Program description
The Masters of Fine Art in Matriarchal Art Practice is a research based interdisciplinary art degree. This program incorporates experimental, performative, and domestic craft rooted in the historical and contemporary realities of the labor performed by caretakers.
The MFA in MAP honors and seeks to uplift the long history of disenfranchised, marginalized, and oppressed people caring for one another and learning together. By centering these stories into the course of research in this self-directed study, and creating open-source educational materials to share freely, the artist hopes to become an accomplice in dismantling oppressive power structures.
This program critically incorporates structures from the academy that are useful, while intentionally forgoing elements rooted in exclusionary, colonial, and supremacist philosophies. The course of study rejects the notion that test scores, perfunctory skills, and funding are requirements for participation in higher learning. There will be a syllabus designed quarterly that facilitates multiple forms of learning, measurable goals and objectives, and collaborative work. The practice of caretaking will be assigned course credit according to time spent, honoring the value of the experience, wisdom and energy exchanged in the practice. Sharing and transmitting the knowledge gained from each quarter will also be an integral component of the course of study.