Degree Program: Master of Fine Arts
Chair, Department of Art and Design: Marc Handelman, Associate Professor
Master of Fine Arts in Design
Director, Graduate Program in Design in the Department of Art and Design: Jacqueline Thaw, Associate Professor
The Rutgers master of fine arts (M.F.A.) degree in design is a 60-credit, two-year, full-time course of study that combines creative work and critical inquiry. This program focuses on research-driven design and enables collaborations with scholars and experts throughout all fields of study at Rutgers University. Students delve deeply into the innovative use of technology and interdisciplinary research in the creation of publications, experiences, exhibitions, information, interfaces, and more. This program prepares designers for a contemporary design studio practice that contributes to the future of arts, science, humanities, and technology.
Adjunct faculty include American Artist, Yoonjai Choi, and Laurel Shwulst. Among the guest speakers are Laura Coombs, Shannon Finnegan, Ayham Ghraowi and Matt Wolff, Neema Githere, David Reinfurt, Juliette Cezzar, Randy Hunt, E. Roon Kang, Neil Donnelly, Prem Krishnamurthy, Caspar Lam and YuJune Park, Surya Mattu, and Paul Sahre.
Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts
Director, Graduate Program in Visual Arts in the Department of Art and Design: Natalie Bookchin, Professor
The Rutgers master of fine arts (M.F.A.) degree in visual arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts was established in 1960 as the first nondisciplinary-specific fine art graduate program in the United States. Today, the two-year, full-time program continues to flourish through the rigorous cultivation of community, dialogue, experimentation, and creative thinking and making across media, approaches, and perspectives. Graduate students pursues their creative work in dialogue with each other, with faculty, and with the greater community. We are diverse, tight-knit, and pluralistic community of artists, and our graduate students contribute to and benefit from all that our community offers. Our location, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, offers our students the space and time to concentrate and immerse themselves in their creative pursuits while only an hour away from New York City and from Philadelphia.
Each semester, the school invites a wide range of artists, critics, and curators to visit, providing students with opportunities to explore current ideas and developments. Among the guests who have visited the school are El Arakawa, Fia Backstrom, Yevgeniya Baras, Cara Benedetto, Anna Betbeze, Meriem Bennani, Michael Berryhill, Huma Bhabha, Hannah Black, Aki Sasamoto, Elizabeth Glaessner, Hugh Hayden, Sharon Hayes, Gregor Huber, Amy Yao, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Camilo Godoy, Mika Rottenberg, Cameron Rowland, Sable Elyse Smith, Anna Shteynshleyger, A.L. Steiner, Mimi Smith, Lumi Tan, Stewart Uoo, Geo Wyeth, and Layga Nuna Yawar.
Graduate Programs in Art and Design
