The New York Academy of Art is a graduate school unlike any other. Founded by artists, scholars, and patrons, including Andy Warhol, with a mission to revive the rigor of traditional training while pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. At the heart of the Academy is the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program—a two-year immersive experience designed for artists who are both technically driven and conceptually curious.
Our MFA students master time-honored techniques in drawing, painting, and sculpture, and apply them to create vital, relevant, and powerful contemporary works. This is a place where observational skills meet intellectual rigor, and where a deep understanding of the human figure opens doors to original visual storytelling.
The Academy attracts artists who see classical training not as a limitation, but as a foundation for innovation. Here, technique is just the beginning.
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Program Structure
A Studio-Driven Curriculum That Honors the Figure and Fuels Creative Risk
The MFA is a 60-credit terminal degree completed over two years, with 85% of coursework rooted in studio practice. Students choose a concentration in Drawing, Painting, or Sculpture, and may elect to pursue an additional track in Anatomy or Printmaking, allowing for expanded focus and interdisciplinary depth.
Through rigorous technical instruction, daily critique, and intensive mentorship, students develop not only advanced skills but also the intellectual and conceptual frameworks to reimagine tradition for today’s art world.
The curriculum is centered on the human figure and representational art, reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary theory, practice, and discourse. Students graduate with the ability to express a refined personal vision through technically and conceptually resolved work—fully prepared to engage with galleries, residencies, curators, and collectors on a professional level.
Core Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the MFA program demonstrate:
- Proficient working knowledge of anatomy
- Strong command of composition and design
- Mastery of both perceptual and conceptual approaches to figure drawing
- Advanced ability to interpret and translate the human form in space
- Fluency in traditional and contemporary techniques
- Deep understanding of the history of visual art and its evolving methodologies
- Capacity to reinterpret classical methods for contemporary expression
- A working knowledge of art theory and critical discourse
- Insight into how the human figure communicates meaning
- Creative risk-taking and independent thinking
- Clear and effective written and oral communication
- Competence in independent research
- Exposure to the professional practices of a working artist