The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program offers an intensive fine arts studio experience that allows students to achieve a new level of mastery in art making. Post-Bac students pursue independent work, developing a disciplined studio practice that will carry forward into graduate study or work as artists outside of an academic environment.
The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program is designed to serve several types of students. Many who enroll have recently graduated with a BA from a liberal arts college or a university art department and are looking for the intensity and depth of experience that an art school can provide. Others have taken art classes while working in other fields, are interested in making a career change, and feel the need to become intensely involved in making art. Many Post-Baccalaureate students apply to graduate programs in art and are assisted in this process. All students are encouraged to reach a level in their work that reflects a personal direction. They grow to have confidence in their abilities, which allows them to continue working beyond a structured situation once they have left the program.
At the successful completion of 30 credits, Maryland Institute College of Art grants a post-baccalaureate certificate. While most students complete the program in one year, the program may last a maximum of four semesters. Students may enter in either August or January as full-time students only. January entrance depends on availability of space in the program. Enrollees are provided with their own studios in a renovated warehouse a few blocks from campus that also houses junior and senior individual studios. The building features secure parking, 24-hour access and security, and includes seminar, critique, lounge, and storage space.
The core of the program is the Post-Baccalaureate Critique and Seminar. Students meet weekly with the program’s director and a resident artist for individual or group critiques to develop a personal direction in their work. Post-Bac Critique also includes lectures on topics related to art. Seminar topics include discussion of professional topics such as writing and speaking about one’s own work, preparing an artist's resume, applying to graduate school, taking slides, applying for grants and residencies, exhibition opportunities, legal and tax issues, and choosing a studio.
The remainder of the curriculum is tailored, through counseling with the program director, to meet the specific needs of each individual student. Individual and group critiques, essential to the growth of conceptual and technical skills of the visual artist, are a major component of the curriculum, so students take either intermediate or upper level undergraduate studio classes. Post-baccalaureate students are invited and encouraged to attend group lectures and seminars for graduate students.
Post-baccalaureate students applying to MICA graduate programs are considered on the same basis as other applicants. Tuition is the same as full-time graduate and undergraduate programs. Limited merit-based scholarships are available.
