Program Overview

Graduate program
In addition to hands-on studio work, graduate students also learn from our Visiting Artist program

Thinking about your future as a professional artist? Looking for a new artistic challenge? Ready to take your creative practice to the next level?

Expand your studio practice and find push the edges of your creativity with our celebrated and respected MFA Program.

You'll be part of a small community of artists dedicated to finding their future in art, with 24-hour access your own private, secure studio space, as well as extended access to the rest of our specialized studio areas.

You'll also be part of UVic's greater Graduate Students' Society, which features more than 160 graduate programs across campus — including grad students in the rest of the Fine Arts faculty in our departments of Theatre, Writing, Music, and Art History & Visual Studies.

UVic offers are BC’s only stand-alone Fine Arts faculty. Home to more than 150 instructors and 1,200 students, our interdisciplinary research and creative production is recognized worldwide for its high quality, social value and cultural significance.

Major areas

Our MFA program is primarily centred on drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, video and digital media. However, in the tradition of contemporary practice, we also recognize and encourage work that doesn't fit into these singular categories. Our facilities, faculty and staff support students in all the areas above, however we are not able to offer instruction in the fields of graphic design, illustration, game design, traditional animation, or film.

In addition to the  required courses, students are expected to meet on a regular basis with their faculty supervisor(s) for constructive critiques and seminars dealing with their work.

First-year MFA students will present a temporary exhibition of the work produced to their advisory committee to determine the advisability of continuing in second year, and students will be expected to mount a solo exhibition at the end of the second year. This  final exhibition will be the major source of evaluation and will form the basis of the final oral examination.

Please note: students with a BFA from the University of Victoria will be encouraged to seek their master’s degree elsewhere.