The only MFA program for visual storytelling that puts Story First.

The MFAVN program is a rich, interdisciplinary and low-residency graduate program in visual storytelling that places equal emphasis on creative writing and visual portfolio development across all media. Our students explore where their creative story voice is rooted, learn what story really is, how it functions and works across all storytelling mediums. This builds the individual confidence needed to conceive, write and produce their stories from the ground up as original content creators and authors—naturally developing their visual skill sets and portfolio in the process. Working alongside a community of peers, students take ownership of their narrative voice, hone their storycraft, and advance their professional practice pursuits as both an author and artist.. MFA Visual Narrative students ultimately define their direction and careers as professional creators of original content and become future arbiters of visual storytelling.

Story doesn’t really belong to one specific medium, profession, format or audience. The core and fundamental principles of story craft and visual storytelling, are for the most part, universal across all forms of media, entertainment and communications. We are bombarded with different forms and mediums of story every day that permeate and influence almost all that we do, see and feel as visual storytellers. To harness and gain a more focused understanding of these universal, multimedia story fundamentals, we feel that a diverse student body creates a rich and unique studio environment, and informs and challenges every student to engage in the ever-expanding profession of visual storytelling beyond their own chosen medium. Our faculty and curriculum reflects this broad approach to story, with professional expertise in areas like children’s literature, comics publishing, television writing, information graphics, typography, game design, theatrical direction and illustration.

The MFA Visual Narrative department is looking for visual storytellers from all visual disciplines interested in creating their own original content as both author and artist. We welcome applications from working professionals, educators, and up-and-coming professionals from all creative industries, along with non-traditional applicants interested in developing their visual storycraft. Some of our non-traditional students have come from backgrounds in biochemistry, creative writing, engineering, puppetry, K-12 education, branding and PR, set design, publishing, editing, and film production management. A bachelor’s degree in any discipline is welcome. Because of the nature of a low-residency program, successful students will demonstrate a high level of professional discipline and practice. Visit the “Our People” section of this site to get a sense of our storytelling community and their work.

A working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud applications is highly recommended, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, and Premiere. Mastery of Adobe Acrobat and word processing software such as Microsoft Word, Pages, and/or Google Docs is required. Remedial courses for those who do not have mastery of these core applications can be arranged and should not discourage candidates from applying.

In all forms of advertising, plus fine arts, game design, picture books, graphic novels, film, illustration and animation, there is a growing demand for strong story, writing and visual communication skills. The MFA Visual Narrative program fills that need—regardless of medium or style—enabling students to become creative, original content designers and responsible arbiters of visual storytelling who shape their own identities, artistic voices and narrative art. Potential job pathways might be Creative or Art Director, Story Editor, Editorial Designer, Storyboard or Concept Artist, Animator, Editorial and/or Commercial Freelance Artist, Copywriter, Scriptwriter or Screenwriter and more.

We encourage all of our students to pursue clearly defined career pathways as well as blaze their own new trails and define their own careers as their work and narrative voices dictate.

MFAVN is a fully accredited, low-residency, MFA degree program – requiring only three eight- week summer sessions on SVA’s campus in NYC, a schedule which allows students to maintain their professional practices and personal lifestyles. The two intervening academic years are online only through the SVA learning management system. Online classes are accessible 24/7 and primarily self-paced, with manageable deadlines, and designed for students who are working full-time. During the on-line periods, students engage in rich-media coursework on the Canvas system, with supervision from faculty and opportunities to engage virtually with fellow students. The student will be required to submit written material and participate in online forums, as well as contribute online content as both a writer and visual artist.

Classes are posted once a week. Although there is flexibility in the schedule, there will be some assignments with specific due dates. We will provide training for this web-based learning prior to the first semester.

For the online workload, a guideline is six to nine hours of coursework for each credit hour of “class time”. That means for each three hours of class weekly, you can expect 18-27 hours of work time. During the first year spring semester short story project and second year thesis project, those class hours and work times will be directly related to each individual’s project.

During the eight-week summer semester in NYC, students will be in class or in their studios for 40-50 hours per week. We will also be planning outside studio visits and individual and group critiques, and trips to museums and galleries and other cultural events.

This differs each summer, please check back for information in January about availability and fees.

All campus resources are open to you. And during your online semesters, you still enjoy full SVA student status. Campus resources include the SVA Library (including many online databases and other resources), the Visible Futures Lab, the department’s RisoLAB and the Writing Resource Center. In addition, you are entitled to unlimited classes from LinkedIn Learning as well as the ability to audit one tuition-free class per online semester (four in total) from the Continuing Education Department. Some of these classes are offered online.

The MFAVN department founded and manages the RisoLAB. Risograph duplicator printing technology combines the vibrant spot colors of silkscreen and the high resolution and speedy mass production of offset lithography with the user-friendly automation of an advanced color copier. It was founded in fall 2015 by Chair Nathan Fox as an interdisciplinary space for printing, publishing and production of Risograph-based printed works. Students will be trained on the machines and have access during their entire enrollment period. The mission is to become a hub of small scale and experimental printing and publishing activity that brings together artists of all backgrounds and disciplines to encourage dialogue across different creative worlds and foster discussion about the role of print media as a vehicle for art and culture, and a way to work out creative ideas to lead to unexpected results that would not be possible with a sole reliance on today’s digital tools.

The department also sponsors CE classes in other subjects, such as comedy structure and Risograph production. Some of these are taught by program faculty. These classes do not count towards the MFA Visual Narrative degree.