Mission Statement

Memphis College of Art is a professional center of art and design education, dedicated to preparing individuals for lives of creating, problem solving, and critical thinking.

Purpose

Artmaking is and has always been one of the most powerful and enduring endeavors of humankind. Every people, every culture, every era has made art—in every circumstance.

Education is as essential to the social condition as art is to the human condition. Through education we preserve, impart, and expand our collective disciplines and wisdom.

As an institute of higher learning, we are committed to two traditions: the professional artist’s tradition, which requires mastery of the skills, tools and technologies of the visual arts; and the liberal arts tradition, which requires education in the truest sense, not only imparting facts and ideas, but also fostering critical appraisal of them.