Art, MA
Art, Art Critic, Art Educator, Art Theory, Artist, Designer, Fine Arts, Studio Art, Visual Artist
Does creativity live and breathe throughout your professional and personal life? Expand your art-making practice while engaging in interdisciplinary research and learning to contextualize your creative process within contemporary art.
The Master of Arts program in art enables you to professionalize and advance your studio art practice. You develop an expert understanding of how a medium of your choosing can be used in the field of contemporary art, while also leveraging the creativity and problem-solving inherent in art practice to inform the rest of your professional life.
This self-paced program consists of 30 credit hours of coursework and culminates in a practice-based thesis project. The coursework consists of graduate-level studio art and seminar courses. Situated between the Bachelor of Fine Arts in art and the Master of Fine Arts in art, the MA is ideal if you are a local student who has already earned a degree in art or a complementary field. You can enter the program from professions as varied as K-12 teacher and project manager.
In addition to the expansive curriculum, you benefit from the vast resources afforded by a Research I university. You are encouraged to engage with faculty across all disciplines and with renowned researchers from a number of departments across ASU. You also have access to the vibrant community of museums, galleries, businesses and cultural organizations in Phoenix and Tempe.
GI Bill® benefits
This reinstated program is not yet approved for use with GI Bill® benefits.
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/.
- College/school:
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
- Location: Tempe
- STEM-OPT extension eligible: No
30 credit hours and a portfolio
Required Core (3 credit hours) Electives (21 credit hours) Research (6 credit hours) Culminating Experience (0 credit hours) Additional Curriculum Information The culminating experience, a portfolio, is a group exhibition of MA students' work in the Harry Wood Gallery in the art building on the Tempe campus. Students create a small body of work --- two to three pieces --- to enter in this show. The portfolio is evaluated by the student's committee for a pass or fail grade. The 21 credit hours of electives can consist of any lecture, studio, research or seminar class at the 500 or 600 level, or any 500- or 600-level ART or ARA course offered at ASU. Students choose these classes with the help of the graduate program manager and their committee chair to enhance their interdisciplinary investigation.
ARA 589 Writing Art and Design Criticism (3)
ARS 586 Theories of Contemporary Art (3)
ART 592 Research (6)
portfolio (0)
Students complete a total of six credit hours of ART 592. They take one credit hour of this course in each of their first three semesters, with their committee chair or a faculty member from an appropriate discipline. Students take the remaining three credits with their committee chair in their final semester, leading to the culminating group exhibition.
General university admission requirements:
All students are required to meet general
university admission requirements.
U.S.
applicants | International
applicants | English
proficiency
Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
All applicants must submit:
- graduate admission application and application fee
- official transcripts
- current resume or CV
- portfolio
- statement of intent
- one letter of recommendation
- proof of English proficiency
Additional Admission Information
An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.
Admission is a two-step process. Although applicants fill out one online graduate application, they must be admitted to both the MA program and the Graduate College.
The portfolio should include a combination of 10 images with a maximum dimension of 1024 pixels and video files smaller than 60 MB each, and should be accompanied by a file list. The statement of intent should be no longer than 1,000 words and describe the applicant's artistic interests, reasons for applying to graduate school in general and the ASU School of Art in particular, and personal artistic goals.
The letter of recommendation should be from a professional colleague within or outside the field of art. Applicants should carefully follow instructions for submitting the letter of recommendation to the Graduate College.
The resume or CV, portfolio, statement of intent and letter of recommendation are submitted online via SlideRoom: https://asuherberger.slideroom.com/#/Login. Applicants may upload images (.jpg), videos (.mov, .wmv, .flv), music files (mp3) or PDF documents.
Applicants should see the program website for application deadlines.
| Session | Modality | Deadline | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session A/C | In Person | 04/15 | Final |
Graduates with an MA in art have employment opportunities with charter schools, art museums, nonprofit organizations and recreational or community-oriented service groups that offer art instruction. A master's degree may lead to increased earnings for art educators in some school districts and enable advancement to administrative positions. School of Art graduates are prepared to initiate creative careers as artists, scholars and educators in the public and private spheres. Graduates can apply the skills derived from this degree to other fields, leveraging the creativity and creative problem-solving that are key to art-making.
School of Art
|
ART 120
soaadmin@asu.edu
480-965-8521
Program term definitions
Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.
Accelerated master's
These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).
Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master's during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.
Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.
ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the "New Programs" option.
ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.
The Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) provides a reduced tuition rate to non-resident graduate students who qualify. Visit the WRGP/WICHE webpage for more information: https://graduate.asu.edu/wiche.
