Open Studios – Master’s of Fine Arts

In this bilingual two-year MFA program students work within a variety of artistic practices, from photography and media arts to sculpture, painting and drawing, video and installation art. Students take an in-depth look at theories informing contemporary art and image culture, and choose between an interdisciplinary studio approach or specializing in a single medium.

The Department of Visual Arts is located in Ottawa’s downtown core, home to many of Canada’s most influential and dynamic art institutions, and within walking distance of the National Gallery of Canada, the Canada Council Art Bank Gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery, SAW Video and the Karsh-Masson Gallery, as well as the Canadian Museum of Nature. Located close by are the Canadian Museum of History, and Library and Archives Canada, and across the river in Gatineau, Québec, artist-run centers AxeNéo7 and Daïmôn media arts center in the La Filature complex.

Faculty members and adjunct professors of the Department are actively involved in exhibiting, research and publishing as well as in curatorial projects, in the areas of art and gender, transnational and post-colonial studies in art, critical questions in museology, and the archive in contemporary art practice, among others. The Department’s adjunct professors include directors and curators of important museums, galleries, and archives, as well as some of Canada’s most outstanding art practitioners, critics, and historians.

Each MFA student is provided with their own individual artist’s studio, and enjoys access to the Department’s state-of-the-art technical facilities, including painting and sculpture studios, darkrooms, digital and 3-D printing laboratories.

Theory courses provide exposure to contemporary artistic and cultural discourse, and the basis for students’ contextualization of their personal studio work within current art practice and theoretical investigation. Students enroll in two Theory courses per academic year; the Professional Internship course, in which students have the opportunity to work at one of the many art institutions in the region, or with a professional artist, is a distinctive feature of our program.