MFA in Sculpture

The Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture provides the tools and language for students to become rigorous thinkers and artists in the twenty-first century. The program interweaves the significant demands of creative production, intellectual and theoretical inquiry, and critical engagement with cultural history and contemporary art discourse. It offers expansive dialogue with peers, faculty, and distinguished visitors. It challenges students to embrace creative risk, engage with difference through dialogue and collaboration productively, accelerate and intensify the relationship with their work, and cultivate an expanded vision for the future of art.

The MFA curriculum is designed to promote generative conversations between creative difference positions, allowing for stimulating cross-disciplinary exchange and activity with emphasis on a balance of art production, art theory, and critical inquiry. At the core of this two-year program is a studio culture that is collaboratively formed by an intimate cohort of student artists whose cultural backgrounds and creative practices are all highly distinctive, resulting in a dynamic, evolving learning environment. Our students' work is characterized by its fluid movement between modes of art production, including Sculpture, installation, video, performance, image-making, text, and all that is possible across and between these genres.

Studio production, graduate seminar courses, and group discussions are central to the curriculum. In addition, students' educational experiences are enriched by special programs and activities, such as the MFA film series, student-created events, and multiple field trips and site visits throughout the year. Students have unparalleled one-on-one contact with internationally renowned core faculty members, guest critics, writers, curators, and visiting artists. In addition to twenty-four-hour access to individual studios, a shared sculpture project room, and fabrication facilities, students are encouraged to explore the extraordinary range of academic opportunities and media production resources available to them within the broader Boston University context.

With its rich history and diverse culture, the city of Boston provides another important resource for our program. Boston is home to world-class museums and contemporary institutions that attract internationally active artists, curators, and writers. The city hosts a thriving culture of talks and lectures, making Boston's art-academic experience exceptionally vital.

All students graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the Boston University School of Visual Arts are expected to:

Demonstrate a sustained, self-directed, professional level of studio practice.

Demonstrate a robust individual vocabulary and specific area of focus within one's creative work.

Demonstrate versatility and expertise concerning the material and technical aspects of one's creative practice.

Demonstrate a broad knowledge of and critical engagement with art theory, art history, and an awareness of the range of material and technical approaches within the field of Sculpture.

Demonstrate the ability to critically apply knowledge of art theory and art history within one's studio practice.

Demonstrate the ability to interpret one's artwork and that of peers and other artists.

Demonstrate the ability to situate one's practice within the field of contemporary art and concerning the history of art.

Demonstrate the ability to identify and articulate specific cultural, ideological, political, and ethical positions within one's work.

Demonstrate the ability to articulate the complexity of one's work verbally.

Demonstrate the ability to articulate the complexity of one's work through writing.

Demonstrate the ability to work with others and as a collective group.

Demonstrate the knowledge of professional practices, platforms, and venues available to artists.

Demonstrate an appropriate level of pedagogical skills.

Wheelock College is formally merged with Boston University. A significant aspect of this merger was the creation of Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, a new college at Boston University that combines many of the resources and programs of the former Wheelock College and Boston University School of Education.

As BU Wheelock, we will seek to establish ourselves as a leading school of education among our peers. We will do this by supporting academic excellence and success among our students, by building a faculty body whose research, teaching, and clinical expertise is unparalleled, and by forming meaningful partnerships with communities and organizations who share in our desire to serve learners of all ages and backgrounds best.

Throughout this process, and across all of our efforts, we will draw upon the historical legacy of Wheelock College founder Lucy Wheelock and the ascendant reputation of BU School of Education.

All of our programs immerse you in the specialized knowledge unique to each discipline or field and equip you with the professional skills necessary to become a great educator. We take it all a step further with support and mentorship throughout your field experiences both locally and internationally in urban and suburban classrooms.