The program cultivates the conceptual, technical, and professional growth of its graduate students by providing an environment balanced among pragmatic skill development, critical and theoretical dialogue, and intensive studio research geared toward a process of making and thinking, resulting in innovative and dynamic outcomes. We encourage students to have a strong sense of responsibility, self-reliance, and confidence. Faculty guide students independent research and individual approaches to their practice. The curricular structure challenges students to critically evaluate their work within a material-specific and an interdisciplinary framework, as well as in theoretical and professional contexts. Students are encouraged to work with methodologies that explore the boundaries of the field while demonstrating an understanding of historic and contemporary ecologies.The intensive and selective two-year MFA program includes specializations in Ceramics (30CE), Metals (30ME), Painting and Drawing (30PD), Photography & Related Media (30PH), Printmaking (30PR), and Sculpture (30SC). The Art Department faculty members are dedicated teachers and practicing artists with significant national reputations. SUNY New Paltz is regularly included among the best schools in the Northeast and its Metals program has consistently been ranked among the best in the nation.The Ceramics program cultivates the conceptual, technical, and professional growth of its graduate students by providing an environment balanced among pragmatic skill development, critical and theoretical dialogue, and intensive studio research geared toward a process of making and thinking, resulting in innovative and dynamic outcomes. We encourage students to have a strong sense of responsibility, self-reliance, and confidence. Faculty guide students in independent research and individual approaches to their practice. The curricular structure challenges students to critically evaluate their work within a material-specific and an interdisciplinary framework, as well as in theoretical and professional contexts. Students are encouraged to work with methodologies that explore the boundaries of the field while demonstrating an understanding of historic and contemporary ecologies. With private graduate studios within the program's expansive 10,000 square foot facility, and access to a broad range of traditional and contemporary technologies, the program provides students with the resources and the latitude necessary to develop an authentic, significant contribution to the field.