Program Overview
The Master of Fine Arts in Painting + Drawing + Printmaking is an intensive two-year course of study. We seek advanced students who are highly motivated, self-directed, and committed to painting and drawing as visual expression. We enroll between four and six MFA candidates each year, providing for a group of eight to ten students. Our graduate students work closely with a dedicated faculty of six professors who, in their own work, represent a broad range of contemporary painting. The Graduate Painting + Drawing Program emphasizes self motivated and intensive studio work and research. We encourage students to enroll in classes or seminars which are available in the university and the school at large. We encourage the cultivation of individual sensibility and the pursuit of each student’s unique artistic vision.
Why study Painting + Drawing + Printmaking at UW?
Studios + Facilities
Graduate students are each provided with a studio, and they have 24-hour access to many of the facilities needed for their work. The Painting + Drawing graduate studios are located in the School's Sand Point facilities.
EXPLORE SAND POINT STUDIOS + GALLERY
Work with nationally recognized faculty
The 3D4M faculty are nationally recognized practicing artists and researchers that prepare graduates to become research-driven, experimental, and conceptual art practitioners.
MEET THE PAINTING + DRAWING FACULTY
Degree Requirements
Students receive a Master of Fine Arts degree following the successful completion of a two-year course of study, a thesis, and the Graduate School Degree Requirements.
Credit requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 78 credits:
- ART 515 3D4M Studio (30 credits)
- ART 590 Interdisciplinary Grad Seminar (20 credits)
- ART 700 Master Thesis (10 credits)
- ART H 509 Seminar in Special Topics in Art History (5 credits)
- Electives (13–20 credits)
Thesis
The MFA thesis has a visual, written, and presentation component, and it is a degree requirement. Graduates spend their two years in the program developing a body of work while simultaneously shaping the written thesis. They conclude their thesis project by exhibiting their work in the MFA Thesis Exhibition in the spring of their final year.
Explore the 2024 Graduate Showcase