+ Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
+ Master of Fine Arts in Film (MFA)
+ MA Visual and Critical Studies & MFA Fine Arts
Santino Gonzales (MFA Fine Arts 2020), Orion in Spring, 2019.
Ranked among the 10 best graduate schools for fine arts* in the U.S., CCA attracts artists from around the world to study with our renowned faculty in San Francisco, a hub of socially engaged culture, creativity, and innovation. With 1:1 mentorship from faculty and proximity to museums, galleries, arts organizations, and the San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse community of creative practitioners, CCA students join a thriving ecosystem of artists and organizations and develop networks they carry with them throughout their careers.
Shops and Studios
Graduate students have access to dozens of specialized shops, studios, and maker spaces throughout CCA’s campus, including:
+ Photography studios and darkrooms
+ Editing suites
+ Sound-mixing room
+ Production stage
+ VR lab
+ Printmaking shop
+ Metal and woodworking shops
+ Digital fabrication lab
+ Ceramics studio
+ Textiles Studio
Lecture Series
Each semester, CCA hosts a powerful slate of thinkers and practitioners to present lectures, workshops, and critiques. Recent visiting artists and scholars in our Film, Fine Arts, and Visual and Critical Studies lecture series include: Raven Chacon, Dewey Crumpler, Ja’Tovia Gary, Jeffrey Gibson, James Lebrecht, Sharon Lockhart, Jill Magid, Nicole Newnham, and Amy Yao.
MFA Fine Arts
The two-year MFA Fine Arts program is characterized by a culture of critique, studio making, and social engagement. Encouraged to explore interdisciplinary practice, students work across a broad range of forms and media including painting, sculpture, photography, print media, moving image, social practice, and installation. Our graduate studio complex provides private studios to develop work, critique and installation spaces, and a place to build community.
MFA Film
The two-year MFA Film program goes beyond training and convention to provide a sanctuary for emerging voices and diverse practices in filmmaking and moving image. With mentorship from our award-winning faculty, CCA graduates embark on their careers with the conceptual skills, technical dexterity, and professional networks that form the foundation of a lifelong creative practice.
MA Visual and Critical Studies & MFA Fine Arts
We believe intellectual curiosity, academic rigor, and creative ambition enrich and invigorate one another. This three-year program integrates two complementary graduate programs into three years of coursework so students can concurrently pursue dual master’s degrees. In addition to a studio practice, students dive deep into a rigorous curriculum that emphasizes interdisciplinary study, historical grounding, social and political analysis, and critical writing.
