Our Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies

The Low-Residency Visual Studies Program combines the deep study of an MFA and the rigorous practice of a residency – while being accessible to people with busy lives.

The program supports students creating work in a wide variety of mediums.

Through the low-residency program, students develop self-discipline and a creative practice that fits in with their daily life. As a result, they end the program with a practice that is sustainable long after graduation.

For working professionals and those with personal responsibilities who can’t relocate full-time for school, the low-residency program offers the perfect opportunity to expand your creativity.

The Low-Residency Model

Low-residency students create work at home throughout the school year and then come together during the summer to connect with fellow artists and focus on their work. Students are thoughtfully paired with a professional artist from our international network who will act as their mentor. This one-on-one partnership fosters a personalized education experience. Mentors offer feedback and guidance and maintain low-residency students’ connection to the program.

Residency

For three consecutive summers, students gather at the PNCA campus for a seven week residency. Over the course of these weeks, students engage in graduate seminars, critiques, studio visits, visiting artist lectures, technical workshops, and focused studio time. During the residencies, each student is given their own studio space to work in as well as access to every lab, tool, and workstation on campus.

Faculty Highlight

Ryan Pierce

Chair of Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies

Ryan Pierce is a multidisciplinary artist who creates paintings, prints, and experimental artist books. He has received grants from the Joan Mitchell and San Francisco Foundations and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission. Pierce has been an artist in residence at the Djerassi and Ucross Foundations, Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder in Norway, and a fellow at the Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, where he now serves on the Board of Directors. He is the co-founder of Signal Fire, a group that facilitated wilderness residencies and retreats for artists of all disciplines from 2009-19.

Alumni Spotlight

Joe Bun Keo (‘23)

Joe Bun Keo is a Khmer (Cambodian) American artist working and residing in Connecticut. In 2023 he received the Real Art Award and a solo exhibition at Real Art Ways in Hartford. He is also a recipient of the Artist Fellowship Emerging Recognition from the Connecticut Office of Arts. Joe’s work focuses on unpacking intergenerational trauma through the scope of neomaterialism, the most recent iteration the Duchampian school of thought on readymades and found objects.