Master of Fine Arts

The two-year Master of Fine Arts program at University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design is focused on the professional development of studio artists. Through studio work, seminar courses, and interactions with vital working artists, the program provides an open intellectual framework to foster critical awareness and independent methods of artistic research. Students extend their conceptual strategies while inventing and then refining their own hybridized forms of art making methods. The program encourages exploration, extending studies into other disciplines within the Weitzman School and the university-at-large with a rich selection of outside electives and optional certificate and dual-degree programs. 

Visiting Artists & Critics  
With roughly 24 artists in the two-year program, we facilitate individual studio conversations with an international program of visiting artists, curators, and writers. Visiting Critics impact the character, diversity and continuity of the program through their regular pattern of workshops, studio visits, and lectures. 

Workshops, Orientations and Resources 
The Penn MFA program is fluid. In addition to the required studio and seminar courses, graduate students may participation in various expert-led workshops and orientations. The workshops vary in format and can range in focus on very technical subjects such as digital fabrication or new casting technologies, to seminar topics such thesis writing and professional development. Several workshops are offered each semester, allowing for a responsive curriculum that advances the individualized projects of the graduate students. See more on our resource section. 

Dual Degrees  
Master of Fine Arts + Master of Landscape Architecture 
Master of Fine Arts + Master of Science in Historic Preservation 
Master of Fine Arts + Master of City Planning 
Master of Fine Arts + Master of Social Work 
The MSW/MFA trains students as professional studio artists and social work practitioners, with a focus on the integration of art and social justice. It is open to students who have been admitted to both the School of Design’s MFA program and SP2’s MSW program. The MSW/MFA curriculum addresses the needs of two sets of students: 1) those in social work who are seeking to integrate the arts into their practice as MSW-credentialed service providers, and 2) those in the arts who are looking for professional credentialing and a career in social justice that utilizes their MFA training. 

Teaching Opportunities 
Each year students in the program present public lectures and exhibitions, preparing them for an independent career in the arts that successfully reaches multiple audiences.  Teaching Assistantships are offered to all incoming students; those with a sustained desire to teach participate in a program where they apply with a syllabus to teach a foundation level studio course at Penn. A select number of MFAs are offered teaching positions in their graduating year.  

Sharon Hayes Professor and Chair of Fine Arts, Director of Graduate Program 
Ken Lum, Marilyn Jordan Taylor Presidential Professor 
Joshua Mosley Professor of Fine Arts, PAR Lab Co-Director 
Jackie Tileston Professor of Fine Arts, Painting 
David Hartt Associate Professor of Fine Arts 
Michelle Lopez Associate Professor of Fine Arts 
Ani Liu Carrafiell Assistant Professor (Emerging Design) 

Check out more faculty, staff profiles here.