Although Duke’s Master of Fine Arts program is only a few weeks old, 15 new graduate students are already deeply invested in a new kind of visual studies.
The new Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Documentary Arts debuted this Fall as Duke’s first MFA program. The two-year program combines myriad practices, such as documentary production and experimental media, and is a joint venture by the department of art, art history and visual studies, the Center for Documentary Studies and the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image.
MFA Director Tom Rankin said he is encouraged by the progress he has seen so far and plans to expand it to 30 students for the 2012-2013 academic year.
“There is no better way to energize the arts at a university than an MFA program,” Rankin said, who is also the director of CDS. “It is not the be all and end all, but it will have a ripple effect on undergraduate life.”
The program engages students across several artistic mediums, including documentary work, film photography and visual arts.
“It is designed to be distinctive in the sense that it’s not divided up into particular mediums,” Rankin said. “The main focus deals with experimentation with traditional forms of documentary, but we really see it as much more of a hybrid where many mediums come together.”
As a terminal program, the MFA is the final degree an artist can earn. Duke’s program is the only MFA in the country that offers joint studies of experimental film, computational art production and documentary studies, according to the MFA website.
Although documentary and art have traditionally been thought of as separate mediums, Rankin said he hopes to merge the two in this program.
“Documentary has never been more popular and more accepted and more magnetic,” Rankin said. “We are trying to affirm the whole idea that documentary arts are where it’s at.”
A focus on the arts has frequently been included in long-term University strategic plans, Rankin said. He added that the program allows for a fresh appreciation of art-making and a deeper understanding of art education.
The MFA program is housed near Smith Warehouse in a two-story, tobacco-era former University carpentry shop. CDS is located in the historical Bridges House.
Pedro Lasch, assistant research professor of art, art history and visual studies—who now teaches in the MFA program—noted that the artists’ workshop is instrumental in the program’s success.
“[The Carpentry Shop] is fantastic and really inspiring, and there’s nothing like it on campus,” Lasch said. “It reflects the history of Duke and the institution. They get everything right, in my view, on what the artists need.”
The program generated interest through the already established CDS.
Because CDS is well known among people interested in the field, Rankin said, students immediately responded to Duke’s announcement of the MFA program last year.
MFA graduate student Laura Doggett said she found the program’s collaborative environment between students and faculty especially appealing. Prior to enrolling in the program, she had done documentary work with teenagers for 12 years.
“I wanted to expand how I thought about working with young people and thinking about community art,” Doggett said.
She added that she was attracted to the program’s focus on establishing a meaningful and lasting relationship with the city of Durham.
“All of the students are doing projects in the community,” Doggett said. “One of the interesting things [about this program] is that our theses are not meant to be in a gallery space—they are meant to be in the community.”
Doggett has already communicated with a number of community-based organizations through the program.
“Art is meant to be accessible to people,” Doggett said. “The process of creation is not a one-sided process.”
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