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Costume Design and Technology

M.F.A. in Theatre

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Program Overview

Grounded in artistic curiosity and experimentation, our Master of Fine Arts in Theatre is a three-year program providing professional training through a personalized tutorial-based curriculum. Ours is a small specialized professional training program allowing for discovery of an individual style and process to costume design.

faculty

Why choose this program?

  • Our program is hands-on from the start: students work on department productions beginning in their first semester.
  • All accepted students receive an assistantship and full tuition waiver. 
  • An individualized Plan of Study, designed to meet the needs of each student, is developed to track progress toward the degree.
  • Each student participates in a required review with graduate committee members at the end of each semester of enrollment to evaluate work done, assess progress, and plan future projects and experiences.
  • Each student admitted will work with a primary advisor in a one-on-one studio environment over the three-year period.
  • The educational value of the studio experience is based on regularly planned projects designed as experiential labs.
  • The primary advisor mentors the progress of the student through these projects and guides the development of the student's overarching goals and curricular needs.

What You'll Study

To complete the degree, successful completion of a minimum of 60 credit hours is required. The program is designed to be completed in three years. Practical, hands-on projects form the foundation of the program, challenging students to think critically, problem solve, and respond creatively.

Students work on department productions beginning in their first semester. We encourage artistic experimentation and creative collaboration in our design courses and in production. Our Costume Design Studio and Costume Shop are fully equipped with sewing machines, state-of-the-art embroidery machines, two industrial sergers, and a dye vat and spray hood.

Course topics include:

  • Figure Drawing
  • Costume Crafts
  • Costume Rendering Techniques
  • Design
  • Minimum GPA 3.0 (4 Scale)
  • TOEFL/ IELTS score required  (if applicable)

Learn more 

Each student accepted into the program receives a full tuition scholarship and out-of-state fee waiver. Each student accepted also receives an assistantship of approximately $18,700 for the first academic year, with increasing amounts in the second and third years. To maintain assistantship support, students must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours each semester.

Find out what loans are available as a graduate student and other opportunities.

Questions?

Tyler M. Holland, MFA (He/Him/His)
Assistant Professor of Practice, Costume Design and Technology
306 Henderson Hall
540-231-6606
tmholland@vt.edu