The University of Waterloo
Master of Fine Arts
Application Deadline February 1, 2020

Come here go anywhere—pursue your MFA at the University of Waterloo.

Our fully funded Keith and Win Shantz International Research Scholarships let you study with professional artists anywhere in the world for six weeks. With a generous funding package ($34,000 for five consecutive terms in 2019), one-on-one mentoring with distinguished faculty, plenty of access to facilities, a solo exhibition in our nationally renowned gallery UWAG, and teaching placements, the University of Waterloo is a real gem.

A key feature of our program are the Keith and Win Shantz International Research Scholarships, which enable all MFA candidates to travel and study alongside a professional artist during their summer term. Our students have been to the England, Germany, Spain, Scotland, Denmark, Brazil, China, Portugal and the United States. To find out more from our scholarship recipients see the 2018 Shantz Short. We also have an annual MFA field trip paid for by the Keith and Win Shantz endowment fund. This year we went to the Venice Biennale.

MFA Cohort 2019/2020, Venice, Italy. Photo: Jordan Blackburn

The University of Waterloo is one of the leading comprehensive universities in the country and has been recognized by Maclean’s magazine as Canada’s top university for innovation for the 25th consecutive year.

Our MFA is an intimate program built around studio research, practice, professional development, and pedagogical training. Studio work culminates in a solo exhibition at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG); see past thesis exhibitions here. The pedagogical component includes a seminar in course development, two teaching assistantships and the opportunity to teach an introductory, studio-based course.

Zahra Baseri, MFA Thesis Exhibition, 2019. Photo: Scott Lee

Due to our size, teaching assistantships and the Shantz International Research Scholarships, we offer one of the most generous funding packages in the country.

The application deadline for our MFA program is February 1, 2020.

For more information, contact Tara Cooper, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at tlcooper@uwaterloo.ca, visit finearts.uwaterloo.ca or follow us on Instagram @waterloomfa.