As an art and design school, and a hub of innovative thinking, MCAD is uniquely suited to support performative work. The Twin Cities’ thriving arts community also has several organizations, which support many approaches to performance.

Twin Cities Resources

EVENTS

• Walker Art Center Performing Arts – internationally recognized multidisciplinary contemporary art center; hosts “Out There” performance series every winter
• Skewed Visions – expanding notions of performance through interdisciplinary collaboration, and actor/ audience education/ development; hosts Petri Dish, a series of discussions exploring the relationship between specific works of art — whether film, text, sound, or performance — and process of thinking about/ creating new work. They often work out of Fresh Oysters Performance Research, a shared studio space in Minneapolis

PLACES/VENUES

• Hair + Nails Gallery – while not specifically/only geared towards performance, this local gallery does showcase a lot of it
• The White Page – while not specifically/only geared towards performance, this local gallery does showcase a lot of it
• Pancake House Minneapolis – while not specifically/only geared towards performance, this local gallery does showcase a lot of it
• Weisman Art Museum’s Target Studio for Creative Collaboration – space dedicated to collaborations between artists and scholars. It is a workplace, a convening space, a laboratory, a gallery, and a classroom. It hosts workshops, discussions, exhibitions, performances, and symposia. It is dynamic, evolving, and unpredictable, as all true collaborations are.
• Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) – serves as the city of Minneapolis’s Community Media (Public Access) Center; strengthens the community through the free exchange of information and ideas in the media – anyone can congregate and create unique, individual programming.

LOCAL THEATERS HOSTING PERFORMANCE ART

• Bryant-Lake Bowl Theatre
• Southern Theatre
• Heart of the Beast Theatre
• Open Eye Theatre
• Mixed Blood Theatre
• Pillsbury House Theatre
• Pangea World Theatre

REGIONAL FUNDING

Additionally, MCAD’s MFA program can help you apply to several regional sources of funding. For some awards, you can apply during the summer between your first and second year to receive funding in the months after graduating.

• Red Eye’s Works-In-Progress Program
• Naked Stages Fellowship Program
• Midway Contemporary Art Visual Arts Fund
• Jerome Foundation Grants
• Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program
• Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Grants
• Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants (can apply as a student, but project cannot be associated with your degree program)
• McKnight Foundation Grants
• and more (the funding environment in MN is ever-evolving and growing)

Equipment & Space at MCAD

M/LAB is a 13,282-square-foot space fostering innovation and collaboration. You can check it out on our virtual building tour. It contains:

• Media Center (check out photography, film, digital, animation, lighting, sound, VR/AR, and exhibition AV technology)
• Black Box Gallery
• Analog and digital print studios
• Film and animation production studios
• Digital photo lab
• Sound recording and mixing studio
• Web and multimedia studio
• High-tech classrooms
• 2 multi-use production studios

Mentors / Faculty

Students can select their mentors from the MCAD faculty and/or the professional community of the Twin Cities. Mentorship is regarded as the core of the MCAD graduate curriculum. Students can expect to spend approximately one hour per week with their mentor (or equivalent). Each semester the student and mentor determine its content based on the student’s goals.

See the Recent Mentors to get a sense of who our students are working with. 

Visiting Artists

Visiting artists, designers, and critics are a central element of Graduate Critique Seminar. Each week a visitor is invited to present their work and critique two students’ work during class. By the time a student has completed the MFA Program, they will have seen approximately 30 different in-class visitors. Additionally, the MFA Program regularly invites artists for clusters of studio visits.

Professional Practices & Career Development

Each semester, we host a series of talks/workshops focused on professional practices (alumni are invited to attend, and we feature alumni as speakers when possible). Topics range widely and are selected based on current student interests and suggestions.

The Twin Cities is one of the most vibrant and diverse arts communities in the US. Current students can take an MCAD van to visit studies/organizations, and are encouraged to explore alumni spaces. Alumni are also invited to join in on these trips.

Alumni

You can view an on-going list of MFA alumni highlights here. Some recent call outs include:

• Kelley A. Meister ’08, Artists On the Verge 11 Fellowship 2019
• Emmett Ramstad ’07, Artist Initiative Grant 2019
• Preston Drum ’16, MN Artist Initiative Grant 2018
• Kelley A. Meister ’08, MN Artist Initiative Grant 2019

Here are a few recent alumni:

• Kayla Campbell
• Emmett Ramstad
• Zoe Cinel
• Preston Drum
• Katie Lupton
• Alissa McCourt
• Kelley Meister
• Nora Spiekermann
• Peng Wu

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