Research Programmes in Fine Art: MFA (Research Through Practice)

The Fine Art MFA research programme creates a stimulating and challenging environment for practitioners who wish to develop their professional knowledge of contemporary art practice and theory in conjunction with their own practice and their analytical, critical and communicative abilities. An MFA is increasingly being acknowledged as the entry point for the professional artist.

Each MFA student is assigned a primary supervisor from one of the Faculty departments: Sculpture, Painting, Media and Fine Print. The primary supervisor acts as a personal tutor, offering support throughout MFA studies.

The programme encourages students to push the boundaries of their art practice, to situate their practice in the context of contemporary art and to acknowledge the productive interplay between practice and theory.

MFA Programme Structure

The MFA is a two year research programme driven by the individual student’s research interests and area of practice. The programme provides a weekly day of lectures and seminars and is responsible for curating the Visiting Lecturer strand of the Contemporary Art Practices module shared with the MA ACW and MA ADW. Recent visiting artists have included Isabel Nolan, Fergus Feehily and Bea McMahon..

MFA students present work in progress at the weekly research seminar attended by their peer group and staff. Students are encouraged to participate in study trips to international events ranging from the Liverpool Biennial, Berlin Biennial, Frieze Art Fair, the Armoury, New York to the World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil. First year MFA students organise an annual interim exhibition in venues like Temple Bar Gallery and most recently in a range of venues on nearby Francis Street.

The MFA programme is interdisciplinary, rooted in contemporary critical debates and informed by the long-standing tradition of experimentation, investigation and enquiry in and through the visual arts. Postgraduate students are encouraged to interrogate the pre-given categories and formats of arts practices and consider the broadest possible ways in which the practice of art may extend understanding and knowledge.

Download: NCAD Postgraduate Prospectus 2012-2013 - (PDF 6.6MB)

Closing Dates

Click here for all postgraduate closing dates.

Contact

If you have specific questions about postgraduate applications please contact the Admissions Office at:

Phone: 353 (0)1 6364200
Fax: 353 (0)1 6364207
E-mail: fios@ncad.ie

Office Hours 9:30-12:45 and 14:00-17:00.

[The Admissions Office is closed to the public on Friday afternoons.]

If you have more general questions about postgraduate study at NCAD please contact: postgraduate@ncad.ie