Graduate Overview

The Fiber and Material Studies (FMS) department is research-based, concept-driven, and resolutely engaged with hands-on making. Born from textile traditions, the Fiber and Material Studies department encourages students to think both about and through materials, investigating technique and expanding the use of the medium.

The department emphasizes technical skills development together with deep engagements with textile processes, materials, techniques, histories, and politics. Graduate fiber arts students work across a wide range of fiber techniques and materials. They also work with:

• Painting
• Lens-based media
• Ceramics
• Sculpture
• New media
• Drawing
• Archival research practices
• Installation
• Performance
• Scholarly and creative writing
• Collaborative projects
• Community organizing 

Led by an impressive and diverse group of faculty, Fiber and Material Studies is the largest program of its kind. It is the top producer of talent in the field considered in terms of teaching, leadership, tenure, and tenure-track positions at almost every other US fiber and textile program. Alumni also go on to successful careers as artists, curators, and scholars, and several have founded and/or lead arts organizations, collective studios, and artist residencies. Learn more about our esteemed alumni.

Graduate students in Fiber and Material Studies take studio classes, seminars, and receive in-depth advising with faculty of their choosing. The master of fine arts curriculum is a 60-credit program that provides students with the foundation to engage with the history of the medium and understand current developments in the field. Students design a two-year plan of study that includes studio credits, graduate seminars, art history courses, and other electives. Graduate seminars include in-depth critiques and discussions of practice, research presentations, lectures, studio visits, and discussions with visiting fiber artists and scholars.

Some of the ideas and issues that are evident throughout the department's course offerings include: 

• The politics of craft and hand making
• Relationships between analog and digital
• Sustainability
• Intersectionality
• Labor
• Affect, and identity 

These themes are investigated from a variety of perspectives. Students draw from frameworks including textile history, art theory and criticism, intersectional feminism, queer theory, decolonial and critical race studies, material culture studies, transgender studies, textile conservation and textile collections, and archival research. Learn more about our courses and curriculum.

In addition to a focus on fiber and textiles, the Fiber and Material Studies department embraces transdisciplinarity and the permeability of boundaries. This begins with the varied expertise of our faculty who work in the discipline and in painting, sculpture, performance, creative writing, and scholarship.

Graduate students are encouraged to take courses in other departments to explore and implement the techniques and particular rigors of various disciplines in order to enrich and deepen their practices. Students may work with fiber-based materials while at the same time advising with faculty in departments from across SAIC. 

A cornerstone of the SAIC graduate studio program is its focus on tutorial-guided studio practice. Each semester, you will select from more than 100 graduate faculty advisors representing myriad disciplines, approaches, and intellectual positions. As the main component of your studies, MFA 6009: Graduate Projects allows you to develop your work with faculty who guide you through an informed dialogue around content, form, theory, and professional practice.

Graduate students in the Fiber and Material Studies department have significant opportunities for teaching and research assistantships, as well as studio visits with guest artists and curators. They’re also encouraged to present their work through lectures and social media takeovers. As a culmination to their studies, MFA students participate in the SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition, showcasing their work to the public at SAIC Galleries.

The Textile Resource Center (TRC) is a hands-on teaching/study collection and a curricular resource of over 450 textile objects and more than 2000 books. The TRC supports student learning about global textile histories and contemporary themes. The TRC offers two, year-long graduate research assistantships to FMS graduate students. 

The curriculum is augmented with onsite lectures by prominent national and international artists and scholars thanks to The William Bronson and Grayce Slovett Mitchell Lectureship in Fiber and Material Studies. Past lecturers include Angela Hennessy, Jeffrey Gibson, Dr. Christine Checinska, Namita Gupta Wiggers, T'ai Smith, Tanya Aguiniga, Diedrick Brackens, Tyrrell Tapaha, Cian Dayrit, and Krista Franklin. Learn more about the Mitchell Lecture Series.

Graduate Admissions Events

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MFA in Studio Admissions Information

Visit the graduate admissions website or contact the graduate admissions office at 312.629.6100, 800.232.7242 or gradmiss@saic.edu.