stamps mfa brochure 2013
DESCRIPTION
Information about the MFA program at the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design, 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 wide-reaching interdisciplinary 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. For more information visit: http://art-design.umich.edu/programs/graduate/mfaTRANSCRIPT
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
Permit #144
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