Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University: A Hub for Creative Innovation

The Mason Gross School of the Arts (MGSA) at Rutgers University stands as the flagship public arts conservatory of New Jersey, nestled within a Big Ten research university. For nearly four decades, the school has cultivated a vibrant community of dancers, filmmakers, musicians, theater artists, and visual artists, providing a creative space for thinking artists to hone their skills. With a commitment to nurturing curiosity, skill, critical thought, and innovation, Mason Gross aims to shape future generations of arts professionals who can contribute meaningfully to the creative and scholarly world.

A Creative Laboratory

Mason Gross serves as a creative laboratory, fostering artistic practice and scholarly research as equally important forms of knowledge creation. The school's mission is to nurture creative talent and instill the insights and skills that future generations of arts professionals need to contribute to the creative and scholarly world.

History and Evolution

Founded in 1976, Mason Gross became a separate degree-granting institution within Rutgers University, solidifying its commitment to fine and performing arts education. In 1960, during the Fluxus movement at the university, Rutgers established the Rutgers MFA in visual arts as the first non-displicinary-specific fine arts graduate program in the United States. The school's evolution continued in 1981 when all fine arts departments at the other Rutgers colleges were merged into Mason Gross.

Campus and Facilities

As of 2005, MGSA had expanded to more than 20 buildings, mainly within Rutgers' Douglass College campus and including studios at the Livingston campus. The Bettenbender Plaza outdoor space was dedicated in 2002 to honor founding dean John Bettenbender. Slightly up river from the primary MGSA campus and south of the train station is the City of New Brunswick's downtown Civic Square. This arts and theater district is home to off-campus Mason Gross studios, galleries, and stages. The Civic Square Building at 33 Livingston Avenue contains studio facilities and classrooms.

Degree Programs

Mason Gross offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate degrees across various artistic disciplines, including:

Art & Design
Dance
Filmmaking
Music
Theater

The school is highly selective in terms of admissions, with a low admission rate.

Dance Department

The Dance Department at Mason Gross strives for excellence in dance performances, dance education, and outstanding creative achievement allowing students to explore creative artistry in a diverse educational environment. A professional faculty with a comprehensive range of study areas, excellent facilities in a suburban setting and abundant performing opportunities make the Mason Gross School ideal for any student seeking a professional career in dance.

Degrees Offered:

Dance Performance (BFA)
Dance (BA)
5 year track BFA/Ed.M.
Ed.M. in dance education with State Certification or with No State Certification
Minor in Dance

Music Department

All Mason Gross School of the Arts music degree programs share a common aim: the development of well-educated professional musicians with a complex historical and theoretical understanding of all aspects of music.

Degree programs:

Read also: ACT Requirements for Rutgers

Classical Performance
Composition
Conducting
Jazz Studies
Music Education
Musicology
Theory
SAS Bachelor of Arts in Music

Certificate Programs:

Music Program in American Language Studies
Music Technology

The conservatory-style model has a low student-teacher ratio of around 12-to-1. MGSA offers the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, Doctor of Musical Arts, Artist Diploma in Music, and MA and Ph.D. in composition, theory, and musicology.

Theater Department

The Theater Department as Mason Gross School of the Arts provides students with an in-depth and highly demanding program for those serious about pursuing a career as a theater professional. The training consists of intensive studio classes, a rigorous core curriculum and fully-supported productions. Most theater programs are based on a standard four years for a BFA degree and three years for a Master of Fine Arts degree. At Rutgers, we provide one of the most detailed and comprehensive career transitions of any training program in the country.

Visual Arts Department

The Visual Arts Department provides both disciplinary focus and an environment for interdisciplinary exploration, as well as access to rich intellectual resources of a major research institution.

Degrees Offered:

BFA, BA, and MFA degrees in Visual Arts

Undergraduate Concentrations:

Design
Drawing
Media
Painting
Photography
Print
Sculpture

Research and Innovation

Research and creative innovation are fundamental to what Mason Gross School of the Arts does. The school views artistic practice and scholarly research as equally important and impactful forms of knowledge creation. Mason Gross collaborates with Rutgers at large in exploring the role of the arts in analyzing and explaining facts and ideas.

Research Centers

Mason Gross houses several research centers that foster collaboration and advance research in the arts:

The Documentary Film Lab: Collaborates with researchers across the university and around the world, engaging students in creating documentaries about pressing issues in the sciences, in the history of our local community, and other topics of widespread importance and concern. The Documentary Film Lab, led by Academy Award-winner Thomas Lennon, and intensive production classes and advanced technical workshops are among the notable features of the program.
The Integrated Dance Collaboratory: A hub of interdisciplinary research exploring dance’s unique rehabilitative potential for individuals with a wide range of physical and mental health conditions such as autism, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, chronic pain and fibromyalgia, mental illness and cognitive decline.
The Rutgers Print Collaborative: The research-driven Rutgers Print Collaborative cultivates an experiential learning environment for publication, education, and the advancement of prints/multiples.
The Arts In Health Research Lab: Formed in 2023, is a collaboration between Mason Gross, the Rutgers School of Public Health, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The lab performs arts-in-health research in New Jersey to benefit populations across the state, has initiated new research strategies, including arts-based research methods and art-as-data collection, and has established a research plan to assess the health impact of NJPAC and Mason Gross arts experiences and programs.

Community Engagement

Mason Gross faculty, students, and staff have worked to chart a course for the school. Mason Gross offers numerous courses to the wider university population, some in person and some online through Rutgers Arts Online. Our faculty are among the leading artists and scholars of the arts in the world. Our four research centers collaborate with local communities and with scholars across the university and around the world to advance research that serves the public good.

Proximity to Cultural Hubs

Proximity to New York and Philadelphia give students access to a faculty of renowned professional artists and designers, prestigious museums and galleries, visiting artists and critics, and profoundly affects the exchange of ideas within the Visual Arts Department.

The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)

Slightly up river from the primary MGSA campus and south of the train station is the City of New Brunswick's downtown Civic Square. This arts and theater district is home to off-campus Mason Gross studios, galleries, and stages. The Civic Square Building at 33 Livingston Avenue contains studio facilities and classrooms. The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center serves as a significant performance venue for Mason Gross students and faculty. This state-of-the-art facility provides a professional setting for showcasing talent and engaging with the community.

Events and Activities

MGSA has more than 500 events taking place annually on campus, alongside classes, rehearsals and numerous recreational activities.

tags: #rutgers #university #mason #gross #school #of