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The Master of Fine Arts in art program offers study in digital art, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture taught by internationally known artists. The program attracts students from across the United States and around the world, ranging from accomplished artists represented by commercial galleries to those admitted strictly for their talent and promise. Students have access to private sky-lit studios, digital laboratories, an extensive printmaking suite, and a student project space. Graduating students participate in a large thesis show at prestigious galleries in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
A large percentage of our graduates are successful artists, many of whom sell their work in commercial galleries. Many also teach at leading art schools and universities. Others have become commercial artists, illustrators, computer graphics designers, architects, art directors, cartoonists, art restorers, and fashion designers, bringing their fine-arts sensibilities to these fields. A number have won such major honors as the Guggenheim, Fulbright, Pollock-Krasner, and Prix de Rome.
The program information listed here reflects the approved curriculum for the 2024–25 academic year per the Brooklyn College Bulletin. Bulletins from past academic years can be found here.
The M.F.A. studio program offers specializations in digital art, drawing and painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Students usually focus on one of these but take courses in other areas and in art history. Periodically, their work is formally reviewed by the full faculty, who also individually visit their studios for informal critiques. Graduating students participate in a large M.F.A. thesis exhibition, usually at a Manhattan gallery. The department has a fine arts rather than a commercial orientation and seeks a balance between the traditional and the new in its mix of students, faculty, and course content. The faculty includes internationally recognized artists whose work is found in such prestigious museums as the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art, and who have garnered numerous prizes, awards, grants, fellowships, and other honors. Many are represented by galleries here and abroad. Being in the heart of the art world, the department draws on New York’s vast community of distinguished artists for our faculty and for the many visiting artists, art historians, critics, and curators who regularly lecture and give individual critiques of student work as part of a program that supplements the formal curriculum. In addition, our students have easy access to New York City’s great museums and countless galleries.
A large percentage of our graduates are successful artists, many of whom sell their work in commercial galleries. Many also teach at leading art schools and universities. Others have become commercial artists, illustrators, computer graphics designers, architects, art directors, cartoonists, art restorers, and fashion designers-bringing their fine-arts sensibilities to these related fields. A number have won such major honors as the Guggenheim, Fulbright, Pollock-Krasner, and the Prix de Rome.
Applicants must offer at least 36 credits in studio art and art history courses including a well-balanced distribution of credits in two- and three-dimensional art, installation, performance art, and/or time-based media acceptable to the Art Department.
Applicants must submit directly to the Art Department a selection of work emphasizing their intended area of concentration before February 1 for fall admission.
Applicants must also submit a completed application to Brooklyn College Graduate Studies. General matriculation and admission requirements of Graduate Studies are in the section “Admission” of the Graduate Bulletin.
Forty-eight credits are required for the degree.
Students must complete Art 7210X, 7910X, 7920X, 7940G, 7950G, and 7951G. Art 7940G, 7950G, and 7951G must be taken in sequence, usually beginning in the first semester of matriculation.
Students must also complete 21 additional credits in studio art courses, internships, independent study electives, or other electives outside the Art Department.
Students must also complete nine additional credits in art history courses. Art 7198G may be repeated for credit.
Independent creative work developed in Art 7940G, 7950G, and 7951G must culminate in a final exhibition with an accompanying artist’s statement about the work.
Courses in the Art Department offered toward the degree must be 7000-level courses.
The program of study must be approved by the deputy chair for graduate studio art.
For distinction in painting, the Art Department grants awards each term to a number of graduate students matriculated in the M.F.A. program.
Submit the following documents to the Office of Graduate Admissions:
Note: This application portal for portfolios has a file size limitation of 5MB. Files larger than this cannot be uploaded. If you prefer to submit large files, upload a single PDF file with a link to an external website where we can view your work. This may be a personal website, Google drive, Dropbox, Vimeo, or some other cloud-based folder. Do not have any viewing restrictions or special permissions so we can view your work easily. Do not submit any links that will expire after a fixed amount of time. The URL must point to a webpage or folder that contains only the artwork related to your application. We will not review outside of those you submit. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to e-mail Assistant Professor Eto Otitigbe.
Waitlisted students will be interviewed before final decisions are made.
Refer to the instructions at Graduate Admissions.
5144 Boylan Hall E: derrick.adams@brooklyn.cuny.edu P: 718.951.5000, ext. 3521
102 Whitehead Hall E: eto.otitigbe@brooklyn.cuny.edu P: 305.815.3149
5144 Boylan Hall E: kathleens@brooklyn.cuny.edu P: 718.951.5572
Or contact:
222 West Quad Center 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 E: grads@brooklyn.cuny.edu P: 718.951.4536
Mondays–Fridays, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
To make an appointment with a graduate admissions counselor, visit:
BC Admissions Appointment Tool
Brooklyn College is an integral part of the cultural and artistic energy of New York City. Our faculty members in the Department of Art offer incomparable expertise and tremendous talent, and each brings a unique perspective to their teaching and mentoring in and out of the classroom.
Through job fairs, the internship database, and internship panels, the Magner Career Center gives students in the art M.F.A. program access to career opportunities at a wide variety of employers, including:
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