Fine art

Immerse yourself in fine art, USD'southward environs is designed specifically for personal and creative discovery.

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The value of an MFA

It's not just about having amazing admission to all the new technologies, studio spaces and facilities in the College of Fine Arts. Earning your principal's in art involves calculation field of study and form to the inventiveness you've e'er enjoyed -- preparing you for a life as a creative leader and professional artist. Whether you lot're interested in teaching or in creating art, an MFA is 2 years of intensive focus and growth that fully immerses you in the exploration of making art. Our faculty are distinguished and professionally active artists and art historians who will inspire and challenge you. Our small class sizes let faculty to be invested in yous and provide shut, personal attention, it is one of the keys to our program's success. You lot'll have opportunities to showroom and share your work and become part of a community of art-minded peers to grow a network of lifelong friendships.

Whether you are passionate most graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking or sculpture, a Primary of Fine Arts (MFA) from USD provides a dynamic interdisciplinary environment you lot need to grow every bit an artist and go places with your career.

Degrees & Offerings

Art: Graphic Design (MFA)

Master's with Specialization

Vermillion Main Campus

You'll learn a rich array of graphic design tools and work with kinesthesia to broaden your understanding of the design field. Courses and field-based internships aid students develop innovative and mature portfolios.

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Art: Painting (MFA)

Master'south with Specialization

Vermillion Primary Campus

Bridging both the technical and conceptual approaches to painting, you will experience a rigorous and supportive environment that encourages creative thought and personal growth through inquiry, experimentation and critical discussion.

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Fine art: Photography (MFA)

Master'south with Specialization

Vermillion Main Campus

You will develop skills in traditional film, digital and experimental forms of photography. Explore techniques in photography development, press and creative process and participate in critiques, lectures and demonstrations on critical issues in photography.

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Fine art: Printmaking (MFA)

Master's with Specialization

Vermillion Main Campus

We mentor students to gain the knowledge and skills in both traditional and alternative printmaking processes as the means to develop their personal vocalism. You accept the opportunity to work in facilities that offering the full range of traditional and alternative printmaking processes to allow you to explore any aspect of the medium in your educational journey.

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Art: Sculpture (MFA)

Master's with Specialization

Vermillion Chief Campus

Your courses will explore cast metals, metal fabrication, woodworking, mixed media, carving, mold-making and installation projects with traditional and contemporary materials and processes. You'll have the opportunity for growth and development of individual aesthetics, concepts, technical abilities and a critical understanding of the discipline of sculpture equally practical to the production of gimmicky art.

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Commencement Your Application Today

Each program has unique application requirements and deadlines. Exist sure and consult the graduate catalog for detailed program information. It will ensure your application and materials are complete and submitted on time. To learn more than about the awarding procedure, visit how to employ.

  1. Completed application
  2. $35 application fee
  3. Official transcripts*
  4. Letters of recommendation*
  5. Admission test scores*
  6. Statement of purpose
  7. Resume/CV*

*Requirements for admission vary by programme and may require different documentation and have different deadlines. For more detailed admission requirements, please refer to the current graduate catalog at itemize.usd.edu. Additional requirements exist for international applicants. For more information, visit International Access Requirements.

Known for Excellence

With qualities like small course sizes, specialized programs and incredible pupil opportunities, USD is not your typical academy. What makes u.s. unique is what makes your education exceptional.

Student Opportunities

As a graduate student at USD, the opportunities available to you extend beyond the classroom. Explore your interests, detect your community and experience your education to the fullest extent through the post-obit opportunities.

Students painting in a gallery.

Proceeds real-world teaching feel while enjoying paid employment and discounted tuition rates as a graduate student at USD. The affordability you gain through graduate assistantships will equip you with professional-level skills that will gear up you apart later graduation.

Teaching and research assistantships are awarded by individual departments.  If you practice not receive an assistantship within your section, you are eligible for an assistantship outside of your bookish program or within support offices (non-bookish units) at USD. Further inquiries should be directed to the graduate chair of the department.

Your Adventure Awaits

Earn your art history credits over bound break! Our students have participated in exhibitions and kinesthesia-led programs around the globe, and our USD alumni help make those experiences affordable.

New York City

Consider a trip to New York City to experience art on display equally it was meant to be experienced. Immerse yourself in the culture, broadway shows, cuisine and popular architectural masterpieces and museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art, The Morgan Library & Museum, 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Christie's Auction House, Trinity Church, St. Paul'south Chapel & Graveyard, Harlem Museum, The Frick Collection, Cathedral of St. John the Devine, VOLTA New York, Brooklyn Museum and more.

Italia

Detect the fine art and compages of Italy over spring break while earning your art history credits. Written report abroad tours are an feel of a lifetime, giving you a chance to raise your coursework through cultural immersion. Explore sites in Rome such as the Colosseum, Vatican Museum, St. Pater's Basilica and Sistine Chapel. Additional stops historically accept included Assisi, Florence, Ravenna and don't forget Venice for your gondola ride!

Learn More link to Written report Away/Faculty-Led Plan page https://www.usd.edu/gc/study-abroad

USD is home to more 170 student organizations, including several that are housed in the Department of Art. You may be interested in joining the Pupil Fine art Alliance (SAA), Midwest Press, American Institute of Graphic Art Student Chapter (AIGA), Sculpture Culture or the Graduate & Professional Educatee Association (GPSA) to develop new skills and explore your interests.

Student Art Brotherhood (SAA)

Open to students in any major, the SAA promotes the visual arts within the community. Weekly meetings bring members together to collaborate on fine art projects that improve the agreement of fine art and opportunities for local involvement.

Midwest Printing

Midwest Printing members attend meetings, create exhibition opportunities and review national conferences with the goal of bringing printmaking to the USD community.

American Institute of Graphic Arts Student Chapter (AIGA)

Graphic blueprint majors can get involved in the local design community, create a community of their own and build leadership skills that will be invaluable as they move into the professional person world. Members nourish weekly meetings and interact on blueprint projects for local businesses.

Sculpture Civilization

Attend meetings, national conferences and exhibitions through Sculpture Club. Members work to fund projects and strive to bring sculpture to USD and Vermillion, while creating a community of their ain.

Graduate & Professional Educatee Association (GPSA)

Join your fellow graduate and professional students at USD. We aim to build a sense of community betwixt graduate and professional students. Build your resume, network with others and gain experience and the unique opportunity to represent the interests of graduate students to the greater campus and community.

Explore All Educatee Organizations

Presentation in a gallery featuring tall metal sculptures

Equally a fine art pupil at USD, y'all will have a variety of opportunities to share your piece of work with others both on campus and within the customs to build a robust professional portfolio of your piece of work.

Portfolio Reviews

Almanac student reviews are role of our ongoing process of evaluation and testing of the MFA program. This method of periodic cess is strongly supported by the National Association of Schools of Arts and Pattern, the school'southward accreditation agency to provide the entire kinesthesia and students the opportunity to review, critique and assess student work during their years of written report.

These reviews support the art section in its ain self-evaluation by gauging strengths and weaknesses in its curricula, teaching methods and plan objectives. Additionally, the reviews foster student self-evaluation through comparison with the work of fellow students, providing a basis for increasing critical insight and analysis among students and between students and kinesthesia. Almost importantly, these reviews serve as a checkpoint piece of work test of each educatee'due south ability and potential to successfully go on in a caste program.

Gallery Attractions

The Academy Fine art Galleries consists of 3 galleries, located throughout the University of South Dakota's campus. The galleries educate the university and community through rotating contemporary and historical art exhibitions, artist lectures, enquiry programs and campus events.

  • John A. Day Gallery
  • Oscar Howe Gallery
  • Gallery 110
  • Permanent Collection

Student Opportunities

  • Northern Plains Indian Art Residency
  • Oscar Howe Curatorial Fellowship

Explore University Art Galleries  https://www.usd.edu/fine-arts/uag

At USD, you lot can pursue unique enquiry, artistic scholarship opportunities and many exhibitions to share your piece of work with others both on campus and within the community. You lot will piece of work closely with a professor to supervise your thesis research project. Depending on your specialization, the MFA degree may require a written thesis in support of your final thesis exhibition. Providing a research document in back up of your thesis exhibition and artwork, it frames your work within historical and modern contexts, cites relevant historical and recent influences on your work and explains how your artwork and final exhibition contributes to the expertise in your discipline.

Link to Graduate Student Research folio

Departments & Facilities

Explore the departments, facilities and centers that contribute to your education in the just College of Fine Art in the country.

Art

The Department of Art will provide y'all with unique and applicative real-earth experience and connections that enable you to immerse yourself in an environment congenital for personal and artistic discovery.

kinesthesia and staff

Get to know the faculty and staff in the Department of Fine art. Our kinesthesia are experts in their field, contributing inquiry and scholarship in art teaching, the history of art, photography, sculpture and much more.

Art Immersion in NYC

USD art majors have the opportunity to visit the New York Urban center studios of today's tiptop visual artists on a once in a lifetime, all-expenses-paid trip. This unequalled educational feel is provided through the expertise and generosity of USD alumna art collector John Thomson and other generous donors, including Tom and Nancy Gallagher. During a long weekend, students visit up to 15 studios plus the Museum of Modernistic Art and the Metropolitan Museum, tour Thomson's personal collection, and feel the sights, sounds, and tastes of New York City.

This world-class plan affords students unparalleled access to and conversations with contemporary visual artists. They acquire about the artists' private practices, see a variety of studio spaces, and view works in progress before they are seen past the outside world. The trip inspires students step out of their daily lives and into the world.

Network with Visiting Artists

As an art student, yous'll have access to nationally and internationally recognized artists, designers and lecturers through USD'south visiting artist program. Artists travel to campus to nowadays their work, conduct workshops, critique educatee works and facilitate classes. The artists share expertise and provide professional connections for students to admission as they brainstorm their careers.

Previous guest speakers include Eric Conrad, Yoonmi Nam, Dennis McNett, Pat Boyd, Tracy Otten, Ellie Honl and more.

Our Artists in action

Surprisingly Affordable

Whether you've recently completed your undergraduate degree, or you lot want to kick your career up a notch, graduate school is the next logical step. The skillful news is there are a lot of funding options for both online and on-campus students to get you through your program.

Resident & WRGP

MN Residents

Non-Resident

Tuition (9 cr.)

3061.35

4398.75

5886.45

Fees (9 cr.)

497.seven

497.seven

497.seven

Books (estimate)

360

360

360

More than Almost Tuition & Fees

This is an estimate tuition charge per unit* per credit hour and other factors such as special fees associated with your program may change the cost of tuition. Tuition rates are bailiwick to change.

If you are wondering about how to pay for graduate school, there are boosted funding options to consider.

Hear from a USD Alum