Graduate Program

The Graduate School of Art's program is an intensive multidisciplinary experience centered on independent studio production and supported by the academic resources of a premier private research institution. At Washington University in St. Louis, graduate students cultivate and pursue the development of a personal body of work and lay the groundwork for a lifetime of artistic growth. Students are supported in their endeavors through access to individual studios and excellent art-making facilities and through individual attention from the College of Art and Graduate School of Art faculty, a diverse group of active and committed artists.

Each student’s course of study is self-directed and includes consultations and critiques with faculty, advisors, and visiting artists. Mentorship possibilities extend across the divisions of Washington University and reach beyond the university into the rich artistic community of St. Louis.

Graduate students working with different media are unified within a single dynamic graduate community. At the graduate level, media-based boundaries are permeable, providing access to a broad range of faculty expertise and College of Art resources, and expanding the breadth of dialogue among graduate students. Diverse approaches to art are encouraged among members of the graduate community. The rich history of artistic enterprise, built upon traditional concepts, tools, and materials, exist in dialogue with new and experimental modes of expression.

The Graduate School of Art maintains a full range of studio facilities. Two woodshops, a metal shop and foundry, a cold glass-working shop, and numerous kilns for ceramic work comprise our three dimensional facilities. Printmaking facilities provide for the production prints as large as five by ten feet as well as facilities for hand made paper. Significant investment is made in photography and digital imaging facilities as these technologies evolve. Other resources include the Carolyne Roehm Electronic Media Center, the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book, and the Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library.

Our Master of Fine Arts program is intensive and professional. The program is limited to fifteen new students per year to ensure a vigorous exchange of ideas, while providing a close, supportive community. Upon successful completion of their course of study, students at the Graduate School of Art are granted the terminal degree of Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art.