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Master's

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Application Deadlines

Fall: Jan 15 Priority Deadline. Reviewed on a rolling basis through Jun 1 (international) or Aug 1 (domestic) on a space available basis.
Spring: n/a
Summer: n/a

School/Department

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts

Program Director

Laurel Nakadate

Location

Boston SMFA Campus

Format

On-campus

Commitment Options

Full-time

Average Duration

2 years

Credits

Contact

smfaadmissions@tufts.edu

Overview

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, offered through the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, emphasizes intensive studio practice, creative collaboration, formal and informal mentorships, and rigorous academic discourse through an interdisciplinary studio art curriculum. During this two-year program, you'll join a vibrant and supportive community committed to making art that shapes our global society and collective future. Graduate studio courses are taught on the SMFA Fenway Campus in the Mission Hill Studio Building and the SMFA Main Building.

Program Outcomes

As an MFA student, you'll develop your studio practice with the support of faculty and fellow students with deep engagements and expertise across disciplines and mediums. You'll work closely with faculty and staff to develop a personalized studio curriculum, and will have access to resources across Tufts. MFA students take part in seminars that explore a variety of subjects within contemporary art, and critiques and Review Boards serve as a crucial driving force in the growth and transformation of your practice.

Our faculty are successful working artists and seasoned educators with broad professional networks and a commitment to supporting emerging artists. Through their teaching and mentorship, you will be guided in the development of your own unique artistic practices. Through the MFA program, you'll advance your presentation, research, and art-making skills, and position yourself for a long and productive independent art practice.

Optional Concentration in Museum Studies

You may choose to apply to the Master of Fine Arts program with an optional concentration in Museum Studies. With this option, the Museum Studies certificate program's five courses (two required, three electives) will count toward a student's non-studio course requirements for the MFA program.

Application Requirements

In addition to the general application requirements, the program requires the following supplemental information:

Portfolio: All applicants are required to submit a visual art portfolio consisting 10-20 images of recent work and/or up to 10 minutes of time-based work. We encourage you to submit work that you believe to be the strongest representation of your skills and experiences to date, regardless of medium. The ideal portfolio will demonstrate your conceptual development while highlighting your technical abilities. Find more information about the visual art portfolio here.
Resume/CV: This should include exhibitions and awards, as well as professional experiences and related activities, such as research.
Personal Essay: The essay should not exceed three pages and should address the following questions:
- Tell us about your most recent/current art work.
- What would you identify as important artistic and intellectual influences on your art work? In addition to artists, this might also include writers, scientists, theorists, and other cultural producers.
- In what ways do you hope to expand and further your art practice at SMFA at Tufts?
Three letters of recommendation
Official TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test scores, if applicable. A minimum TOEFL score of 90 (iBT), IELTS score of 6.5, or Duolingo score of 100 is required for admission.

Applications received after the priority deadline will be reviewed on a space-available basis.

Applications Requirements for Optional Concentration in Museum Studies

You must submit a 400-word personal statement explaining your experience with and/or interest in museum work, as well as what you hope to gain from the program. This document should be uploaded in addition to the MFA personal statement, within the graduate application.

Please note: acceptance or rejection from the Museum Studies Program does not affect your acceptance into the MFA Program.

Tuition and Financial Aid

See Tuition and Financial Aid information for GSAS Programs.

Faculty

Laurel Nakadate

Professor of the Practice

Claudia Valladao de Mattos Avolese

Senior Lecturer

Michael Barsanti

Professor of the Practice

Silvia Bottinelli

Senior Lecturer

Bill Burke

Professor of the Practice

Cristobal Cea

Professor of the Practice

digital media, history, representation, videogames, 3d, painting

Kate Conlon

Professor of the Practice

Tanya Crane

Professor of the Practice

Bonnie Donohue

Professor of the Practice

Joel Frenzer

Professor of the Practice

Emily Gephart

Lecturer

Her research spans many forms of visual culture: she has published and presented on how new scientific approaches to the unconscious mind informed the work of American artists and critics in the early 20th century; on poetic satire and pictorial criticism of modernism in the 1916 Spectra hoax; on transatlantic encounters with the oceanic commons in art; on coordinated human and animal aesthetics in millinery fashion; and on the fabrication and perception of fly fishing lures, among other examples of 19th century 'ecologies of mind.'

Riccardo Giacconi

Professor of the Practice

Charles Goss

Professor of the Practice

Angela Gualdoni

Professor of the Practice

Eulogio Guzman

Senior Lecturer

He specializes on the sculpture and architecture of the Mexica (Aztec) and socio-political history and visual culture of colonial Mexico. His interests include visual manifestations of indigenous governance, Pre-Columbian architecture and urbanism, global interactions of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, colonial and post-colonial visual strategies, Open Churches of Sixteenth Century Mexico, the Habsburg empire, kunstkammer, museum studies, and modern architectural history.

Mags Harries

Professor of the Practice

Nate Harrison

Dean of Faculty and Professor of the Practice

Patricia Loper

Professor of the Practice

Megan Mcmillan

Professor of the Practice

Triton Mobley

Professor of the Practice

Rick Moody

Professor of the Practice

Kelli Morgan

Professor of the Practice and Director of Curatorial Studies

Historic, Modern, and Contemporary American art; African-American visual culture, artistic practices, and visual expressive traditions; Visual literacy; Anti-Racist Approaches to Museum and Curatorial Practice