What gives MMC's visual arts students their competitive edge? You're on to something if you guessed the location. NYC is the heart of the art and design world, and with our campus on the Upper East Side—within walking distance of the Met, MoMA, Guggenheim, and Cooper-Hewitt museums; art galleries; photography and design studios; and auction houses—it'll be easy for you to find inspiration and awesome internships.
But that's only part of the story. Add in state-of-the-art resources in our new 12,000-square-foot Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts, multiple degree tracks, and faculty devoted to helping you elevate your work, and you'll see why so many in the arts community have chosen to enroll here.
Here are eight things you need to know about the visual arts experience at MMC!
1. You’ll have options for degree programs.
Our new 60-credit Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Art degree offers students an opportunity to build substantial pre-professional skills in the concentrations of Graphic Design, Photography, Illustration and Animation, or Studio Practices. The 42-credit Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art degree provides the flexibility to combine an intensive study of one of the four Art concentrations with disciplines across the college curriculum. Imagine the possibilities of creating a double major in Art and Science, Psychology, Dance, Art History, and more. Both tracks connect students to curatorial and exhibition opportunities, internships, and learning initiatives in NYC’s arts community.
"Do you want to paint and draw or paint and draw and dance? The four-year college experience is crucial to your life, and you get to decide how you'd like to spend it," said Art and Art History Chair Hallie Cohen.
2. You'll be encouraged to explore all your interests.
No matter what degree track you choose, you'll be encouraged to pursue all the interests that make you you. It's never either/or at MMC—it's both. Your exploration could take the shape of a double major or minor, cross-disciplinary classes, or participation in special interest clubs. "At MMC, I had the support to take on a lot of different niches that other schools would not have allowed me to explore," said Nicholas Talamo '24, a BFA Art major with a Photography concentration and minors in Art History and Business Management. "I've taken multidisciplinary courses and painting, sculpture, and printmaking. I'm not only a photographer but a multimedia artist."
3. You'll work closely with faculty.
Our professors are as accomplished in their careers as they are in the classroom, exhibiting, performing, and publishing work regularly. And to them, you'll never be just another face in a lecture hall—at MMC, your professors are your allies and cheerleaders. Take it from Alyssa Rodriguez '25, a BFA Art major with a concentration in Illustration and Animation and a minor in Studio Practices: "My professors are caring and attentive and have helped me elevate my art and develop my own style," she said. "My MMC experience has been valuable to me as an artist and a person, and I'm very grateful for that."
4. You'll have the space and resources to dream big.
Our Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts—known affectionately as The Judy—gives students an innovative home to help bring their visions to life and a versatile space to collaborate and showcase work.
In it, you’ll find studios to support sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, graphic design, illustration and animation; a digital lab equipped with the latest software; a digital immersion project space to showcase time-based media art; an Art History resource center and lecture room; and a student hub to meet friends and share ideas. The Center was made possible by a $25 million gift that also supports student scholarships from Art alum Judy Mara Carson '03, her husband Russ, and their Carson Family Charitable Trust.
Fun fact: Besides producing art, the center is itself an art piece—it recently received an architectural design award!
5. You won't just create amazing work, you'll showcase it.
Our visual arts students have multiple avenues to present their work, including the Junior Art Seminar and Senior BFA exhibit, which are displayed in the College's Hewitt Gallery of Art, and our annual pop-up arts showcase It's a Happening—Arts at the Judy. It's a Happening invites the entire MMC community to celebrate the extraordinary work produced by students in visual art, dance, digital media, film, theatre, music, and the spoken word.
6. You'll have your pick of internships.
We can't say it enough: Our students gain invaluable experience working as interns in the city's art institutions and art-related businesses. (Here's a partial list of city institutions you could intern with!) Best of all, many end up parlaying their positions into full-time jobs. Sydney Proctor '24, a double major in Art History and Business, used an internship at Bonhams Auction House to launch herself into a full-time spot in Client Services at Phillips Auction House right after graduating!
Moreover, according to Mike Ecker '13, founder and lead creative of Ecker Design Company, there's an extra advantage to MMC's prime location. "Everybody floods New York in the summers for internships," he said. "But at MMC, you'll beat the out-of-town students for positions because you have the advantage of being in New York during the fall and spring."
7. You'll follow in the footsteps of acclaimed artists.
Where does our world-class Art program take you? Here, there, and everywhere. Art and Art History alums have gone on to succeed in graduate school and have a wide array of careers in the art world and art-related fields. That includes internationally recognized artists and art professionals such as Guggenheim fellow Ellie Ga '98 and Ashley Stewart Rödder '06, director of New York City's Gagosian Gallery, which exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Check out more of our alumni career and grad placements!
8. You'll automatically be considered for scholarships.
When you submit an art portfolio—as required for admission to our BFA in Art program and encouraged for our BA in Art program—you'll be automatically considered for the Visual and Performing Arts Merit Scholarship, with awards ranging from $2K-10K. To help you with your submission, our Art and Art History Department holds two portfolio workshops in the fall, highlighting best practices and connecting you with faculty and current students. We highly encourage all applicants who choose to submit a portfolio to register and attend these events!
For information on Applying and Portfolio Reviews as well as upcoming Portfolio Workshops click here!
