MFA in Fine Art

The MFA Fine Art programme is aimed at artists and recent graduates who want to advance their practices, engage with the relationships between contemporary art and theory, and consider what art might be in relation to today’s social, cultural and political contexts. The programme recognises that contemporary art is diverse and transdisciplinary in spirit. It supports a range of practice-based inquiry and discursive approaches across the field of contemporary art including public art, performance, moving image, digital media, painting, print, sculpture, expanded and emergent practices. Recent material addressed by MFA students includes: bodies, objects, spaces, images, gender, sexuality, language, pharmacology, masculinity, immaterial labour and eco-activism.

Students are encouraged to develop their individual research pathways in order to find new ways of making and situating their projects in relation to the spectrum of contemporary art practices, discourses and audiences. MFA students regularly develop exhibitions and public events, most recently in partnership with Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre. 

The advanced study required at masters level is delivered by a cross-disciplinary team of practitioners and is augmented with regular study trips and talks by invited visiting artists, curators and writers. In 2022, artist Helen Hughes was the recipient of the annual Studio Award residency working alongside students in the Annex postgraduate studios and contributing to the programme.