The MCAD MFA program is a community of makers, thinkers, theorists, researchers, and creative professionals. Our student body is diverse with a robust international presence. Subjects of student inquiry responds to social, cultural, and professional needs as well as to entrepreneurial opportunities, stretching across art and design practices. Students in the program pursue creative work in a lively, interdisciplinary environment that includes graphic design, printmaking, paper & book arts, painting, photography, illustration, sculpture, drawing, animation, interactive media, filmmaking, comic arts, furniture design, and installation art.

The MCAD MFA program pivots around a rigorous one-on-one mentor-based model. Graduate students work with mentors who are experts in their fields. For three semesters, this intensive experience is augmented by equally challenging critique seminars and theory courses. Midway through the process, students engage in a formal review with a committee of faculty who suggest, evaluate and guide students’ projects. The concluding semester of the candidate experience culminates with a public exhibition of the thesis project and its defense.

The MCAD MFA program is an active part of a contemporary and vibrant creative community in Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the program utilizes the expertise of world-class faculty and professionals. A successful candidacy will allow students to join professional and/or academic life, having mastered at a high level their discipline as practitioners.