MFA at a Christian college!?! 17 February 2007
Posted by pcNielsen in Art, Art and Missions, Art and faith, MFA.trackback
Just before earning my BFA (1999 or 2000), I began looking for an evangelical Christian college to continue my studio art studies at. While a public university would have sufficed, my keen interest in the interplay between visual art and my Christian faith drove me to look for a private school. I was sorely disappointed in the lack of opportunities; in fact, there were none. I did find an MA in studio art offered by the infamous Bob Jones. A Catholic university in Dallas offered an MFA, and while I would be more open to this now, I was not so much back then.
I continued to email a variety of evangelical colleges, asking the art department chairs if they knew of such a program. I also occassionally suggested the irony of Christian schools requiring an MFA of their art professors when they did not offer such a degree themselves. Responses to this suggestion and my request ranged from sympathy to poorly veiled annoyance. A glimmer of hope revealed itself when I discovered Biola used to offer an MFA. They, however, cut the program after it drew too many resources away from their BFA program.
While assisting with our church’s small gallery space this afternoon, Todd Goehner informed me that Biola just rebirthed their MFA program — and that Azusa Pacific also established a Master of Fine Arts program in the last year. Azusa describes its MFA program by saying:
- The MFA student’s primary experience at APU centers on studio activity and the integration of faith and art. Supporting this is a schedule of courses that includes critical issues in art and four semesters of in-depth study of the relationship of students’ Christian faith and their lives as contemporary artists. Each student gains regular exposure to aesthetic or stylistic positions through faculty members and visiting artists and speakers. The program focuses not only on the refinement of visual skills, but also on the articulation of one’s work and the cultivation of one’s spirit and mind. Students bring creative force and imagination to their own development – qualities that can be stimulated and encouraged.
No information seems to be available on Biola’s website at this time, although Todd did say Biola will offer the degree long-distance.
I still think about getting my MFA from time to time. In some ways I long for such time to dedicate to my work. In other ways I think I can pretty much learn the same things on my own, without shelling out the big bucks for a graduate degree at a private college. The one thing I really want an MFA for is teaching at the college level.
For now, I hope the people I know are encouraged by this blog and our conversations to seriously consider the relationship between art and faith. I’m thrilled that these two very reputable Christian schools now offer this degree. Whether or not I will be afforded the opportunity for an MFA is yet to be seen.
If you are an artist of the Christian faith and use Flickr, consider joining a group I started to share with and encourage other artists of faith via this link.
[...] Art and faith. trackback I talked to a couple different people at Biola this morning about their rumored MFA program. Apparently my source and friend Todd Goehner is way on the inside, because no one I talked to at [...]
Check into Dallas Baptist… for MFA… you don’t have to be baptist… I know because I’ve been looking into it in online form..Just a thought
Thanks for the heads up Ann . . . although on a first glance of DBU’s website I don’t see an MFA in studio art. What I do see is an MLA; am I looking in the wrong place?
Sorry, you are correct, its an MLA, but get this:
Option 2: Single-discipline Track
Concentration (18 hours)
Electives (9 hours)
Concentrations available to the M.L.A. student are Art, Christian Ministry, English, English as a Second Language (ESL), Fine Arts,
So I’m thinking of getting the MLA in Fine Arts… strange, huh? I’ll be finishing up my BGS in Creative Writing, Theater, and Studio Arts this May, and want the “open” feel of picking my own classes that going this route provides… I’ve been searching for years for the “perfect fit” that a state school cannot provide to a person of faith… I did find an online university that offers a BA, Masters and PhD in “Christian Art” but no one can say anything good or bad about them. Just that they are not “accredited” well, if you get your accreditation from God, then why do you need it from a school… but then, I’m not going to go off seeking a job as a professor or anything, just continuing my work with children and teens. I lead a group(17 now) and try to get them in all aspects of visual and performing arts wo they can find the area God has gifted them in. I don’t need accreditaion for that… Oh, the University is Christian Leadership University (cluonline.com) that offers the degrees in Christian Art…. I don’t know that the title is fair…is the art a “little Christ” or are the artists??
Hmm, I haven’t heard of an MLA, but choosing my own classes is appealing.
And, as I think I noted in one of my entries dealing with the MFA, the only practical reason I would go back for the terminal degree is to teach at the college level.
Here is a blog about last summer’s MFA discourse at APU.
I just happened to stumble on your page, and I wanted to let you know that Mississippi College offers an MFA. It is a baptist college, but as someone who is nondemoninational, I don’t find this to be an issue. Sadly, though I’m finding that their program is really lacking, both in terms of the faculty and facilities. Though their program may not fit my needs, it is definately working for others, so I thought I’d bring it to your attention.
[...] Yeah, disciplining myself to create after graduating — since I wasn’t pursuing art full-time — has been tough. Did you ever consider pursuing an MFA from a Christian university? [...]
Biola does not offer a MFA program they never have. APU does offer a MFA. I am a professor at apu in the MFA program. Please feel free to contct me.
Kent Anderson butler
krbutler@APU.edu
Thanks for commenting on my blog. I’m aware of Biola’s NOT offering an MFA, and corrected this mistake in a subsequent post (see here: http://theaestheticelevator.com/2007/02/20/correction-mfa-at-biola/).
[...] Missions, MFA, Art. trackback I talked to a couple different people at Biola this morning about their rumored MFA program. Apparently my source and friend Todd Goehner is way on the inside, because no one I talked to at [...]
There are Masters in Education with art emphases at Christian Universities. Seattle Pacific University, for example, has such a program. I too am researching MFA programs, but am open to private or public programs. Any update as to current MFA programs? (I see that the last entry dates to 2007)…
I’m aware of some of these masters, but haven’t pursued these under the assumption that they won’t allow for teaching at the university level. Further, I’m really interested in education in an academic sense (I know this may sound contradictory when I say I want to teach at a university). What I want is an advanced degree in studio art.
Similarly there are MDiv degrees with an arts emphasis at places like Regents in Vancouver which I’ve known about but haven’t pursued, for the same reason.
I don’t know about any other MFA programs at this point being offered by Christian schools, but am more seriously considering public institutions as well. Here’s a post from December about the University of Arkansas ceramics program: http://theaestheticelevator.com/2007/12/12/university-of-arkansas-mfa-ceramics-department/ .
Interesting pursuit. I was also recently aware of the APU MFA program only shortly after arriving at Fuller Theological Seminary. Here I am pursuing a Masters of Arts in Theology in the Arts Format. I decided to go here after like you, finding no MFA’s in a christian university. Here there is great dialogue between theology and art. In my concentration we are all practicing arts and designers, I had an BFA from Pratt Institute, however we are only applying the two in theological papers and a final thesis. So I am a little sad about the lack of studio practice so I am interesting in your pursuit of a world-class MFA program that merges with Faith. On a whole, Christian education desperately needs to fill this gap!
John Lui, I’m wondering what the MA in Theology and Art at Fuller looks like from the inside: is there a focus on art production, or does it stay in the realm of theory, and leave you alone as artists to implement that in your own practice? I’m interested to know more from someone who has met the faculty, etc.
Anyone want to tell me why all the Christian colleges in the Nation require an MFA, or at least an MA in Art to work there but almost NO Christian college or university is willing to actually have an MFA program!?
What’s the matter, not enough art in the history of the church? No good reasons to have a quality program? No need to lift up and actually glorify God? Just like in the “Christian” music industry- “let’s let the non-Christians handle our business for us in that area because, obviously, they do it better”. The piper calls the tune.
How very American Christian: talk-action=0
When I asked that question of two or three Christian art department chairs in 2000 (just before graduating) they either ignored the question or gave condescending answers, acting like it was a stupid question.
Obviously, if people asked it then and are asking it now, it’s not a stupid question.
I share your frustrations. I graduated with the first cohort in Fuller’s MA in Th. and Arts. Not quite as advertised. I am equipped to analyze culture and, to some extent art (but mostly as an “artifact of culture?”), but am by no means a more advanced writer. To my chagrin, SPU now has a highly regarded MFA, but in creative writing alone, I believe, which would have been right up my alley about $35000 ago, and in some sense what I was looking for through Fuller, but never quite became a reality. Your best bet may be APU or a public university supplemented with a dedicated Christian artist community or even selected readings, through, say, an APU prof.
[...] by pcNielsen in Art and faith, Art education, Christianity, MFA. trackback Marc Shaw commented on an old post inquiring about MFAs at Christian colleges, and I thought his perspective worth it’s own [...]