Student admissions 2026
Admissions are now open to Art School Maa's three-year Day Programme!
Register for the admissions by 7 April 2026!
Art School Maa's Day Programme is a three-year study programme preparing for the profession of a contemporary artist. The studies are full-time. A minimum of 108 credits (or study weeks) are required for graduation (meaning an average of 36 study weeks per year). The graduation certificate is a diploma. There are annually 40–50 students studying in Art School Maa’s Day Programme. Students pay an annual tuition fee at Art School Maa, see more about this below.
Students are admitted to the school through an admissions process in two parts. The first part consists of advance assignments, and the second part is an interview at the school. Approximately 20 students are selected to begin their First Year studies in the autumn of 2026.
Studying at Art School Maa
Please note that Art School Maa is currently 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. Please note that the school has been in transition since 2025, so there may be changes to the teaching location. The changes will not affect daily schedules, content or the scope of the Day Programme. Changes will be communicated as early and carefully as possible.
The Day Programme emphasises interdisciplinarity, artistic thinking and the study of new forms of contemporary art. In addition to visual arts methods, Maa organises teaching in e.g. performance, sound art and critical theory. Instead of focusing solely on techniques and methods, the programme considers a skill more broadly. Art happens in context, a maker takes a position and chooses a starting point for understanding the planning of artistic work, critical thinking and collective working methods.
The First Year at Maa focuses on introducing different skillsets and ways of looking at artistic practice, the Second Year on artistic voice and frameworks of being public, and the Third Year on the skills and practices of an art worker, on an individual and collective level.
The aim of student admissions at Maa 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 an artist-teacher chosen by the board of the support association. There is a 25€ handling fee that we ask you to pay when sending your advance assignments.
Please note that studying at Art School Maa does not guarantee a study-based residence permit in Finland, as the school is a private educational institution currently outside the national degree structure.
Schedule for the admissions
- February: admissions open
- 25.3.2026 at 17–18.00: admissions info on Zoom
- 7 April 2026: registration closes
- By 14 April 2026 before 16:00: applicants send in their advance assignments
- week 18: invitations to the interview are sent by 27.4.2026
- week 2: interviews take place on Tuesday 12th, Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th May
- beginning of June: selection of new students is published
- We ask students to accept their study place by 17 June 2026
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. There is a cost of 25€ for the handling of your documents, please pay this when you send in your materials.
- 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. 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 2026.
- 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 an info session online, in which you can ask questions related to the admissions or the Day Programme. You do not need to register for the info sessions. If you wish, you can also send your questions in advance to us by email 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, 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 Karolina Kucia will be present.
Please note: Participating in the zoom info session is not a requirement for the admissions, and we do not give advice or review your advance assignment.
You can access the first admissions info on 25th March 2026 from 17:00 a.m. to 18:00 a.m. via this LINK
Tuition Fees and Student Benefits
Students at Art School Maa pay a tuition fee, which can be paid in full or in installments.
Students studying in the Day Programme are entitled to Kela student benefits, but not to school travel support. Students are also required to complete summer studies at Art School Maan.
Art School Maa’s Future
Art School Maa is a private educational institution outside the official degree structure. Due to cuts in the cultural sector and education, Art School Maa has been in the midst of a transition process since 2019. Despite the pressures to develop and change and financial uncertainty, Art School Maa maintains the three-year Day Programme and continues its activities, local and international cooperation, for example through its open programme.
You can ask more about this in the admissions info sessions on the 25th of March 2026.
Registration Form
In order to receive the advance assignments, please register as applicant for the Day Programme at Art School Maa via the form below:
-LINK-
