alison Ferris, Adjunct Instructor of MFA in Studio Art

We welcome students to apply by the priority application deadlines stated for each program. Each applicant is considered for merit-based scholarships upon acceptance into the college.