Note from the Director of Graduate Studies in Creative Visual Arts
Joanna Malinowska
Hello, and thank you for your interest in our M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts!
Housed in Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (Cornell AAP), our M.F.A. program is about connection between students and faculty who come together in a rigorous, supportive, and inclusive environment where all ideas are met with respect and all forms of critical and creative practices are encouraged. Cornell's unique interdisciplinary model for graduate study, combined with medium-specific skill development, lays a foundation for collaborative, experimental, and radical rethinking of art making practices. The program offers a generous tuition remission. The scenic location of our campus, with its proximity to gorges, lakes, and wilderness, provides a one-of-a-kind environment for study and creative processes.
M.F.A. students at Cornell begin their two-year studies with a rigorous investigation of their studio practice with ongoing visits from our full-time faculty and visiting artists. Faculty engage in critical conversations with each graduate student to help guide and cultivate the creative process. The program is housed in the historic Foundry building, where each artist is provided with a private studio that has 24/7 access. By the end of the first year, students form a supportive graduate thesis committee of trusted faculty mentors who foster growth with intellectual curiosity and comradery.
Every semester, graduate students dedicate about half of their time to independent studio practice and participate in a graduate seminar. The seminar, a cornerstone of the program taught by a visiting artist, is a space for deep critical engagement, for asking questions, and for challenging assumptions. M.F.A. students also take a professional practice course that focuses on writing artist statements, proposals, and grant applications while galvanizing the cohort through regular group meetings, potlucks, and field trips.
Many students come to Cornell with an interest in developing a critical and creative practice they can both sustain and share with others through pedagogy. In addition to generous tuition remission, each graduate student is offered a classroom support opportunity every semester, for a total of four different classes over the course of the program. Thus, graduates of our M.F.A. program leave with extensive teaching experience and the strong bonds they build with faculty and undergraduate students.
Study in Ithaca, New York, provides quiet, contemplative space in world-class facilities including fabrication shops, labs, darkrooms, and exhibition spaces for both group and solo shows. Because of the importance of learning directly from art world experience, graduate students are also provided a fully funded opportunity to visit artists and creatives in the cultural center of Mexico City every spring. And finally, each student's time at Cornell concludes with a student-run group exhibition in New York City — an unmatched opportunity to expand viewership, make connections, and learn about the generosity and vulnerability that goes into preparing a public exhibition.
Collaboration and interconnectedness are vital in the arts. It is essential for me to meet regularly with each cohort to brainstorm various ways we can support one another's growth as we pursue ambitious new projects and challenge common assumptions about art making.
Thank you again for your interest, and please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions and to schedule a visit to our beautiful campus.
Warmly,
Joanna Malinowska
Assistant Professor of the Practice
Director of Graduate Studies in Creative Visual Arts
Department of Art
