MFA

2-Year Program

The MFA in Art curriculum provides graduate students a great deal of freedom in designing a course of study that best suits their individualized needs. Students are supported in cultivating their own areas of interests, and in developing research trajectories and critical skills necessary for a unique art practice. In critiques, seminars, individualized studio practice, independent studies and deeply engaging social environments, MFA students enhance their ability to consider and shape the physical and virtual world—and, by extension, the political and social fields they inhabit. 

To earn the MFA degree, candidates must pass two faculty reviews of their overall artistic and academic progress—once at mid-residence and again prior to graduation. Students are expected to present a project or exhibition during the first year, and required to do so by the end of the second. Graduate students work in individual studios.

Full Curriculum

Detailed curriculum and academic requirements can be found in the online course catalog.

View Curriculum Requirements


Interdisciplinary Opportunities

In addition to CalArts' rich and diverse community and naturally collaborative atmosphere, the Institute provides several programs of study that can be pursued concurrently with a student's chosen metier.

Center for Integrated Media

The Center for Integrated Media concentration is designed specifically for MFA students whose creative use of technology—in particular digital media—goes beyond their primary areas of study.

Center for Integrated Media


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