The Ithaca College image text M.F.A. is a program for visual artists and writers who want to explore and invent in the intersection of these two fields. A terminal degree program that students can attend remotely for most of the year, the image text M.F.A. is ideal for working creative professionals.
As a student in this 25-month program, you’ll join a community of creators working together to bring writing and photographic media into a shared arena of discussion and development. You’ll gain insight into a wide variety of approaches to written and visual art from our faculty—active contemporary artists who are dedicated to innovative approaches within traditions that value psychologically, culturally, and politically engaged work.
You will study directly with faculty and visiting artists during three annual month-long summer sessions in Ithaca, New York, and two annual weeklong winter sessions in our New York, Los Angeles, or London centers. During the fall and spring academic terms, you’ll work closely with your faculty advisor in independent study.
You’ll also have the opportunity to work with the Image Text Ithaca Press. Modeled on contemporary photographic and literary small presses, the ITI Press publishes innovative works by national and international writers and artists. Graduates of the image text M.F.A. are also eligible for publication.
The image text M.F.A. program will advance the development of your work in writing, photography, and design to make you ready for art and editorial positions, teaching, or publication. It will help you continue to refine your own artistic practices and explore new creative possibilities.
We welcome applicants with backgrounds in writing, photography, and other lens-based media, and those who are working across these forms and disciplines. Experience in both text and image making is not required, but applicants must submit a portfolio that demonstrates sustained work in at least one of these areas.