MFA

Stamps faculty’s broad range of research interests include:

transdisciplinary design; performative technologies; art and commerce; audio narrative; critical race theory; art and early childhood development; art and physics; hybridized narratives and memory; physical computing; graphic novels as diaries; speculative morphologies; the mediated landscape; optics; displacement, migration and alienation; women’s criminalization and censorship; food systems design, figuration, cyberfeminism, tactical media, critique of consumerism, social justice; the body as screen; reproductive technology; sustainable communities; and exploratory digital fabrication techniques and more…

Expanding the Reach of Creative Work

Designed for artists whose studio practice actively engages fields

of knowledge beyond the cultures of art and design, the Stamps

School’s two-year MFA offers one of the most resource-rich and trans-

disciplinary programs in the country. Students are expected to develop

a robust engagement with another field of inquiry and to carry out

creative work informed by and interacting with that field.

MFA candidates exhibit, curate, teach, perform, network, investigate,

explore, present, produce, innovate, and collaborate with fields of

inquiry as varied as nanotechnology and disability studies, climatology

and creative writing.

Faculty Mentors and Collaborators

As a small, intimate art school within the context of a large, world-

renowned research university, Stamps’ full-time faculty of internationally

recognized artists and scholars work closely with students to shape

an intellectually-rigorous program of study individually suited to each

candidate’s areas of interests and talents. Stamps students also work

with leading artists, scholars and researchers and have access to highly

advanced facilities within U-M’s 95 top-ranked programs.

Individual Studios

Students conduct their creative work in

spacious, fully equipped studios in a 33,000

square foot space that also houses faculty

studios, a multi-purpose shop, digital media

equipment and large shared working and

meeting spaces.

At Stamps, graduate students also have

24/7 access to large state-of-the-art metals,

fibers, ceramics, sculpture, wood, prints,

digital media, and digital fabrication studios,

as well as to a range of resources only

available at a top research university, such

as audio engineering booths, robotic labs,

virtual reality studios, specialized libraries,

institutes and collections, botanical gardens,

and much more.

International Study

Stamps recognizes that creative practice

is now global in its scope and impact.

With funding support from the School,

each student conducts a self-directed

international study experience. Past

graduates’ international research has

ranged from studying the residual effects of

colonialism in South Africa; to conducting

sound recordings in Egypt’s museums,

tombs and temples; to travel to Prague

to attend a two-month residency at the

MeetFactory International Center of

Contemporary Art.

Financial Support

The Stamps School offers generous merit-

based financial support to all graduate

students, from stipends and discretionary

funds that offset studio expenses, to

teaching/research assistantships and

full tuition waivers. Financial awards are

held throughout both years of study and

enable focused creative work as well as

opportunities to gain experience in teaching

and arts management.

Visiting Artists/Designers

During the academic year, students have

direct access to a wide array of creative

innovators who are part of the Stamps

Distinguished Speaker Series and the

Witt Visitors Program. Visiting artists

and lecturers meet weekly with graduate

students for individual studio visits.

Past visitors have included:

Director and playwright Robert Wilson

Brazillian installation artist Ernesto Neto

Photographer Mary Ellen Mark

Composer Philip Glass

Interaction Designer Massimo Banzi

Multimedia Artist Janine Antoni

Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes

Perfumier Sissel Tolaas

Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister

Sculptor Antony Gormley

Dancer and Choreographer Bill T. Jones

Video and photographic artist Mariko Mori

Painter and Collagist Wangechi Mutu

Installation artist, Mary Sibande

Painter Alexis Rockman

Sculptor Nick Cave

Access to…

world-class printmaking, ceramics, metals and sculpture studios

5 Stamps School galleries

state of the art digital media labs

multi-camera HD video studios

robotics institute

virtual reality lab

rapid prototyping facilities

3D printers

CNC routers

3D modeling computers

large format printers

electronic music studios

24-ft astro-tec dome planetarium

7 U-M museums

artificial intelligence lab

motion capture facility

MRI scanners

museum of zoology collections

anatomy labs

professional audio recording studios

entrepreneurship clinic

121 music practice rooms

dance studios

Collaborate with…

engineers

filmmakers

dancers

climatologists

architects

astrophysicists

playwrights

urban planners

musicians

art historians

public policy makers

journalists

microbiologists

nanotechnology researchers

anthropologists

curators

sound engineers

social workers

chemists

ecologists

neuroscientists

botanists

computer programmers

MFA

and more… and more…

Access to…

world-class printmaking, ceramics, metals and sculpture studios

5 Stamps School galleries

state of the art digital media labs

multi-camera HD video studios

robotics institute

virtual reality lab

rapid prototyping facilities

3D printers

CNC routers

3D modeling computers

large format printers

electronic music studios

24-ft astro-tec dome planetarium

7 U-M museums

artificial intelligence lab

motion capture facility

MRI scanners

museum of zoology collections

anatomy labs

professional audio recording studios

entrepreneurship clinic

121 music practice rooms

dance studios

Ann Arbor and Beyond

Ann Arbor is consistently ranked one of America’s best college towns,

offering a rich cultural and intellectual life, and a vibrant sense of community.

Students also benefit from the urban energy and collaborative opportunities

of a creative corridor extending from Toronto, through Detroit, to Chicago.

#3“Best Places for

Recent College Grads”Forbes.com  •  2010

#2“Most Educated

Cities in US”American Community Survey  •  2010

#5“Happiest Cities

in America”The Daily Beast  •  2012

#4“Most Creative Cities”

The Daily Beast  •  2012

#1“Top 10 College Towns”

Forbes Magazine  •  2010

#4“25 Smartest

College Towns in US”Daily Beast  •  2011

The city has the flavor of Europe, the intellectual horsepower of

an Ivy League community and an honest Midwestern spirit that

is reflected in hyperactive volunteering and a boundless local food

movement as intense as California’s. Michelle Krell Kydd

Ann Arborby the numbers

#6“Top Art Destinations”

midsize citiesAmerican Style Magazine  •  2011

MFA Degree Requirements

MFA students complete 15 credits of

coursework per semester for a total of

60 credits at the completion of the two-

year program. In addition, all students

are required to have a three- to five-week

international experience during the summer

between their first and second year.

The curriculum is designed to

accommodate a range of art practices,

from studio-based inquiry to more

scholarly, research-focused work.

Directed Studio

Electives

Seminars

History / Theory / Criticism

International Experience

30 Credits – Directed Studio Courses

Directed studios are the core of the MFA program.

Each semester, students engage in at least six

credit hours of intense exploration, research,

production, and critique of their individual creative

work, in close collaboration with their Stamps

faculty advisors.

9 credits – Elective Courses

Students choose elective courses to meet their

individual MFA curriculum goals: they can pursue

additional studio courses to emphasize “making”

and studio practice, or select academic courses to

achieve a hybrid “maker/scholar” focus (learn more

about these tracks below).

12 credits – Seminars

Every semester, students participate in graduate

seminars, including seminars in “Research Methods”

and “Professional Practice” and other topics related

to contemporary art practice.

6 credits – History/Theory/Criticism

MFA students take six credits of History/Theory/

Criticism, choosing courses to support their field

of inquiry. These classes may be offered by

Stamps School, History of Art, or other units

across the University.

3 credits – International Experience

MFA students are required to participate

in a Stamps School-approved international

experience. The School supports a three to

five-week international experience for all

graduate students during the summer vbetween

their first and second year.

Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design

2000 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069

Non-Profit Org

Us Postage

PAID

Ann Arbor, MI

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The Stamps MFA integrates creative production

with rigorous academic studies

to shape a critically informed,

research-intensive, socially

engaged, and culturally

impactful creative practice.

L E A R N M O R E AT :

www.art-design.umich.edu

O R G O T O :

www.art-design.umich.edu/programs/graduate/mfa