Graduate Program: The graduate program in art is has been highly successful in preparing artists for professional careers in exhibition and teaching. Graduates of the division have a presence in almost every major American city, are represented in major museums and collections, in including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Alums are represented on the faculty in tenured or tenure-track positions of over 20 institutions.

The MFA degree in Studio Art

The Division of Art awards the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), the terminal degree in studio art. Students who earn the M.F.A. develop a substantial body of work of uniformly high quality and of distinct originality, and have clear intellectual grasp of the broad contexts, historical and current, within which they and their work function. The M.F.A. is an intensive, two-year period of focused study, terminating with the M.F.A qualifying exhibition.

Graduate-level study is offered in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, and photography and video. These are broadly defined, and a hallmark of the graduate program is the degree to which students are encouraged to work between media or engage in diverse experimentation. A primary goal of the graduate program of the Division of Art is to encourage a wide range of thought in its students, through open, studio-based investigation, critical inquiry, and an extremely diverse program of visiting artists and critics. 

Students in the M.F.A. program come from all regions of the country, with approximately 30% from the Texas region, 30% from the Northeast, 20% from the Midwest and Northwest, and 15% internationally. 
 
The Division has increasingly active cross-disciplinary initiatives with The Guildhall (in Interactive Technologies), the School of Engineering, and a number of divisions within Meadows, and actively encourages applicants whose work might address these areas.

Admission and Scholarships

Admission to the graduate program is extremely selective, with less the 15% of applicants being accepted for admission. Only those individuals will be admitted in whom the faculty recognizes clear prospects for attaining the objectives of the program during the two-year period of graduate study. Admission also is based on the objectives and limitations of the department.  The primary criterion for admission is the submitted portfolio of 20 works, followed by recommendations, the artist’s statement, and transcript review.  Portfolios should be submitted digitally, through SlideRoom (www. smu.slideroom.com), which accepts a number of image, video, and sound formats.

The applicant is required to have a B.F.A. degree or equivalent to that offered at SMU (i.e., 60 studio hours, 12 art history hours). Unusually qualified applicants not holding this degree may be considered for admission.

The Division offers up to six full-time scholarships per year, with additional teaching assistantships available.  These are awarded by merit to the top applicants.
Additional support for graduate research is available through a number of sources, described below.

Degree Requirements

Study within the degree program is primarily through studio tutorials taken under the supervision of individual faculty members of the division, supplemented by study in art history and humanities, and the graduate seminar. A minimum of 60 term-credit hours of course work is required. All courses taken in the division must be numbered 5000 or above. A student may be directed by the faculty to take more than this minimum number of credit hours. Thirty-six to 42 credit hours are to be clearly related to your major field of study. Twelve credit hours of graduate-level art history or study in other academic departments are required. Approval for courses outside of art history must be obtained from the graduate adviser. All students participate in the Studio Graduate Seminar (ASAG 6301, 6302, or 6303) each fall term, which offers study and discussion of topics in theory, criticism, and professional practices of art.

Only grades of B– and above may apply toward the degree. The Meadows School of the Arts ordinarily will approve no more than six term hours of transferred credit. Petitions for exceptions may be filed with the dean after the student is enrolled at SMU.
Upon entering the graduate program, candidates will be given, by the graduate adviser, a thorough outline of the expectations a graduate student will meet.

Graduate Committees and Critiques

Graduate studies for each student are guided by a three-person graduate committee whom they select. By the end of the first month in residence, the student must designate a major professor. While it is expected that the professor will be strongly identified with the student’s chosen specialty, the other committee members may be chosen from other disciplines, including, when applicable, areas outside the Division of Art. The faculty reserves the right to appoint at any time one faculty member not chosen by the student to serve on the committee. The student meets with their committee at least once every month for critique and discussion. Membership on the graduate committee becomes permanent at the beginning of the student’s final (second) year. At the beginning of any term prior to that time, the student, with the advice of the graduate adviser, may alter the composition of the committee.

At the end of each term, a selection of completed work and a written statement discussing the term’s progress will be presented for discussion and review by the faculty of the division.   As a result of this review the student’s progress is evaluated and the graduate committee with the advice of the faculty determines approval for continuation of studies.