MFA two-year degree program

SACI’s New MFA Degree in Studio Art - from fall 2013

Studio Art Centers International is proud to announce that students can now apply to enroll at SACI to earn an MFA Degree in Studio Art. SACI's new unique two-year MFA program — the only MFA in Studio Art degree offered by an accredited U.S. institution in Europe — is described below. 

 

SACI’s community of MFA students works in a creative environment of rigorous critical and technical inquiry utilizing the unique artistic and cultural resources of Florence, Italy to prepare students for careers as artists and college instructors.  Students live and work in the city that, during the Renaissance, revolutionized art and has since served as an inspiration and catalyst for generations of artists—from the Macchiaioli to the Futurists, from the Transavanguardia to contemporary artists such as Bill Viola and Damien Hirst.

Students specialize in Painting or Drawing and pursue a curriculum integrating practical and critical skills that encourages individual innovation, creative collaboration, mentorships, and instruction from SACI’s outstanding faculty.  They benefit as well from interaction with members of SACI’s Artists Council and President’s Council, which include established artists, critics, theorists, curators, and publishers, many of international renown.

Working in their own individual studios in a fully renovated Renaissance palazzo in the heart of Florence, students are just steps away from the great works that have drawn artists past and present to Florence to seek inspiration and develop their own pictorial language—from Arnold Böcklin to James Whistler and Mary Cassatt, Giorgio de Chirico and Max Beckmann to David Hockney.  In their graduate seminars, students explore a range of contemporary art practices, visit artists in their studios, and interview museum curators, art critics, and other significant figures in the art world.  Students travel to major art sites, attend international art fairs throughout Italy, and are encouraged, through individual practice and group critiques, to explore to the fullest their potential as creative artists.

MFA students attend SACI in Florence for two successive academic years and earn 60 credits.  During their first year, under the mentorship of their selected Major Professor, they put together a program that balances independent study with classroom study.  In their second year, emphasis is placed upon career options for emerging artists.  Students gain practical experience as SACI Teaching Assistants and their artwork is featured in major exhibitions in Florence.

By exploiting fully the advantages available to emerging artists through advanced study in Florence, SACI MFA students can become highly competitive when seeking an artistic professional career and university level teaching positions.  Throughout their lives, they will be able to realize work reflecting their unique experience and deep understanding of Italian art and the nature of the artist’s role in society.

Click here to download a copy of the SACI MFA Brochure.