Memphis College of Art

Since 1936, Memphis College of Art (MCA) has been a small, distinctive community of artists. The MCA experience is organized around small classes, independent work, and one-on-one attention and guidance. Currently students from thirty states and seven countries attend MCA, providing a diversity that is often associated with larger schools.

MCA is located in a 342-acre park in midtown Memphis adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Memphis Zoo. Nearby student residences provide living space for new and returning students. Suite-style apartments provide each resident a private room with shared kitchen, laundry, and living room areas. Studio spaces are provided. Other residential options include shared apartments or efficiencies. Two roommates share a furnished apartment with hardwood floors, a sun porch, a kitchen, and studio space. A large variety of affordable housing is also available off-campus to suit all lifestyles and budgets.

Memphis is a great place for an aspiring artist. Known for blues, barbecue, and Elvis, Memphis is also home to Fortune 500 companies, the Grizzlies NBA team, a symphony, an opera, a theater, other colleges and universities, museums, galleries, and almost 1 million residents. Annual festivals on Beale Street and the Mississippi River are popular with students.

MCA is a close-knit community where it’s easy to make friends. There are plenty of organized activities to keep students busy, such as Friday night movies, exhibition receptions, community dinners, and an annual Talent(less) Show, canoe trip, and Halloween Costume Ball.

Tobey Exhibition Hall hosts numerous shows that expose students to a wide range of contemporary art; the Brode Gallery is a large space dedicated to student art. Students also have the opportunity to learn from visiting artists who provide a constant flow of new creative and intellectual energy. MCA organizes study trips to cities around the world renowned for their culture. In early May, a weeklong workshop is held on Horn Island off the Mississippi coast.

The Career Center offers career assistance for graduating students and part-time job placement for current students. Informative sessions are held to prepare students for career choices and for the job search/interview process. The Job Fair brings regional and national companies to MCA each spring for interviews. Internships and service-learning community projects provide students with professional experience while in school.

Faculty members have been selected for their understanding of the relationship between art and teaching. MCA’s Fine Arts faculty members are professional artists who exhibit frequently and regularly execute commissions. The Design Arts faculty members stay on top of the industry through continuing professional design projects. With their knowledge of the job market and galleries at the regional and national levels, faculty members are well qualified to guide students on their career paths. Liberal Studies faculty members are chosen for their impressive credentials and their understanding of the unique nature of MCA students.

MCA is concerned about students whose financial resources are limited. More than 90 percent of the College’s students receive some type of financial assistance. Financial aid programs include scholarships, loans, grants, and work-study awards. More than $1 million is awarded by MCA in scholarship and grants each year.

Program Facilities

Four fully equipped computer labs feature LCD flat-panel desktop computers with high-speed Internet access, laser printers, large-format color ink jet printers, DVD burners, color scanners, and other high-end multimedia peripherals. All stations have the latest graphic design, video, and multimedia software. MCA’s shop has 4,400 square feet, with machines for woodworking, metalworking, plastic molding, glass cutting, shrink wrapping, and stretcher and frame construction. The library has more than 16,000 volumes, 120 art journals and periodicals, 36,000 slides, an extensive reproduction collection, audiovisual equipment, a computer writing lab, and an image file. Students have studio spaces provided in their area of study. Conference rooms allow for slide viewing, critiques, and lectures. Sculpture, small metals, and clay have studios with foundry/welding areas for casting and metal work. Clay has wheels, handbuilding, and glazing space as well as a semi-enclosed firing room. Printmaking, papermaking, and book arts studios provide interaction between these media. Printmaking has facilities for lithography, etching, serigraphy, and other processes. Book arts include letter presses and bindery. Papermaking has beaters, hydraulic press, and pulper. Photography has beginning and advanced black-and-white darkrooms to print 35mm through 4x5 formats. Facilities for non-silver and alternative processes and a fully-equipped lighting studio are also available.

Special Programs

The New York Studio Program offers students an exciting semester in New York City with artists and students from across the country. The Mobility Program can place a student at another art college for a semester of study. Internships offer experience in fine and design arts fields, such as museum work, art therapy, set design, and advertising. Consortiums with local colleges provide a greater variety of course selection.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Required: high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, portfolio, SAT or ACT test scores. Recommended: minimum 2.0 high school GPA, letter of recommendation, interview. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held weekly on campus and off campus in National Portfolio Days; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios whenever needed.

Memphis College of Art

Program Facilities

Special Programs

Application Procedures

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