The MFA at WCU is an interdisciplinary studio art program and creative research environment where ideas are given form. Through close association with a diverse faculty, visiting artists, scholars, and their peers, students develop a contextual and historical awareness of their practice focusing on exploration, creative research, and art making. The MFA at WCU positions students to engage in conceptual strategies towards the independence necessary to navigate as professional artists and creative world citizens.
The MFA degree at WCU is earned through a 60-credit program structure of coursework, independent creative research, and art production. Through close interaction with our faculty of professional practicing artists, students are given guidance and expertise in a wide variety of media that is rigorously examined, reviewed and critiqued. Students also engage in a broad range of related experiences in contemporary art through programs and initiatives to complement the development of their studio practice. All graduate students are provided with ample studio space and given the freedom of choice to work in a specific discipline or across any of our five areas: Ceramics, Painting/Drawing, Photography, Printmaking + Book-Arts, and Sculpture.
The current generation of students has learned to interface with the world in a whole new way, with the computer and mobile phone, as their main creative and communicative tools. They are fortunate and poised to take advantage of the possibilities and new initiatives across the spectrum of disciplines. Working with different perspectives and knowledge provides a cultural landscape where exciting and unexpected ideas can emerge from the exchange, embracing new forms of inquiry, new technologies, and new production.