MFA Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield MFA facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which welding technique joins metal pieces using a filler rod melted by an electric arc, and is common in contemporary metal sculpture? → MIG (GMAW) welding
2. Which process involves pouring liquid material into a mold and allowing it to harden to produce a three-dimensional form? → Casting
3. What's the name of this piece of art? → The Scream
4. Which early 20th-century movement rejected traditional artistic forms and embraced irrationality, chance, and anti-bourgeois provocation? → Dada
5. Which feminist art historian coined the phrase 'Why have there been no great women artists?' as a critical intervention? → Linda Nochlin
6. Which sculptural process involves removing material from a solid block — such as carving wood or stone? → Subtractive sculpture
7. Which term describes a sculpture created by joining together found objects or pre-existing materials? → Assemblage
8. Which element of art refers to the perceived surface quality or 'feel' of a work — whether rough, smooth, or bumpy? → Texture
9. Which point of view uses 'I' and 'me' to narrate a story from inside one character's direct experience? → First person
10. Who of the following artists created the 1889 work Starry Night? → Vincent Van Gogh
11. In the context of MFA studio critiques, what does 'formal analysis' primarily examine? → The visual elements and principles of design within the work itself
12. An artwork's central concept is referred to as the → Theme
13. An object's relative brightness or darkness is: → Value
14. What does 'in medias res' mean as a narrative technique? → Beginning the story in the middle of the action rather than at the chronological beginning
15. Which principle of design refers to the visual weight distribution that creates a sense of stability in a composition? → Balance
16. In color theory, what term describes colors that sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel? → Complementary colors
17. What is 'free verse' poetry? → Poetry written without a fixed meter or rhyme scheme
18. In photography and visual art, what does 'depth of field' control? → The range of distances within a scene that appears acceptably sharp
19. In ceramics, what does 'bisque firing' accomplish? → It hardens unfired clay into a porous state ready for glazing
20. Which material is traditionally associated with the direct carving movement championed by sculptors such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore? → Marble and stone
21. In ceramic sculpture, what is the purpose of the bisque firing stage? → To harden unfired clay into a porous, unglazed state suitable for glazing
22. The concept of 'negative space' in sculpture refers to: → The empty space surrounding or passing through a sculptural form
23. What is the name of this piece of art? → Son of Man
24. What does 'iconography' mean in the study of art history? → The identification and interpretation of the content and symbolic meaning of images
25. What is the name of a transparent pigment that has to be diluted with water? → Watercolor
26. Which concept, central to Minimalist sculpture of the 1960s, emphasized the viewer's bodily experience of the work in real space and time? → Theatricality
27. What are the elements of Design? → Line, shape, mass, space, value, color, texture
28. Here are some illustrations of some of the Design Principles. → Contrast and emphasis
29. Which term describes the technique of applying thin, transparent layers of paint over a dry underlayer to modify color and create luminosity? → Glazing
30. What era of art saw the emergence of abstract interest? → The Impressionists