Join a fine arts program that’s designed for serious makers looking to refine and expand their creative practice. Develop skills and connect with other artists in a deeply engaged community.
Master of Fine Arts
Graduate
60
2 Years
Portland
Our alumni have used the skills they've developed in our graduate degree program in a variety of ways. They have become exhibiting artists and vibrant members of the art community. Learn how our alumni are paving paths in the art world.
Mai Ide is a Portland-based artist from Tokyo whose multidisciplinary work explores cultural intersectionality and identity through salvaged textiles and sashiko stitching. Blending vulnerability and resilience, Ide examines the complexities of being an immigrant, mother, and woman in a volatile society.
Claire Frances Spaulding is a Portland artist whose work uses fiber, sculpture, and text to explore kitsch, ecology, and camp. Through humor, ornamentation, and found materials, Spaulding reimagines plastic and permanence in a world of ecodread and aesthetic excess.
Learn from a diverse group of artist-educators who specialize in a range of mediums and platforms—and whose works have been shown, shared, read, and reviewed around the world. Connect with visiting artists and experience one-on-one mentorship with our instructors to build a creative community.
Garrick Imatani, Associate Professor and Chair of the MFA in Visual Studies program at PNCA, is an internationally exhibited artist and recipient of numerous fellowships and grants. He brings diverse experience, from community education to higher ed, ensuring students gain practical skills and critical perspectives in contemporary art.
Emily Ginsburg is a New York–born artist whose work explores human behavior, media, and daily rituals, with exhibitions and commissions nationally and internationally. She is Professor and Chair of Intermedia, Video, and Sound at PNCA, where she has shaped interdisciplinary programs and taught for over 30 years.
Ryan Pierce, Assistant Professor, Chair of Low Residency Visual Studies, is a Portland-based artist whose paintings and prints explore nature’s resilience amid climate chaos. He has exhibited internationally, received major grants and residencies, co-founded Signal Fire, and serves on the Board of the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology.
Your two years at PNCA will include a combination of dedicated studio time, contemporary art and critique seminars, critical studies and research courses, and electives of your choice. Our trips, residencies, and visiting artists programs are an extension of our curriculum. Our flexible program reflects contemporary culture and allows you to focus your creative practice in multiple disciplines for diverse audiences. Focus or combine mediums such as painting, installation, performance, digital fabrication, writing, ceramics, photography, printmaking, sculpture, sound, video, and AR/VR.
Join a dynamic community where you can refine and expand your artistic vision through weekly critiques and cross-disciplinary dialogue. Engage with artists, scholars, and critics, and participate in presentations that challenge conventional ideas and foster creative growth.
Immerse in contemporary art-making strategies and critical dialogues through engaging lectures, gallery visits, and guest speakers. Dive deep into the interconnected world of art and theory, exploring significant ideas while developing your research and presentation skills.
The MFA in Visual Studies requires time spent on studio work every semester as well as the completion of courses in Graduate Critique Seminar across multiple terms, a Contemporary Art Seminar, and a Critical Studies course. Students also need to complete several elective credits. The program culminates with Thesis Writing, ensuring a comprehensive and well-rounded education in visual arts.
Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies offers renewable Merit Scholarships to students who demonstrate excellence in their areas of creative practice. Merit scholarships are assessed based on the strength of the student’s application. In awarding merit scholarships we consider each student’s portfolio (if applying to a studio-based program), personal history of scholastic achievement, as well as their contributions to culture and community. No separate application is required to be considered for merit scholarships.
Willamette University