SDSU School of Art, Design, and Art History

Master of Arts (Studio Arts) Degree in Art

The School's Specific Admission Requirements (Part Two of Admissions Process)

Admission to the Master of Arts degree program in studio arts is limited to the fall semester. Applications and portfolios for the annual graduate review must be mailed or delivered to the graduate coordinator by February 1. (Major Code: 10021) Please send materials to the following address:

Graduate Coordinator
School of Art, Design, and Art History
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4805

1. School of Art, Design, and Art History application form. to obtain application form and instructions, refer to http://www.sdsu.edu/art to download the information;
2. Statement of purpose addressing your professional goals and reasons for selecting the School of Art, Design, and Art History at SDSU for your pursuit of these goals;
3. Artist statement which describes the nature or content of the work shown in the portfolio;
4. Slides, photos or digital images of your work. All slides must be accompanied by a corresponding slide description sheet. All digital images must be accompanied by a printed thumbnail index. Digital images should not exceed 1024 x 768 pixels, and should be presented either as a collection of JPEG files in a folder along with a caption list, or as captioned images contained within a single PDF or with PowerPoint. Printed digital image samples are encouraged, but must be accompanied by disc in the above stated formats;
5. Two letters of recommendation from art instructors (or others) who are able to comment on your artistic potential in the area of specialization. Letters can be sent separately or included with your application in sealed and signed envelopes;
6. Any other materials required specifically in the instructions by your chosen discipline;
7. Return envelope with sufficient postage for the return of your portfolio.

Admission to the Degree Curriculum

All students must satisfy the general requirements for admission to the university with classified graduate standing, as described in Part Two of the Graduate Bulletin. In general, students must have completed an undergraduate major in art with a minimum of 24 upper division units, including two semesters of work in the general history of art, before they will be permitted to enter the graduate program. Students must also be able to show that they are adequately advanced to carry out projects which measure up to graduate standards. In studio areas this requirement will be measured by a formal presentation (the Graduate Review) to the emphasis area faculty of a portfolio of examples of the candidateís undergraduate or postbaccalaureate work. The range should be great enough to give the committee a knowledge of the candidateís strengths and weaknesses. A statement of the candidateís objectives in the graduate program should accompany this presentation. If it is determined that the student is capable of doing graduate art work, he/she may be permitted to begin such work even though he/she has not completed an appropriate undergraduate major in art. Those students whose work is insufficiently advanced for classified graduate standing may enroll for courses through Open University, in order to meet the standard requirements. In addition to meeting the requirements for admission to the university, students wishing to be admitted to the art history graduate program with a classified graduate standing must complete the equivalent of the graduation requirements as specified in the current General Catalog (a minimum of 39 units of art history to include Art 593).

Students who do not meet the requirements for admission to the graduate program in art history but meet the requirements for graduate admission to the university, may, at the discretion of the art history faculty, be accepted with conditional standing.

Advancement to Candidacy

In addition to meeting the requirements for advancement to candidacy as described in Part Two of this bulletin, all students will be required to pass a comprehensive examination covering the fields of history of art of western civilization, the principles of art appreciation, and the techniques and materials of the artist, or to have completed a year course in the history of art of Western civilization and six under- graduate units of art history.

Students with a concentration in studio arts must have:

1. completed at least 12 units listed on his/her official program with a minimum grade point of 3.0 (B);
2. been reviewed by the tenured and tenure-track faculty of the emphasis area and received approval of an acceptable body of graduate work completed since classified standing fulfilling the requirements of the area of specialization.

Specific Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree

In addition to meeting the requirements for classified graduate standing and the basic requirements for the masterís degree as described in Part Two of the Graduate Bulletin, all students must complete a graduate program of a minimum of 30 units which includes at least 24 units in art from courses listed below as acceptable on masterís degree programs in art, of which at least 16 units must be in 600- and 700-numbered courses.

Specific to Studio Arts (Major Code: 10021)

Those electing studio arts must complete a minimum of 18 units in the area of specialization. Art 694, 760, and 799A are required. Not more than a total of six units in Art 798 will be accepted. A creative project accompanied by a written report is required as fulfillment of Art 799A. In conjunction with this project, each candidate for the degree must present an exhibition of representative graduate work.

This page was last updated at 2:33PM on August 20, 2008