The Visual Arts Exhibition is open to all Master of Fine Art students for whom a studio component is a part of their required research.

The purpose of the Visual Arts Exhibition is to convey to a wide audience the range and significance of creative research produced in the field of visual arts and its potential significance to the general public.

Category Prizes:

• First place: $1,000
• Second place: $500
• Third place: $250

Judging Criteria

Judges will use a scoring rubric when evaluating the visual arts presentations. You are encouraged to review the rubric when preparing for the exhibition.

Tips on creating your Visual Arts Presentation

• During the Exhibition on March 22, you will be able to present your art work to judges as well as the public. Your presentation should cover the key areas from the judging criteria. Make sure to address the objective, significance, and relevance of your artwork to contemporary art and visual culture.
• Your artwork will also be evaluated based on craftspersonship and creativity. You can comment on these aspects of your artwork and artistic process in your presentation as well if you’d like.
• Plan for your presentation for judges to be approximately five minutes or less.
• You will be presenting your work to a general audience and the judges will likely not be experts in the visual arts. Therefore, you should make sure that your presentation is interesting and understandable to someone not in your field. Think of it as creating a story about your artwork and artistic process for NPR or for a group of Penn State Graduate School alumni from across the University.