Massachusetts College of Art and the Fine Arts Work Center recently announced a unique collaboration that will allow MassArt to offer a low-residency Masters of Fine Arts program at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, beginning in September, 2005. As crafted, this MFA program will offer artists working in painting, drawing and mixed media an intensive and flexible program based in and inspired by an environment renowned for its beauty and artistic heritage. Candidates, to be selected by the Boston-based college, will study and work at the Fine Arts Work Center during four 24-day residencies in September and May. They will be taught and evaluated by a faculty of prominent resident and visiting artists, many of whom are affiliated with MassArt and/or have participated in FAWC's well-regarded Summer and Fall Workshop Programs.
During the periods between the Provincetown residencies, graduate students, many of whom are already pursuing careers in the arts, return home to work under the guidance of approved mentors who will visit their studios once a month. On-line art history and academic courses will support an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts of contemporary work, including their own. At the conclusion of the program, candidates will return to Provincetown for a final two-week residency in September to present their thesis shows, participate in thesis reviews and submit their written theses.
"MassArt is delighted to partner with the Fine Arts Work Center in offering a low-residency Masters of Fine Arts program in Provincetown," says George Creamer, Associate Dean of Graduate Education, Massachusetts College of Art. "Provincetown has played a significant role in the cultural heritage of this country. For over a century, its natural splendor and creative community have inspired and supported great artists and writers--and FAWC deftly continues that legacy. I can think of no other location, nor two institutions better committed to meeting the needs of visual artists."
Says FAWC Director Hunter O'Hanian, "We are pleased to be working with MassArt, which enjoys a reputation as one of the best schools of the visual arts in the nation. This collaboration allows FAWC to further its mission to sustain our Winter Fellowship Program as well as help cultivate the growth of the Provincetown arts community. Over the past ten years, the Work Center has expanded its programs in order to reach a wider and more diverse group of artists and writers. This new relationship and endeavor brings us to a new and exciting level."
Of educational and historical note, this is
the first known graduate level MFA degree program offered on Cape
Cod. This educational program is part of Campus
Provincetown
, the successful endeavor to use education to help stimulate the off-season economy in Provincetown.
For further information or to apply to the MFAWC program, potential candidates should contact George Creamer, Associate Dean of Graduate Education at MassArt, at 617-879-7163, or Nadia Savage, at 617-879-7162. To submit a formal application for the MFAWC program, download the MFA application from the MassArt website at
www.massart.edu or indicate in a cover letter that you are applying to the MFAWC program. The application requirements are the same as the standard Fine Arts 2D MFA application requirements and include 20-30 slides placed in a carousel. The application deadline will be in March 2005.
Established in 1873, Massachusetts College of Art was the first and remains the only freestanding public college of art and design in the US. Today it is the leader in arts education in Massachusetts and recognized nationally for offering broad access to a quality professional arts education, accompanied by a strong general education in the liberal arts. A major cultural force in Boston, MassArt offers public programs of innovative exhibitions, lectures and events. The college's state-of-the-art main campus is located in Boston's Fenway Cultural District beside the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts.
The MFA program at MassArt, in existence since 1974, offers five full-time fine arts concentrations and part- and full-time tracks in design. It draws students from leading national and international colleges and enrolls approximately 75 students annually. An equal-sized post-graduate art education program and an expansive Bachelor of Fine Arts program with over 1,300 students are also offered at the Boston campus.
In 1968, the Fine Arts Work Center was established to nurture the creative growth of visual artists and writers in the early stages of their careers. Founded by a group of eminent artists, writers and patrons including Stanley Kunitz, Robert Motherwell, Myron Stout, Alan Dugan, Jack Tworkov and Hudson D. Walker as an effort to preserve Provincetown as the oldest continuous art colony in the nation. FAWC is the first and largest long-term residency program in the country, designed specifically for emerging artists and writers. In addition to its primary Winter Fellowship residency program, the Work Center sponsors other distinguished programs throughout the year, including the Summer and Fall Workshop Programs, the Visiting Artist and Writers Series and the Returning, Collaborative and Long-term Residency Programs.
