Graduate Overview

The MFA in Studio, Comics program leverages Chicago's vibrant narrative comics community to provide an interdisciplinary environment for creativity across the departments of Printmedia, Painting and Drawing, Writing, and Visual Communication Design. Recognizing that developing narrative comics is a multi-faceted art form, the curriculum ensures students are well-versed in various disciplines, including drawing, writing, reading, and narrative expression. The foundation of Comics Seminars combined with individually selected studio electives and advisors allows students to foster the poetic nature of comics, providing the breadth necessary for artistic development.

Each semester, in addition to selecting graduate advisors from within the department, students can choose from more than 100 graduate faculty advisors at SAIC representing a myriad of disciplines, approaches, and intellectual positions. Individualized instruction is the cornerstone of the graduate studio program.

All graduate students in the MFA in Studio, Comics program are eligible for up to two teaching assistantships per semester where they provide technical and instructional support to faculty in the undergraduate studio-classroom

Panels comprised of faculty and invited guests conduct intensive studio critiques with all MFA and writing graduate students for one week each semester. During the fall, Crit Week offers students the opportunity to discuss on-going work from a disciplinary, department-specific point of view. Attention to material exploration, techniques, and ideas feature prominently. In the spring, an interdisciplinary Crit Week follows, with faculty, visiting artists, and peers from across SAIC departments participating in a diverse exchange addressing concepts, creative production, and histories.