Graduate Programs

MFA Students in Creative Lab

Graduate Programs

The Master of Fine Arts program is a 60 credit hour, two-year professional program in Studio Art. The student is expected to demonstrate mastery of technique and processes in studio art.

In addition the student is required to demonstrate written and verbal competency through the preparation and defense of a thesis.

Applicants who wish to specialize in ceramics, design, fashion design, electronic studio, interior design, painting or sculpture must complete 60 credits of graduate coursework. The required categories of coursework includes:

  • 36 credits in Studio (24 credits in concentration area and 12 credits in elective studio courses)
  • 12 credits in Art History
  • 6 credits in Thesis Seminar.
  • 6 credits with the Thesis Advisor and Thesis Committee.
Learn More About the MFA Thesis

Admissions Information

Students applying for acceptance into the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) program must have a cumulative minimum GPA of 3.0 for admission into the program. Applicants with a GPA between 2.5 and 3.0 may be admitted on a provisional basis and may be required to take one or two undergraduate courses without credit towards the M.F.A. degree. To remove the provisional status, students must receive a satisfactory report from the instructor of such courses and must obtain a GPA average of 3.0 or better in their first semester at Howard. Failure to obtain the required GPA will result in automatic suspension of the student from the graduate program.

Applicants must also submit:

A portfolio of 20 digital images and videos of original creative works (with no more than 2-3 views of any single work), must be prepared and presented via the Slideroom.com portfolio submission portal (URL’s are also acceptable if the work is presented online in quality form) (http://huart.slideroom.com). Each image must be clearly labeled with the title of the work, materials or media of creation, size, and date of creation.

These original creative works must be prepared according to these general guidelines:

  1. Static Two-Dimensional imagery: JPEG or PNG Formats are acceptable;
     
  2. Three-Dimension Pieces (i.e. sculpture, ceramics, fashion, 3D modeling): JPEG Format including 2-3 views of the work OR video presentation including revolving views of the work;
     
  3. Motion graphics and video: MP4, Mv4, FLV and AVI Formats, links to YouTube and Vimeo portfolio pages are acceptable for motion graphics and video;
     
  4. Size of digital images: no less than 1200 x 1000 ppi (pixels per inch);
     
  5. Please include with each artwork submission in your presentation:
    • Title of the Work
    • Materials or Media used to create the work
    • Size of the actual piece of work represented by the digital images. Size of work should be relative to the media with which it was created (for traditional media, use inches; for static digital media, use pixel dimensions; and for motion graphics and video use pixel dimensions and time in minutes and seconds)
    • Date of creation
       
  6. Written Statement of Thesis Interest, Artist Statement, or Biographical Essay: A copy must be submitted with the portfolio;
     
  7. Two Letters of Recommendation: A copy of each reference must be submitted with the portfolio;
     
  8. Physical portfolios are still being accepted, but online submissions are preferred.

MFA Schemes and Course Descriptions

Fashion Design

Fashion Design MFA Scheme and Course Descriptions

Graphic Design

Graphic Design MFA Scheme and Course Descriptions

Interior Design

Interior Design MFA Scheme and Course Descriptions

Electronic Studio Arts

Graduate Student Project Type Range From  UX / UI, AR / VR,  Two and Three-Dimensional Animations, Special Effect Artists for TV and Film, Product Design, and Motion Graphics. Please visit E-Studio Arts Page for schemes and faculty information.