The Master of Fine Art program in Studio Art (60 unit, terminal degree) combines conceptual, technical, and critical thinking skills that enable students to gain a deeper understanding of their own artistic ideas and vision. Graduate students complete 30 units in studio art courses: 2D Painting and Printmaking, 3D and Extended Media, Photography, Illustration and Design or Interdisciplinary Practice, 12 units in elective coursework, 3 units in ART 696A Contemporary Art: Concepts and Issues, 3 units in ART 596 Graduate Professional Practice and 12 units of Art history.<br><br>The division of 2D Studies encourages specialization in one of two areas of emphasis: Painting & Drawing and Printmaking. Here you will engage new areas of exploration and develop within your specialization by taking courses that advance your contemporary and historical awareness of the discipline.<br><br>Your courses in 2D will lead to your conceptual growth and the defining of your personal aesthetic. While you hone technical skills, you will learn to refine your ability to communicate the connection between the meaning of your art and the work itself.<br><br>Two tracks are available to students seeking the Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Art, 2D Studies Painting & Drawing and Printmaking: The Painting & Drawing area of emphasis is committed to fine art painting and its related media. It is our belief that painting and drawing is an expansive field of study that is constantly influencing and evolving in response to current cultural and technological developments. When set apart from a global techno-culture, painting is also valued for its poetic and deliberate non-virtuality. The painting faculty at the School of Art are practicing visual artists in the field. The trajectory of our curriculum demonstrates and engages with painting's potential to reformulate meaning. Our charge is to critically address painting and drawing in the context of contemporary art, re-framing its instruction with traditional, modernist as well as post-modernist strategies inclusive of identity-based content, media culture and new technologies. You are encouraged to consider the wide scope of ideas within the discipline and your unique position in concurrence with contemporary culture. Critiques, classes and seminars led by the faculty and visiting artists provide you with the forum and structure to discuss your work in relation to ongoing art issues. Ultimately, the goal is for you to take responsibility for the definition and direction of your own work, creating an individual stylistic and conceptual voice. The graduate printmaking program concentrates on personal style, artistic ability, contemporary and historical awareness, teaching skills, technical ability, communicative capabilities, and professional ''survival'' skills, with the goal of preparing you to make art of the highest quality to sustain a successful and productive career as an artist/printmaker. The program stresses skill and technical command with a major emphasis on the development of ideas and concepts. The print area encourages a pedagogical approach that treats prints as one of many tools in an expanded field of art production. Printmaking students are equally encouraged to explore traditional applications of print media and new genres in drawing, collage, book arts, and installation. Through seminars, critiques, and studio visits, you will engage in challenging discussions on contemporary art, critical theory, and art history to gain perspective on your own creative process and the art world as a whole.