EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY _ MFA _  CONCENTRATION IN PRINTMAKING

The School of Art and Design (SoAD) at East Carolina University (ECU) is seeking graduate students for the Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Art program with a concentration in printmaking. The MFA in Art at ECU is a 60-hour degree program and typically is completed over a three-year period.
    
The Printmaking concentration within the School of Art and Design at  offers a terminal MFA degree concentration. The recommended course study allows three (3) years to complete the curriculum. The curriculum is both professional and diverse, allowing for technical explorations in several processes within the printmaking area in addition to considerations for the other twelve areas within the school. The printmaking area is located on the bottom floor in the Leo Jenkins Fine Art Center. The Art Center is a prominate fixture on ECU’s main campus and serves primarily as studio based environment and also includes several lecture halls for art history and art education. The building includes facilities that range from well equipped computer labs to active foundries, from faculty offices to the media center, from wood firing kiln to smart classrooms, all represented by the large, recently renovated Grey Gallery that serves a teaching gallery with a rotating exhibition schedule. Within the active Jenkins Fine Arts Center that host nearly 600 undergraduate and 50 graduate students, the printmaking studio area occupies seven (7) dedicated rooms for process investigations, processes, printing, and image development, and general studio practices relating to traditional and contemporary approaches to printmaking.

The Printmaking Area offers a concentration that serves to familiarize all students with various mediums and techniques of printmaking, while encouraging students to explore alternative approaches, and ultimately focus on a process of choice. The Printmaking Area houses separate comprehensive studios for Lithography, Intaglio, Screen-printing, as well as a separate Printmaking Survey studio, Graduate Studio, and lab for photo processes. The lithography facility offers stone, plate, and photolithography, and is equipped with presses, stones, graining sink, and other necessities within the work areas. Intaglio facilities are set up to investigate and process copper and zinc plate etching and the studio is also equipped to support engraving, mezzotint, collagraphs, and various intaglio processes. The studio is equipped with presses, work area, and acid room. A NuArc exposure unit, vacuum tables, washout area, and work area support the Screen Printing studio. Faculty teaching in related areas also offer courses in bookarts and letterpress. The digital facilities within the School of Art and Design offer various formats printing and scanning in a number of labs.

The Printmaking Area encourages a traditional understanding of printmaking through experimental investigations focusing on an individual approach to various processes. Printmaking offers a direct approach to studio methods serving undergraduate and graduate students while promoting and providing an intimate printmaking community within the largest art school in the state with many diverse resources.

School of Art and Design:
ECU is located in Greenville, North Carolina between Raleigh and the Outer Banks. The School of Art and Design is a major art department in the University of North Carolina system (UNC). The School of Art and Design occupies the Leo Jenkins Fine Arts Center, hosting programs in Art History, Art Education, and Studio Art.  The Studio Art program consists of fourteen concentrations including printmaking, painting and drawing, textiles, graphic design, animation and interactive design, illustration, photography, sculpture, metal design, wood design, fabric design, weaving design, media production, and ceramics, at both the BFA and MFA level. Cross-disciplinary approaches and studies outside one’s area of concentration is encouraged and scheduled into the program. The school also relies on an autonomous Foundations program that serves to prepare students entering the undergraduate programs and offers an opportunity for graduate students to observe and teach. We offer a number of teaching assistantships once students have completed a teaching observation assistantship and have successfully completed 18 hours of coursework. There are also a variety of other assistantship opportunities beginning the first semester of attendance at ECU. A limited number of tuition remissions are available for out of state applicants with exceptional portfolios. Tuition remissions must be requested and the Graduate school must receive the complete application by the due date. It is also advised that applicant send correspondence to the area coordinator within the School of Art and Design. The due date for applications is January 15.

School of Art and Design MFA in Art Submission Process:
To apply to an MFA program you will need to assemble one application package including your application form, your transcripts, 3 letters of reference, a statement of purpose, and a portfolio of 20 slides or a CD with 20 images of your work sent to the ECU Graduate School. The Graduate School will review the application and make a recommendation. Your complete application package will be forwarded to the School for a final recommendation. The application process must be completed by January 15.

Assistantships And Financial Aid:
The School of Art and Design offers a number of teaching and research assistantship opportunities beginning the first semester of attendance. Teaching assistantships may be awarded once students have completed a teaching observation assistantship and have successfully completed 18 hours of coursework.
 
Assistantships can pay between $7,500 and $9,500 per academic year for a full-time assistantship of 20 hours per week. Additional funds may be in the form of out of state tuition remissions (non-resident tuition charges waived) available for meritorious students and scholarships (which are awarded to currently enrolled students.) Financial aid and work-study programs are also available through the Financial Aid Office http://www.ecu.edu/financial/ or http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gradschool/funding.cfm for more information. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/assistantships.cfm

For more information about the application process: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gradschool/applicationinfo.cfm
Scott Eagle | Graduate Coordinator for SoAD | eagles@ecu.edu  | 252.328.6665 | http://www.ecu.edu/soad/
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/gradschool.cfm

For further information about the Printmaking concentration please contact:
Matthew Egan | Assistant Professor of Printmaking | eganm@ecu.edu  | 252.737.2738
Graduated from the University of South Dakota with an MFA from Lloyd Menard and a BFA from the University of Windsor from Daniel Dingler. Egan concentrates in the processes of lithography and screen-printing. During five years in the UAE he investigated dimensional qualities of papermaking and the integration of digital processes and contemporary techniques. Egan has been included in more than 150 shows in the last 10 years.

Michael Ehlbeck  | Professor of Printmaking | Area Coordinator | ehlbeckm@ecu.edu
Graduated from the University of Florida with an MFA from Ken Kerslake and a BFA the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with Dennis Rowan, Ehlbeck primarily works with relief and intaglio processes, including mezzotints, engraving, and most notably, etching. Ehlbeck’s large-scale etchings have been commissioned and hang in the Atlanta International Airport and his large-scale Hong Kong and Cologne, Germany cityscapes have been shown nationally and internationally, and housed in several significant collections.  Most recently Ehlbeck will be included in the 2009 Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition.