About the Program

The M.A. Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere program is an intensive Master's-level course in the practice and history of art, curating and critical theory. With a focus on the research and exhibition of contemporary art, instructors with international careers lead students in asking social questions about the exhibition of art and its publics. Over two years of full-time academic study, students explore new modes of production in a curriculum combining seminars and professional training.

The M.A. features courses that focus on new developments in the scholarship and theory of contemporary art and courses that emphasize research and the conception and realization of exhibitions as practices. Course highlights include the Curatorial Practicum, a multi-term laboratory of exhibition-making and theory in relation to the public sphere. Students work collaboratively to conceptualize, research and organize a culminating project. This includes mounting a public exhibition and presenting a connected publication and programming in Los Angeles. In a Master's Thesis, students develop individual, original research on a topic in contemporary art with the guidance of faculty.

Graduate Lecture Series

The Graduate Lecture Series features talks by visiting artists, curators, theorists, art historians, writers, organizers, activists, architects, and other cultural producers, who engage in critical, open, rigorous conversations with graduate students and attending members of the public.

Upcoming Lecture:

See all upcoming lectures.