Graduate Studies

The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) program by 91�� Meadows School of the Arts is an intensive, full-time, two-year residential program designed to cultivate professional artists who create innovative, original, and significant works of art, blending personal expression with imaginative concepts that engage deeply with contemporary cultural and societal issues. The program emphasizes a comprehensive approach to artistic development, combining rigorous studio practice with critical engagement in theoretical and cultural contexts. Additionally, students learn exhibition preparation, teaching, writing, and interdisciplinary research, ensuring that they are well-prepared for long-term success in art career paths including roles as studio artists, art educators, museum and gallery curators, multimedia artists, designers and arts administrators.

The Division of Art offers this program exclusively in an in-person format, ensuring a fully immersive and collaborative artistic experience. Students have access to dedicated exhibition spaces and studio facilities, creating a dynamic environment conducive to artistic experimentation and technical mastery. The degree is intended as an intensive period of focused study that culminates in the M.F.A. Qualifying Exhibition at the Pollock Gallery.

The program also offers the New York Colloquium, where students spend two weeks in early January visiting NYC museums and galleries. In some years, an intensive program is offered off campus in an international location or on the 91�� satellite campus in Taos, NM. These seminars are run by faculty along with visiting artists or scholars, and are engaged with the development and expansion of the boundaries of student vision.

The M.F.A. program is interdisciplinary in that students are free to explore a wide range of materials, processes and histories. Each year the most competitive, ambitious and thoughtful artists are admitted regardless of medium. Facilities for and faculty expertise in ceramics, creative computation, drawing, installation, new media, painting, performance, photography, printmaking, sculpture, sound and time-based media feature among the opportunities for students. The Division of Art embraces and celebrates human diversity in all its forms, including race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

In addition to faculty actively engaged in exhibition and research at the highest levels, 91�� Meadows’ Division of Art hosts an ongoing series of lectures, open studios, panels and studio visits by artists, critics and curators. This series of events is a crucial part of the graduate and undergraduate curricula and provides a venue for graduate students and the Dallas community at large to engage with contemporary art.

Visiting Artists for 2024–25
Aitor Lajarin-Encina, Yuko Nishikawa, Julia Jalowiec

Selected Past Visiting Artists and Curators
Glenn Adamson, Ifeanyi Anene, William Bailey, Ute Meta Bauer, Jake Berthot, Walead Beshty, Mel Bochner, Tania Bruguera, David Challier, Stefan Chinov, Suzanna Coffey, Tony Cruz, David Diao, Nicole Eisenman, Theaster Gates, Surabhi Ghosh, Renée Green, K8 Hardy, Dave Hickey, Ann Van Hoey, Denzil Hurley, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Alfredo Jaar, Tamiko Kawata, Guillermo Kuitca, Barbara Kruger, Pablo Leon de La Barra, Jacob Lawrence, An Te Liu, David MacDonald, Melissa Miller, Simonetta Moro, Ron Nagle, Thomas Nozkowski, Robyn O’Neil, Tony Cruz Pabón, Mariko Paterson, Signé Pierce, R.H. Quaytman, Walid Raad, Jock Reynolds, Susan Rothenberg, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Ryan, Franklin Sirmans, Nyugen Smith, Jenni Sorkin, Wendy Steiner, Raychael Stine, Maiko Sugano, Kevin Todora, Marc Trujillo, Holly Walker, Neil Welliver, Betty Woodman, Akira Yamaguchi.

Dallas Arts District
Dallas continues to invest in the largest arts district in the country, located a few minutes from campus, in which the Meadows School plays a growing role. The Division of Art seeks artists for graduate studies who wish to participate in the diverse arts opportunities of Dallas-Fort Worth and the North Texas region. See list of DFW art spaces, organizations and institutions here.

Dallas Contemporary organizes the North Texas Graduate Program, in which an invited notable curator visits the studios of graduating students who applied for the program. The inaugural year was 2024-25, and the program will run for at least the next five years. Selected students were invited to exhibit their works at Dallas Contemporary and had opportunities to meet and work with the curator and as well as Dallas based curators.

Full Scholarships
91�� offers up to six full scholarships each year, supplemented by teaching assistantships. This generous bulwark of support is offered to aid students in the development of their work so that they can begin their careers unencumbered by tuition debt. Additional funds from the Division of Art, the Meadows School of the Arts, the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, and others are available for materials and travel related to students’ creative research.

Apply here: M.F.A. Art admission instructions |

See profiles of current M.F.A. graduate students. See profiles of current Art faculty.

For more information contact: Associate Director of Recruitment & Admission, Cheyenne Conkin, MBA, cconkin@smu.edu | 214-768-3765

Visits to campus are encouraged for all accepted students. We offer a tour of campus, a meeting with our current M.F.A. students and/or select faculty. Prospective students are also able to visit the 91�� program on the following dates:

December: End-of-semester M.F.A. reviews
February-March: M.F.A. Qualifying Exhibition
April: 2nd year M.F.A. oral exams
Various Dates Annually: Division of Art Visiting Artist Lecture Series