MFA Painting Careers

Make a living AND make a difference.

The MFA Painting program aims to instill in its graduates a strong sense of artistic, intellectual, and personal confidence that will open doors to a broad array of professional possibilities. You’ll emerge from the program empowered to succeed as a professional artist, and you’ll also be equipped to teach at the college/university level and pursue other career opportunities in which your creative and communication skills will enable you to thrive.

Possible Careers:

Professional artist
Teaching/research career in higher education
Teach community workshops
Muralist
Artist-in-residence
Gallery owner or assistant
Art Director
Arts administrator
Corporate curator
Curator
Art critic
Exhibition designer
Exhibition preparer
Freelance artist
Art consultant/buyer
Museum education assistant
Archivist
Set-design and construction

Where KCAD MFA Painting alumni have exhibited their work:

111 Minna Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
First Street Gallery (Eureka, CA)
Stolen Space Gallery (London, United Kingdom)
Thinkspace Gallery (Culver City, CA)
Bold Hype Gallery (New York, NY)
Art Center Gallery (Astoria, OR)
Parker Schopf Gallery (Chicago, IL)
The Pierogi Gallery (Brooklyn, NY and Leipzig, Germany)
The Drawing Center (New York, NY)
New American Paintings(national competitive publication)
Michael Rosenthal Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
Clemens Fine Arts Center (Paducah, KY)
Zhou B. Art Center (Chicago, IL)
33 Contemporary Gallery (Chicago, IL)

Where KCAD MFA Painting alumni have held artist residencies:

Casa Masaccio, San Giovani (Valderno, Italy)
Jaipur Art Festival (Jaipur, India)
Wollemi National Park (Sydney, Australia)
Arcadia National Park, Schoodic Institute (Winter Harbor, ME)
Golden Apple Art Residency (Harrington, ME)

Where KCAD MFA Painting alumni work:

WGVU (Grand Rapids, MI) – Major Gifts Coordinator
School of the Art Institute (Chicago, IL) – Admissions Counselor
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (Grand Rapids, MI) - Faculty
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (Grand Rapids, MI) – Graduate Admissions Specialist
ArtPrize (Grand Rapids, MI) – Exhibitions Assistant
CultureWorks (Holland, MI) – Program Director
Arts Exhibitions International (New York, NY) – Art Preparer
Premier International Exhibition Company (International company) – Art Preparer
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (Grand Rapids, MI) – Art Preparer
Grand Rapids Art Museum (Grand Rapids, MI) – Art Preparer
Lafontsee Gallery (Grand Rapids, MI) – Art Preparer
The Fed Galleries @ KCAD (Grand Rapids, MI) – Art Preparer
Spiral Gallery (Grand Rapids, MI) – Owner/Director
Golden Apple Art Residency (Maine) – Director
Peoria Art Guild and School (Peoria, IL) – Exhibitions Staff
College for Creative Studies (Detroit, MI) – Faculty
Cornell College (Shreveport, LA) – Faculty
Indiana University (South Bend, IN) – Faculty
Bossier Parish Community College (Bossier City, LA) – Faculty
Flint Institute of Art (Flint, MI) – Faculty
University of Michigan, Flint (Flint, MI) – Faculty
Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, MI) – Faculty
Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI) – Faculty
Baldwin Wallace College (Berea, OH) – Faculty
Purchase College (Harrison, NY) – Faculty
Miami University (Oxford, OH) – Faculty
Eastern Oregon State University (La Grande, OR) – Faculty
Muskegon Community College (Muskegon, MI) – Faculty
Kalamazoo Valley Community College (Kalamazoo, MI)
Saginaw Valley College (Saginaw, MI) – Faculty
Grand Rapids Community College (Grand Rapids, MI) – Faculty
Washtenaw Community College (Ann Arbor, MI) – Faculty
University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) – Faculty
Oakland Community College (Bloomfield Hills, MI) – Faculty

Resources:

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