Sculpture MFA

The Yale School of Art Sculpture program recognizes sculpture as a form concerned with various working methodologies—all of which are considered equally within the program’s pedagogical framework.

The program focuses on experimentation and the development and facilitation of constructive critique between artists, contextualized both art historically and through present-day experience. This conversation is structured in various ways: as personal, one-on-one dialogues between students and faculty; smaller group seminars; and larger-format discussions involving the entire department. Students are supported as they work to develop a self-sustained practice that extends beyond the context of any institution and into the rest of their lives.

All students have individual studio spaces while participating in the program. Note that while the program does emphasize interdisciplinarity, no metal casting or ceramic facilities are available at the Yale School of Art.

The following outlines a minimum plan for study, which is 15 credits per semester.

First Year	Second Year
Fall	Fall
art 645 Individual Criticism: 6 credits art 630 Studio Seminar: 3 credits art 949a Critical Practice: 3 credits Academic or Studio Electives: 3 credits Total minimum credits for Fall Term: 15	art 645 Individual Criticism: 6 credits art 630 Studio Seminar: 3 credits Academic or Studio Electives: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Fall Term: 15

Spring	Spring
art 645 Individual Criticism: 6 credits art 630 Studio Seminar: 3 credits Sculpture Elective: 3 credits Academic or Studio Electives: 3 credits Total minimum credits for Spring Term: 15	art 645 Individual Criticism: 6 credits art 630 Studio Seminar: 3 credits Academic or Studio Electives: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Spring Term: 15

Portfolio Contents

Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Please do not embed your name in the titles of your work and limit titles to thirty (30) characters. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below.

Upload a total of twenty (20) still images and/or time-based files. A significant number of the images should represent work done within the last twelve months. Three-dimensional works should show the surrounding space and context.

Portfolio Format

To conform to our viewing format, each still image file may be no larger than 16 MB. Do not format images in any presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote) or include composite images (more than one work per file).

The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.

Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may be PDF format and may contain no more than 75 pages.

Video files should be no longer than two minutes in length. If you upload a video that is longer than two minutes, it will automatically time out at two minutes. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of twenty files and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.

If you are primarily a video, performance, or sound artist and wish to submit a longer video or sound file, you may post the video to your own website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in a position to review works of extensive length.

Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.