Program Director: Corinne Diop
Email: diopcj@jmu.edu
Program Description
The School of Art, Design and Art History offers the Master of Fine Arts degree in Art with a concentration in Studio Art. The M.F.A. student at JMU is expected to embrace an interdisciplinary approach to art making resulting in new works of art that rely on diverse and unconventional methods of studio practice and inquiry. The program promotes visual arts practice as a critical form of research inquiry that is both relevant and necessary within a 21st century context.
The M.F.A. degree is awarded for a high level of professional competence. The M.F.A. in art is designed to provide studio, historical and theoretical studies in art at a level advanced beyond the preliminary professional baccalaureate degree, the B.F.A. in art.
This program is designed to be completed in 3 years. Summer courses are required.
Mission
The mission for the Master of Fine Arts program is to challenge and support independently motivated artists in their intellectual, philosophical and artistic development. The graduate program encourages life-long learning, career success and community involvement.
Goals and Objectives
- To offer study in collaboration with an exemplary faculty who challenge candidates to develop artistic skills demonstrating a professional competence.
- To advance each candidate's ability to articulate a personal aesthetic, philosophical and conceptual mode of individual inquiry.
- To equip candidates with a deepened knowledge of artistic history and culture as it relates to their chosen area(s) of artistic pursuit.
- To graduate candidates who have a heightened awareness of contemporary issues and who are prepared to develop an artistic career beyond the university as engaged and productive members of their communities.
Application Requirements
In addition to the requirements of The Graduate School, applicants must meet additional qualifications established by the School of Art, Design and Art History, including: three letters of recommendation, transcripts of undergraduate degree work, an artist's statement, a statement of intent for pursuing graduate study, and a portfolio of 15 - 20 examples of current artwork with descriptions. Please visit the SADAH website for specific information.
Application and Portfolio Deadlines
February 1, 2026 is the deadline to be guaranteed consideration for admissions. Thereafter, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.
Program Requirements
The Master of Fine Arts degree is considered the professional and terminal degree in studio art. The degree requires a minimum of 60 credit hours. In addition to the general admission requirements, the prospective graduate student in the Master of Fine Arts program must have an undergraduate degree with a minimum of 33 credit hours in studio art and nine credit hours in art history. It is recommended that the art history hours include six hours surveying the history of Western art or the equivalent and three hours in upper-level art history.
The minimum requirement for the Master of Fine Arts degree in art is 60 hours of graduate credit. The 60 credits must include 42 credit hours of studio art, including thesis credits, 9 credit hours of academic classes in art history or theory at the 500-600 level, and 9 credits of graduate level electives.
A Master of Fine Arts candidacy review will be held after 18 credit hours have been completed to determine whether the student’s growth and potential merit continuation in the Master of Fine Arts program. At the end of each semester, graduate studio faculty will participate in an open graduate review of the student’s work where each student will formally present their work to the graduate faculty, graduate students and any others in attendance for discussion.
During the last two semesters of the program of study, the Master of Fine Arts candidate will enroll in ART 700. By the end of the final semester, the student must complete a thesis exhibition, a gallery talk, and a scholary document clarifying the student’s work, its development, and its cultural and historical references. The scholarly document must be formatted to suit The Graduate School thesis guidelines and deadlines and must have images of the thesis exhibition inserted. An oral comprehensive examination, generally in conjunction with the exhibition and closely related to the scholarly document, must also be completed.
Up to 30 hours of graduate credit from James Madison University, or nine hours of graduate credit from other accredited institutions, may be accepted toward the Master of Fine Arts degree if a) the credits were earned within the last six years, b) the student received a minimum grade of "B", c) the transfer credit is from an institution offering a comparable degree, and d) the student submits this request with the application to The Graduate School and the application is supported by transcripts and portfolio of artwork from the courses taken at other institutions.
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| Graduate Integrative Studio (Repeated six times for a total of 18 credits.) | |
| Contextual Practice (Must complete a total of 6 credits.) | |
| 24 |
| 12 |
| Topics in Art | |
| Graduate Studio Practice | |
| 12 |
| 9 |
| Topics in Art | |
| The Museum: History and Controversies | |
| Topics in African Art | |
| Renaissance Art and the East | |
| Topics in Nineteenth-Century Art | |
| Commemoration and Controversy: A History of Public Art in America | |
| Modern Art Since 1945 | |
| Topics in Modern Art | |
| Art of the Americas | |
| Monticello | |
| Topics in American Art History | |
| Topics in Art History | |
| 9 |
| 9 |
| 9 |
| Thesis Research (Must be taken for a total of 6 credits.) | |
| 6 |
| Total Credits | 60 |
