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MFA Book Arts / Printmaking

The MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Program offers advanced study in studio arts, focusing on the book as a vehicle of artistic expression and printmaking in the context of the narrative. It is a two-year 60-credit program that must be completed in four semesters.

The program offers a course of study in which students explore the book as an art form that incorporates two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional structure, time and sequence, text and image. It embraces both the rich history of the book and the new processes and forms created by digital technology. Its concept of book arts includes fine-press printing and illustrated texts, visual and verbal narratives, and works that push the idea of a book toward expressions as different as sculpture and multimedia.

Important features of the program are its printmaking opportunities, its emphasis on investigating traditional and modern bookbinding, its encouragement of writing and the use of text, and its situation in an arts university, giving students a unique opportunity to draw on other art areas--such as, photography, graphic design, multimedia, crafts, sculpture.

How the Program Unfolds

The course of study, which is individually tailored to each student's interests and experience, encourages the development of new concepts, while offering proficiency in both traditional and contemporary processes. The core program of bookbinding, offset lithography, and letterpress courses is augmented by investigations into related fields of study in studio-arts and colloquia and seminars on art and the book. Courses in the first semester intersect--reflecting the integration of skills and concepts integral to book arts. Through both years students have the opportunity to work on their writing. The second year extends a concentration in course work toward the MFA Thesis Exhibition under the supervision of an advisory committee selected by the student.