Institutions & Courses Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design Courses
Master of Fine Arts Degree
This course is available at the following Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design campuses:
Auckland
Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, with 1.3 million people.
The Master of Fine Arts Degree is a two-year, low-residency, postgraduate degree, accredited by the NZQA, which requires, as a prerequisite, a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree or equivalent education and professional experience. The degree will be offered to students with demonstrated (as opposed to potential) commitment, ability and maturity currently engaged in creative production. The Whitecliffe MFA has been designed to meet international standards and is the terminal degree for those seeking careers as practicing artists and designers or as educators in creative practice.
The programme is built around practical studio research culminating in a professional exhibition and supervised theoretical studies resulting in dissertation. The programme requires self-directed learning and continuing professional development and is flexibly structured to enable practising artists to continue their current studio and professional involvements.
Most of the requirements are fulfilled in the student’s own studio in close association with individually selected studio mentors and research supervisors particularly sensitive to the needs of individual students. These mentors, senior artists who where possible live and work in the student’s local community, must be approved by the College.
New Zealand students will be required to attend four one ‘week seminars a year, two of which will be attended by studio mentors. For international students, it is possible to consolidate seminars into a six-week residency requirement, which can include language support classes and a cultural experience component.
The programme is built around practical studio research culminating in a professional exhibition and supervised theoretical studies resulting in dissertation. The programme requires self-directed learning and continuing professional development and is flexibly structured to enable practising artists to continue their current studio and professional involvements.
Most of the requirements are fulfilled in the student’s own studio in close association with individually selected studio mentors and research supervisors particularly sensitive to the needs of individual students. These mentors, senior artists who where possible live and work in the student’s local community, must be approved by the College.
New Zealand students will be required to attend four one ‘week seminars a year, two of which will be attended by studio mentors. For international students, it is possible to consolidate seminars into a six-week residency requirement, which can include language support classes and a cultural experience component.