For nearly 60 years, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) has played a key role in the direction and shape of Native expression. With an internationally acclaimed college, museum, and tribal support resource through our Land-Grant Programs, IAIA is dedicated to the study and advancement of Native arts and cultures and is committed to student achievement and the preservation and progress of Native communities.

The launch of the Low-Residency MFA in Studio Arts (MFASA) program in 2021 furthers IAIA’s mission and reach, as the program’s primary function is to create artists, mentors, leaders, and teachers through an Indigenous-focused, professional education that fosters the importance of lifelong learning and outreach.

The MFASA program offers areas of emphasis in Integrated Practice, Studio Arts 2D Practice, and Studio Arts 3D Practice. Our two-year, low-residency curriculum is grounded in Indigenous cultures and reflects the history and challenges of our time. We provide world-class contemporary arts education and empower our students to give voice to the Indigenous experience through their art. By engaging in art history and deep discussions of art’s function in society, while also incorporating critiques by peers and Master Artist Mentors, the MFASA program allows students to develop their own artistic style and find their place in the art world.

For more information, please contact mfasa@iaia.edu.

The Low-Residency Model

The low-residency model provides a professional degree in Studio Arts while allowing students to live at home and continue participating in work, family, and community. This model allows for artists to fully immerse themselves in the experience of who they are, as an individual, as an artist, and as a member of their community. By allowing our students to remain home while pursuing their MFA, they receive a more in-depth experience of what it truly means to be a professional artist.

The MFASA requires the completion of 60 credit hours, which includes two intensive residency periods per year (summer and winter) on the IAIA campus in Santa Fe, NM. The on-campus residency periods are an invigorating experience in which students, Master Artist Mentors, and visiting artists gather for nine days of artist lectures, professional workshops, exhibition and peer critique of work, and an opportunity to engage with a diverse community of artists.

At the end of each residency, students are paired with a Master Artist Mentor with whom they will work one-on-one, virtually, during the following 16-week semester. IAIA’s MFASA Master Artist Mentors are prominent Native and non-Native artists who have a high level of professional achievement and artistic excellence in their fields. Students have the opportunity to work with several Master Artist Mentors in the development of their creative work over two years, while also pursuing a Visual Culture Research project specific to their areas of inquiry and interest.

The semester-long mentorships are complemented by a series of online Art History courses that aid in the development of the student’s Visual Culture Research project as well as their body of creative work.

How the Program Works

The IAIA Low-Residency MFA in Studio Arts program begins with a nine-day Summer (Pre-Fall Semester) Residency on the IAIA campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the summer residency, all new and returning students and mentors gather for an immersive week of workshops, critiques, artist lectures, and panel discussions. The residency experience is characterized by strong peer exchange and dialogue. Lectures and workshops are designed to assist students in the development of their visual language, research, writing and critique skills, studio practice and skills development, and knowledge of historical, social, and critical issues.

At the conclusion of Summer Residency, students are paired with a Master Artist Mentor, with whom they will work one-on-one for the 16-week fall semester. The mentorship is delivered through the online educational platform Canvas, and involves regular (virtual) interaction between students and their mentors. Alongside the nine-credit mentorship, each student will be enrolled in a three-credit online art history course, taught by a different instructor. These courses are meant to be complementary to the student’s creative work and mentorship.

Students, mentors, and visiting artists gather again on the IAIA campus for a nine-day Winter (Pre-Spring Semester) Residency each January, which follows the same format as the Summer Residency. At Winter Residency students present and critique new and developing work and further their Visual Culture Research project.

One of the main components of a student’s course of study in the MFASA program is a semester-long studio project in which the student develops and/or challenges specific aspects of their art practice under the guidance of a Master Artist Mentor. Each mentor is asked to engage the student in a rigorous and critical dialogue concerning the conceptual and material issues they confront in their work. Additionally, the student will have chosen a focus area for the Visual Culture Research and will be required to respond, through three Visual Culture Response Papers to books, research, or exhibitions relevant to their focus area.

The dialogue between the mentor and student generally focuses on the ideas that inform the student’s work—intention vs. execution, formal aesthetic qualities, the relationship of the work to other artists and/or other traditions of art making, and their work’s overall relation to their artistic goals and to current social and cultured contexts in which their work exists. This dialogue should support each student’s individual Studio Study Plan, which students generate prior to the beginning of each semester based on their particular art practice and its associated inquiries and demands.

The first and second semesters are devoted to generating creative work as well as to developing a critical reading and writing practice centered around the student’s Visual Culture research. The third semester continues the creative and critical work, and also requires the student to develop a Statement of Aesthetics. During the fourth and final semester, the student culminates their studio work into a thesis exhibit, submits a refined Statement of Aesthetics, and prepares and presents their Visual Culture Research.

The program is four semesters, each consisting of a three-credit residency, nine-credit mentorship, and three-credit, semester-long, online Art History course—totaling 15 credit hours a semester. A fifth residency, the Graduation Residency, is required of all graduating students.

Graduation Residency is the culmination of the MFA journey. One week before commencement, MFA candidates spend a week on the IAIA campus. During this fifth on-campus residency, the graduating MFA students present their Thesis Exhibition, defend their thesis in front of their Thesis Committee, present their Visual Culture Research project, and participate in critiques of their cohort and workshops for professional development.

The student is required to participate, lead, and present, demonstrating completion of all curricular requirements and attainment of the program’s Learning Outcomes. The residency is an opportunity for the graduating cohort to share their works and critiques, gain practical and professional post-graduate skills, and celebrate their achievements.
For information on Tuition and the Degree Plan, see Tuition and the college catalog.

Deadline and Application

The deadline to apply for each Fall semester is February 15, 2024. As the program begins with an in-person residency in July (pre-fall semester), we are currently only accepting students into the program to begin in fall semesters. Applications received after the deadline will be reviewed for the wait list and for the following academic year.

For information on Tuition and the Degree Plan, see Tuition and the college catalog.

MFASA Residencies

Facilities

During the on-campus residencies, the MFA in Studio Arts is headquartered in the Academic Building and Allan Houser Haozous Sculpture and Foundry building with classes occurring throughout campus. The Academic Building houses eight studio classrooms: photography, printmaking, ceramics, jewelry/metals, drawing, 2D foundations, painting, and a digital fabrication lab. The Allan Houser Haozous Sculpture and Foundry building houses studio classrooms for stone, wood, glass, metals, and fabrication; a general-purpose classroom; a slurry room; and outside working space for the foundry, blacksmithing, and stone sculpture.

Guiding Statement

The MFASA Department is guided by the core values of respect, integrity, creativity, and excellence, and holds these values as essential to professional growth and to building strong leaders who will make a difference. We work to meet the vision of each student in their own personal artistic journey. Through close examination of art history from an Indigenous perspective, our courses guide students through art theories, practices, and applications that support them in the creation and dissemination of their art.

Philosophy

Our two-year, low-residency curriculum is grounded in Indigenous cultures and reflects the history and challenges of our time. The program provides world-class contemporary arts education and empowers its students to give voice to the Indigenous experience through their art. IAIA’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts Department is committed to graduating successful artists whose contributions are recognized nationally and internationally within a global art context.

Goals

• To encourage each artist to develop their own vision
• To allow students to see their position in the art world
• To enhance students’ connection to their art and their community
• To empower students to become arts and cultural leaders who positively impact their communities and the world at large
• To enhance artistic expression through Indigenous-based learning and research

Learning Outcomes

Students in the MFA in Studio Arts will be able to:

• Demonstrate enhanced critical understanding of their work within a multidisciplinary Indigenous context
• Practice self-directed learning and self-defined research projects
• Apply professional studio arts practice towards a fine arts career