Student admissions 2024
Admissions are now open to Art School Maa's three-year Day Programme!
Art School Maa's Day Programme is a three-year study programme which prepares for the profession of a contemporary artist. Please note that students starting in 2024 are not eligible for Kela's study grants. The studies are full-time. 108 study weeks are required for graduation (36 study weeks per year). The graduation certificate is a diploma. After graduation, you can continue your studies at Maa with a voluntary, supervised fourth year (36 study weeks). There are annually 40–50 students studying in Art School Maa’s Day Programme.
Please note that Art School Maa is located in Suomenlinna, on an island off the coast of Helsinki. Entering the school requires you to be able to travel by ferry and by foot daily.
The Day Programme emphasises interdisciplinarity, artistic thinking and the study of new forms of art. Instead of technical skills, the courses focus on the necessary skills and starting points for planning artistic work, conceptual thinking and the framing of an artwork. In the studies, emphasis is placed on art's basic sense of community and participation in the surrounding world.
The aim of the student admissions is to make sure that as an applicant you get a sense of whether Art School Maa is the right place for you to study. Your advance assignments will be reviewed by the rector and the board of the supporting association.
Schedule for the admissions
• March: admissions open
• 28.3.2024 at 10.00–10.45: Voluntary admissions info on Zoom
• 9.4.2024 at 17.00–17.45: Voluntary admissions info on Zoom
• by 21.4.2024 at 16.00: applicants send in their advance assignments via WeTransfer (NOTE: the deadline has been extended)
• by 1.5.2024: Maa sends out interview invites
• Thu 16.5., Mon 20.5., Tue 21.5.2024: Maa interviews selected applicants
• by 3.6.2024: selection of the new students is published
• by 16.6.2024: applicants confirm their study place and register as student
Steps of the admission process
- Registering as an applicant: Use the form below to register as an applicant. You will receive the advance assignments after your registration.
- Sending in advance assignments: Hand in your advance assignments digitally. Instructions for this are sent with the advance assignments.
- Interviews: After we have gone through your advance assignments, we will invite some of the applicants for an interview. For the interview, please reserve one day when you will visit the school premises. If necessary, you can also participate in the interviews remotely, but we strongly recommend that you visit the school in person.
- Student selections: After the interviews, we go through your entire application process and, based on this, make selections for the new students and a waiting list. You will receive the information by email.
- Registration as a student: Once you have been selected as a student, you will receive a link for registration. Studies start at the end of August.
- Feedback: You can get feedback on advance assignments upon request. Feedback from the interview phase is given to all applicants participating in the interviews.
Admissions info
We organise two admissions info sessions, which you can come to if you have questions related to the admissions or the Day Programme. You do not need to register for the admissions info. If you wish, you can also send your questions in advance to us at info@taidekoulumaa.fi.
Language: The admissions info sessions are held in Finnish and/or English, depending on the needs of the participants.
Schedule: In the first 10 minutes, we go through the information about the admissions orally, all of which can also be found on our website. After that, there is time for open questions.
Participants: Maa's rector H Ouramo and coordinator Tanja Becher will be present.
Attention: Participating in the admissions info is not a requirement for the admissions procedure, and we do not go through content questions related to the advance assignments.
Here you can access the first admissions info on 28 March 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Here you can access the second admissions info on 9 April 2024 from 5:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Study support and the school’s status
Art School Maa has been in the middle of a transformation process since 2019 due to cuts in the cultural and educational sectors. In recent years, public funding has been cut, and most recently, the school’s status has changed in terms of Kela and their social security system. According to their new ruling, new students of Maa starting their studies in 2024 do not have access to Kela’s study grants and a state-guaranteed student loan. Please note that studying at Maa does not guarantee a residence permit since the studies complete a diploma, not a degree. Solutions are being sought in order to restore Maa's status.
- Read the board's statement here.
- You can ask more about this in the admissions info sessions on 28 March and 9 April 2024.
