About

Can you imagine yourself working side by side with award-winning artists and designers from around the world? Can you picture yourself being challenged to exceed your greatest expectations and aspirations by mastering your creative skills to such a degree that you have the opportunity to succeed as a professional artist or designer or teach at the university level?

The MFA at ECU is a three-year degree program that allows you to fully immerse yourself in the personal research and creative activity that got you accepted in the first place. You will have your own studio space with 24/7 access as well as access to the expansive Jenkins Fine Arts building facilities, state-of-the-art computer labs, wood shop, Shape Lab, and each concentration area’s extensive equipment and resources. You also have opportunities to supplement your education through the visiting artist series, workshops, symposiums and through funded guild activities in which you decide how funds are used.

As a MFA candidate, you will work directly with graduate faculty toward your thesis exhibition, which is the culminating demonstration of the highest level of professional competency in the visual arts and design. To assure quality and potential for success, every MFA candidate must pass an annual review of all creative work produced during the academic year as well as submit a research paper which explains the context and intent of that work. We understand that it can be an arduous journey, and that it is our obligation to let you know that you are on the right path.

ECU Advantage

East Carolina’s School of Art and Design provides you with the same creative skills and intellectual opportunities as some of the most expensive art and design programs in the nation at a fraction of the cost. In addition to our huge, well equipped facilities, award winning faculty, and guaranteed studio space, we can almost promise that you will be given the opportunity to serve as teacher of record. In fact, the majority of our students choose to teach more than once while enrolled.

ECU is the most comprehensive NASAD-accredited art school in North Carolina. Our alumni have gone on to enjoy successful careers as award winning professional artists and designers, gallery owners, art directors, community arts management staff, K–12 instructors, museum directors, curators and preparatory staff, as well as serving across the nation and abroad at all levels of academia, from community college instructors to university deans.

What You Will Study

Note: The MFA Ceramics Concentration is no longer accepting students into the DE/Hybrid Option. Please see the program coordinator if you have questions. 

Program Coordinator: Angela Wells (2000 Jenkins Fine Arts Center; 252-737-4639; wellsa@ecu.edu)

The Art, MFA is the professional terminal degree in studio art that prepares candidates for advanced practice in studio art as well as teaching in higher education. The MFA is an interdisciplinary program enabling students to build and expand upon existing knowledge while exploring, working, and making connections across a broad array of disciplines, tools, and technologies. Students can select coursework in art history, ceramics, glass, graphic design, metal design, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textile design, and other areas to support their educational goals.

MFA students work independently in dedicated studios, with the guidance of faculty mentors as well as studio visits from a range of faculty. Group critique coursework is the core of the curriculum where first- and second-year students share work, engage in lively discussion, and address challenging topics in the visual arts. The curriculum includes a sequence of graduate seminars focused on practice and research in visual art, career pathways and professional skills, thesis preparation and writing, and art and design pedagogy. The program culminates in a solo thesis exhibition exhibited on campus or in the community.

The MFA is a three-year or equivalent degree (60 s.h.). Students receive assessments of progress annually. The preferred undergraduate degree for admission to the MFA is a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in art. Applicants holding other bachelor's degrees may apply if they have undergraduate studio art experience and/or an exemplary portfolio and statement of objectives.

Admissions decisions are based on the applicant's statement of objectives, portfolio, academic records, references, and virtual interview. Applicants must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent creative work and a desire to work within an interdisciplinary creative setting. Students interested in applying for the MFA degree must identify two to three potential faculty mentors with whom they would like to study. Applicants' statement of objectives must discuss the applicant's current work, purpose, and intention for MFA studies, and identify two to three School of Art and Design graduate faculty with whom they wish to work. Applicants are encouraged to reach out to graduate faculty to introduce themselves and learn more about the program. The application portfolio requirements are listed on the SoAD MFA website [application portfolio information]. Virtual interviews are scheduled after all the applicant's materials have been submitted. The MFA degree does not require standardized test scores to apply.

The minimum degree requirement is 60 s.h. as follows: 

1. Studio Studies Shared Core - 18 s.h.
  • ART 6981 - Contextualizing Practice and Research I
  • ART 6982 - Integrating Practice and Research I
  • ART 6983 - Contextualizing Practice and Research II
  • ART 6984 - Integrating Practice and Research II
  • ART 6987 - Career Pathways in Art and Design
  • ART 6990 - Art and Design Pedagogy
2. Academic Studies - 15 s.h.
  • Select 6 s.h. of
  • ART 6002 - Proseminar
  • ART 6988 - Pre-Thesis Research
  • ART 6989 - Research Writing
  • Select 6 s.h. of art history (ARTH) or approved art and design (ART) courses with academic topics specific to thesis research. 
  • Select 3 s.h. of any art history (ARTH) or art and design (ART) readings. 
3. Art Studio Studies - 15 s.h.
  • Select 15 s.h. of any art and design (ART) 6000-level courses including Problems in "Discipline-Based Topic".
    4. Elective Studies - 6 s.h.
    • Select 6 s.h. of any 6000-level courses specific to thesis research including art and design (ART). 
      5. Thesis - 6 s.h.

      A creative thesis, a written report of the thesis, and a successful defense of the thesis are required.

      • ART 7000 - Thesis
      Comprehensive Assessment Requirement

      All ECU graduate programs require a comprehensive assessment. The assessment requirement for this degree is a creative thesis, written report, and defense. 

        For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
        Request Revision