Giving to Bard MFA
Supporting the Next Generation of Artists
Since 1981, the Bard MFA program has driven artistic experimentation and dialogue across the cultural landscape through a radical approach to community-led arts education. Together, we can ensure that an increasingly diverse generation of artists has every opportunity to hone their artistic voice and creatively address the most pressing issues of the 21st century. Giving is encouraged at a level that is personally meaningful to you. Every gift helps the Bard MFA provide urgent scholarship support to students. For questions about giving, please write to Hannah Barrett at [email protected] or call 845-758-7442.
- Student Scholarship Fund
- Arthur Gibbons Scholarship Fund
- Faculty Fund
- Bard MFA Studio Circle
Bard MFA is the most ambitious, student driven, low residency masters program in the country. The amount of feedback we offer students in studio visits and critiques, the number of special presentations given by visiting artists, the quality of the thesis exhibition and its audience, as well as the rigor of the academic discourse in the caucus and seminar, rival the most competitive conventional two year masters programs, and at a considerable discount of the cost. While a Masters Degree from Bard MFA is highly desirable, its expense is out of the reach of many of our applicants. To address this financial need, we have established a scholarship fund to ensure that we build and expand diversity in our student body, especially from historically underrepresented communities.
To contribute to our Student Scholarship Fund, please follow this link.
Arthur Gibbons Scholarship Fund
In 1989, Arthur Gibbons was appointed Director of the Bard MFA. His belief was that when artists learn together, free from the hierarchies of traditional education, they will hone a more distinct voice, sense of purpose, and a more sustainable practice. Arthur dedicated his life to creating a place for artists to do just that. Through the Arthur Gibbons Scholarship Fund, alumni, faculty, and friends of Arthur will provide critical scholarship support for tomorrow’s graduating artists. As alumni and friends of Arthur, we’ll ensure summers at the MFA are filled with the same joy, surprise, and a creative passion that continues to animate so many of our lives.
Click here to contribute to the Arthur Gibbons Scholarship Fund.
Faculty Fund
Our faculty are the stewards of the Bard MFA’s artist-led curriculum, maintaining consistency and quality for students through their education, mentorship, and care. Faculty are drawn from a range of mid-career working artists from diverse backgrounds, and their experiences extend to students across all six disciplines: a writer will meet with a painter, a sculptor with a filmmaker, a musician with a photographer. The Bard MFA Faculty Fund was founded to increase diversity among these core members by providing more competitive compensation to these artists. A contribution to this fund not only attracts, retains, and supports current artists, but ensures a rich curriculum and pedagogy for students informed by a more diverse set of aesthetics and backgrounds.
To contribute to our Faculty Fund, please follow this link.
Bard MFA Studio Circle
The Bard MFA Studio Circle is a newly forming group of alumni, arts professionals, patrons, and advocates who share the MFA’s belief in interdisciplinary, artist-led arts education. Reflecting the rich diversity of the Bard MFA, Studio Circle members hail from many backgrounds, and play an active role as ambassadors of the Bard MFA in their communities throughout New York and the world. Studio Circle members are invited to special events throughout the year, including studio visits, gatherings, conversations with Bard MFA students, artists, and alumni, and to meet with program leaders yearly to learn about the strategic evolution of the MFA. Through their contributions of time, advice, and scholarship support, each member of the Studio Circle advances the MFA’s mission to graduate every artist with the support required to sustain their creativity and careers. Membership to the Bard MFA Studio Circle is extended on an invitational basis. To learn more about the group, please contact Hannah Barrett at [email protected] or 845-758-7442.
For more information about giving, or to make a gift by mail, please contact:
Hannah Barrett, Executive Director
Bard MFA Program
Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
PO Box 5000, 30 Campus Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
Tel: 845-758-7481
[email protected]
Sign up for our newsletter to learn more about upcoming events.