Environmental Art and Social Practice M.F.A.

Introduction

The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Environmental Art and Social Practice (EASP) is a unique graduate program that trains students to critically analyze, understand, and respond to the challenges of our contemporary era through creative artistic inquiry and project-based research. The two-year program is designed for the student who seeks a career in the field of environmental art and social practice artmaking as these forms relate to environmental justice, social justice, public policy, and multimedia art practices, criticism, and theory. One of the first of its kind in the country integrating this dual focus, the program builds on the unique intellectual reputation of UC Santa Cruz as a leader in promoting social justice, ecological thinking, and inventive explorations of the nature/culture interface, and contributes to this ongoing legacy through the world-transforming potential of creative practice.

The field of environmental and social practice artmaking continues to develop rapidly in relation to the urgency of social and environmental pressures, requiring artists to learn new tools and strategies for effective engagement in society at large, along with important aspects of traditional artistic training. Within this frame, the program invites students to utilize a breadth of approaches, art mediums, research methods, theoretical frameworks, and technologies ranging from the traditional to the most contemporary, with the understanding that all media can be relevant in developing new approaches and responses to environmental and social issues. The program’s interdisciplinary emphasis also encourages students to engage with other departments, divisions, centers, and faculty across the university to deepen and enrich their research, and to partner with groups and organizations outside the university in the development and execution of their projects.

Graduates of the program find employment in the art world and in academia as well as qualifying for job opportunities in hybrid and developing fields, including in green technology, environmental policy, public arts policy, community planning, public space design, and other forms of advising and design where creative approaches to problem-solving is called for. Depending on the focus of their thesis project, graduates’ access to academic positions is not limited to art practice fields, but may include political theory, humanities, and social issue curricula, as well as hybrid and cross- disciplinary art programs linked with science, social science, and the humanities. Graduates may also work as arts administrators in a variety of institutions or seek employment in curatorial positions, journalism, research, and editorial positions, as well as in audio-visual production and in the digital economy. Some graduates may also work as self-employed artists or in unique positions that defy existing job categories and are specifically tailored to their skills and interests.

Objectives

The M.F.A. in Environmental Art and Social Practice program supports the development of a student’s artistic practice in relation to issues and contexts relevant to these two related areas of study. The program aims to train students in practical skills as they relate to project-based arts research in the areas of: creative methodologies, critical analysis, historical perspectives, ethical standards, collaborative strategies, reflective critique, and art pedagogies. 

Students learn to conceive and execute projects, articulate narratives to support their ideas, and establish working relationships with other practitioners in the field. They develop methods, perspectives, and concepts to support lifelong artistic inquiry and thriving careers, and to contribute to, and further develop, the emergent fields of environmental art and social practice.

Requirements

In the first year, students work collaboratively on practice-based research topics while studying methodologies, histories, theories and pedagogies relevant to the field. They also take electives relevant to their research interests chosen from course offerings throughout the university. In the spring of their first year they also take a 2-credit thesis course in which they develop a working bibliography and thesis outline. 

In the second year, students develop and realize their thesis projects. They identify a focus and geographic location, find partners and design a project individually, or in collaboration. Each student’s creative research is supported by a series of core critique classes as well as electives chosen by the student to deepen their knowledge and fine-tune their research direction, and by 2 credits of thesis advising every quarter. In the spring of the second year they also take a 2-credit curatorial class focusing on the public presentation of their M.F.A. research.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 72 credits are required for the Environmental Art and Social Practice M.F.A. degree. Fifty-two credits are required core courses and 20 credits are electives.

First Year

Students take the following core courses in their first year. ART 230 can be taken in the first or second year.

Second Year

Students take the following courses in their second year. If students did not take ART 230 in their first year, they should take it in their second year.

Electives

Students take 20 credits of electives selected from the list of approved electives. In addition, students may take any upper-division art studio course. Students may take no more than 15 upper-division credits. Additional courses at the university may fit into a student's research interests and be suitable as an elective. Students should consult their faculty advisor or director of graduate studies in the program if this is the case. Elective courses can come from other academic programs and departments at UC Santa Cruz or the Art Department, and are available throughout the academic year. Up to two 5-credit independent study courses may also contribute to fulfilling this requirement.

Other Requirements

First-Year Review and Advancement to Candidacy

At the end of the spring quarter of their first year, students will present their thesis project proposal to their thesis  committee in order to advance in the program. The committee will be selected by the student and approved by the graduate program director by the seventh week of the spring quarter of the first year. The thesis committee will include two EASP/Art Department Senate faculty members and an external member who may be faculty from another department or division, another institution, or a community member (the external members are selected based on their research interests and close work with the student).

At this time, students will present to their committee a final project proposal, revised and developed over the course of the first year, that will serve to direct their thesis research in their second year. Proposals will outline the focus of the project, conceptual and theoretical grounding, materials, location, partners and/or collaborators, preliminary annotated bibliography/list of related artworks, and a step-by-step plan for carrying out the project. Proposals will be evaluated based on clarity and quality of purpose, concept, and plan, feasibility within the time frame and budget proposed, evidence of established relationships with partners/collaborators, and potential to make a significant creative contribution to the field. The thesis committee must approve the thesis proposal/project outline no later than the end of the spring quarter of the first year.

Capstone/Thesis

Students meet with their thesis committee at least once a quarter, and more if needed, and with additional thesis advisors throughout their second year as they develop their thesis projects. For the M.F.A. thesis capstone, each student is required to present a public facing exhibition and/or other presentation of their creative work and submit a thesis paper that describes their thesis, research and findings, which will be no less than 25 pages. Students will also be required to pass an oral examination with their thesis committee.

The final exhibition may take place on campus or off campus with an accompanying component on campus. The M.F.A. thesis review committee will review each final thesis project in the spring quarter of the second year or after a student has completed a minimum of 72 credits. While form and media will vary greatly, completed thesis projects will reflect original creative research and professional level production (individually or collaboratively authored), as well as command of the field.

Applying for Graduation

Students should contact the department advisor to confirm all requirements for the degree have been completed. Students must submit an Application for the M.F.A. to the department for review by the end of the second week of the quarter in which you intend to receive the certificate.