Graphic Design (MFA)
The graphic design program focuses on the development of a cohesive, investigative body of work, also known as the student’s thesis. At Yale, the graphic design thesis is conceived as a loose framework within which each student’s visual method is deployed across many diverse projects during the two-year course of study. While every thesis project is unique, there are several common features: a focus on methodology, the application of a visual method to studio work, and the organization of the work in a thoughtfully argued written document and “Thesis Book.”
The individual collection of graphic design work by each student is supported on several levels simultaneously: studio work led by faculty meeting weekly; small six-person thesis groups meeting biweekly; individual sessions with writing and editing tutors; and lectures, presentations, and workshops.
Two-year and preliminary-year programs
Each year, up to twelve students are admitted into the two-year graphic design program, and up to six students are admitted into the preliminary-year program. Two-year program students typically have a BFA in Graphic Design and are expected to have substantial and distinguished professional experience. Students applying to the preliminary-year program typically have relevant experience in a field of study outside design and demonstrate evidence of strong visual acuity. After successful completion of the preliminary year, these students automatically continue on in the two-year M.F.A. program.
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Painting and Printmaking (MFA)
Instruction in the program is rooted in the investigation of painting as a unique genre with its own complex syntax and history. Within this setting, the program encourages diversity of practice and interpretation, innovation, and experimentation.
Approximately twenty-one students are admitted each year. At the core of instruction are individual and group critiques with faculty, visiting critics, and visiting artists. In addition, students participate in a variety of seminars taught by both faculty and critics. The study of printmaking is integrated into the painting program, and a student may concentrate in painting, printmaking, or a combination of the two.
Students work in individual 300-square-foot studios at 353 Crown Street adjacent to Green Hall. Students have access to a printmaking workshop in the Crown Street building, equipped with two etching presses and a lithography press, a fully equipped silkscreen facility, as well as digital resources available in the print studio, throughout the School, and at the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.
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Photography (MFA)
Photography is a two-year program of study admitting ten students a year. Darkroom, studio, and computer facilities are provided. Students receive technical instruction in black-and-white and color photography as well as nonsilver processes and digital image production.
The program is committed to a broad definition of photography as a lens-based medium open to a variety of expressive means. Students work both individually and in groups with faculty and visiting artists. In addition, a critique panel composed of faculty and other artists or critics meets weekly, as well as for a final review each term, to discuss student work.
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Sculpture (MFA)
The sculpture program offers students the opportunity to develop their work in a supportive environment consisting of critical feedback in a broad array of diverse voices. The field of sculpture includes a varied collection of working methods and outcomes—one set of tools is not privileged over another—creating a healthy and experimental program that mirrors the issues facing artists outside of the institution. Students work independently in individual studio spaces and have access to common areas for the critique of their work. 36 Edgewood houses the sculpture program and has a woodworking shop, a metal shop, and a computer lab, while additional resources are offered by the School of Art and the University at large. No metal-casting or ceramic facilities are available.
The main focus of this program is to facilitate the development of conversation and constructive critique among students and faculty. Our aim is to articulate student work vis-à-vis its own trajectory and in relation to art history and the current moment. This conversation is formally structured to take place one-on-one between students and faculty, in small groups, and within a larger group involving the whole sculpture department.
Approximately ten students are admitted each year.
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Critical Practice
Critical Practice is not a formal area of study in the School of Art; however, the critical and theoretical elements undergirding the studio-based practice of students extends through multiple courses and initiatives offered throughout the School. These initiatives include ongoing cooperations with other professional schools and departments at the University that take the form of interdisciplinary workshops, international fellowships and residencies, seminar series, applied research projects, and extensive public programming—all of which seeks to engage multiple disciplines and a broader public in expanding the pedagogical framework surrounding the study of art.Editor details
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All-School / Interdisciplinary
Studies in interdisciplinary media, as well as in film and video, are not formal areas of study in the School of Art; however, a number of students work primarily in film/video or interdisciplinary media while enrolled in other areas.
The School offers graduate video courses taught by practicing video artists. These classes address fundamental technical issues as well as the far more challenging questions of the contemporary practice of video by artists and this medium’s relation to other forms of art practice. Classes in video are taught in a variety of locations throughout the School of Art and are attended by students from all areas of study.
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