Master of Arts in Art
Applications
For admission consideration to Ceramics, Crafts (including Jewelry/Metalsmithing and Woodworking), Creative Photography (MA), Creative Photography and Experimental Media (MFA), Drawing and Painting, Glass, Graphic and Interactive Design, Illustration, and Sculpture.
For more information, please visit our "Graduate Studies in Art" page.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in ART HISTORY
OVERVIEW The MA program in Art History is designed to prepare graduate students for teaching positions, jobs in arts organizations, or further study at the doctoral level. Our program is tailored to the individual student’s interests and career goals at every stage, from study plan to thesis topic. The thesis process offers students time to determine their area of expertise, encouraging both primary research (interviews and archival work) and secondary research (scholarly monographs and journal articles) that help them define their academic path through intense work in visual analysis, critical thinking, and scholarly writing in the field of art history.
Students work directly with a faculty advisor (committee chair) to develop a program that allows them to explore the field of art history, gaining skills in visual analysis, research, presentations, and scholarly writing. Graduate Students are encouraged with both contemporary and traditional context investigations and research to support individual artistic development in consultation with program advisor, faculty and peers.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in CERAMICS
OVERVIEW MA students in Ceramics pursue areas of practice and research in pottery, sculpture, installation, design, decoration, and other diverse ceramic processes and concepts. Graduate students are encouraged to explore both contemporary and traditional practices, and to conduct research that supports their individual artistic development in consultation with their program advisor, faculty, and peers.
Ceramics at CSU Fullerton promotes an open learning environment where students hone their visual literacy skills within a contemporary art context informed by the tradition of the medium. Graduate level classes encourage advanced aesthetic and conceptual development through self-directed exploration and teaching pedagogy.
Practical/professional consultations are available to students upon request. Topics include: how to photograph your work; gallery and museum practices; art handling; installing and de-installing a show; career counseling; and tips for creating a cohesive, idividualistic body of work.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in CRAFTS (Wood and Jewelry/Metalsmithing)
OVERVIEW The Master of Arts in Art with a concentration in Crafts program provides the technical skills and design abilities to become practicing artists within the field of crafts. MA graduate students study contemporary issues in crafts with an emphasis on hand-skills, technologies, processes, aesthetic principles, and individual stylistic development for media-based functional art. They also study the business aspects of developing a line of objects that are the products of their studio practice.
A successful graduate student will possess the ability to sustain a crafts’ studio in their chosen media and communicate these skills visually with a culminating professional gallery presentation of their project. The MA program is designed so that a graduate of the program can sustain a productive crafts studio in professional practice and can be a preparatory program towards the terminal degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art with a concentration in Crafts.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY AND EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA
OVERVIEW Graduate work in creative photography and experimental media, encourages self-expression by exploring the potential of the image as it relates to history, culture, social and aesthetic concerns within the visual arts. Students are challenged to confront issues brought about by a medium undergoing accelerated change and transition. The program encourages exploration of all forms of photography (black & white, color and digital), video and sound, installation, performance and experimental media. In the end, the student must seek a personal vision culminating in a body of work that is intellectually and artistically challenging.
Links for CSUF Creative Photography
Creative Photo Club, Camera Absurda
Youtube
Instagram
tumblr
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in DRAWING & PAINTING
Graduate work in Drawing & Painting encourages individual personal expression unlimited in conceptual scope. The program fosters an environment that enables passionately committed students to develop a serious approach to the development of the art form. Students of the program have the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue that informs their work, which results in a highly energized and intense program.
Links
Instagram:
@csuf_painting
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in GLASS
OVERVIEW The Master of Arts with a Cencentration in Glass is a comprehensive study program for students with advanced proficiency and focus committed to becoming professional artists. It emphasizes a mixed-media, cross disciplinary approach to art making and is designed to encourage students to create their own informed definition of art through rigorous investigation and personal conceptual development.
Graduate students in the Glass program are involved in every aspect of the contemporary studio glass experience. They assist in the design and construction of technical studio glass-making equipment such as glass melting furnaces and annealing ovens and serve as teaching assistants in the undergraduate Glass courses.
In order to expose our students to contemporary glass artists, we developed the Greater Southern California Glass Symposium. This visiting artist program brings internationally renowned glass artists to campus each semester to conduct lectures and workshops, giving our graduate students an opportunity to assist some of the best artists in their field.
Glass graduate students are also required to apply to summer glass workshops like the Pilchuck Glass School, The Pennland School of Crafts, and the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass. Our program is a participant in the Pilchuck Partners Scholarship Program, and we receive a scholarship from the premier glass school for one of our students to attend an intensive workshop each summer.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in GRAPHIC AND INTERACTIVE DESIGN
OVERVIEW The MA program within Graphic and Interactive Design focuses on preparing graduate students to reenter the workforce, and to take up a leadership role within the professional design community. MA graduate students study contemporary issues with an emphasis on pragmatics, methodology, processes, aesthetic principles, visual thinking, and visual problem-solving skills for visual communications. A successful graduate student will possess the ability to communicate these ideas, both visually and verbally, to others. The MA program is designed so that a graduate student can reenter the workforce, or as a preparatory program towards a terminal degree.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in ILLUSTRATION
OVERVIEW The focus of the program is to deepen the students understanding of craft and visual problem solving skills demonstrated in a portfolio that prepares graduate students to reenter the workforce. MA graduate students study contemporary and historic issues in illustration with an emphasis on story concepts, design, color theory, perspective, theatrical composition and lighting, stylization, further development of the drawing and painting process, visual problem solving, and portfolio presentation. A successful graduate student will possess the ability to communicate these ideas, both visually and verbally, to others. The MA program is designed so that a graduate student can reenter the workforce, or as a preparatory program towards a terminal degree.
Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in SCULPTURE
OVERVIEW The MA program in Sculpture can be approached as a self-contained graduate program, or as a preparatory program towards a terminal degree. As a preparatory program, it affords the student the opportunity to develop and refine their artistic direction and produce a solid, coherent portfolio before entering the MFA program.
Candidates for the MA and MFA degrees also serve as sculpture lab monitors throughout their program. This voluntary position provides candidates with valuable experience overseeing and assisting undergraduate students with issues related to their work, and allows the department to maintain supervised, open lab times outside of class.
