School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts. SMFA is also a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of several dozen leading art schools in the United States.

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University
TypePrivate
Established1876
Parent institution
Tufts University
DeanNancy Bauer
Academic staff
135 full- and part-time [1]
Undergraduates301[1]
Postgraduates149[1]
Location
Boston
,
Massachusetts
,
United States
CampusUrban
AffiliationsNortheastern University
AICAD
Professional Arts Consortium
Websitesmfa.tufts.edu

History
The Weems Center, part of Graham Gund's expansion, looking down from the third floor

From 1876 to 1909, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was housed in the basement of the original Museum building in Copley Square. When the Museum moved to Huntington Avenue in 1909, the School moved into a separate, temporary structure to the west of the main building. The permanent building, designed by Guy Lowell, was completed in 1927. The 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m2) red brick building provided improved classroom, studio and library facilities. In 1945 the Museum School and Tufts College collaborated to develop their first joint degree teacher training granting program. The creation of additional programs between the two institutions followed soon after.

In 1987, a newly renovated and expanded school building, designed by architect Graham Gund, more than doubled the size of the existing structure and provided an auditorium, enlarged library, expanded studios and classrooms, a spacious new entrance, cafeteria, and increased gallery and exhibition spaces. Gund's expansion included the central atrium, known as the Katherine Lane Weems Atrium, that connects the two buildings.

In December 2015 it was announced that the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) would become a part of Tufts University and on June 30, 2016 the integration was completed.

Academics

The school does not have a foundations program, but it does require all new students to take a freshman seminar. Encouraged to build an individual program of interdisciplinary study, students are not asked to declare a major, but by choosing among in-depth courses in a dozen disciplines, students are free to concentrate in a medium of their choice.

One of the unique attributes of SMFA is that students are required to participate in a "Review Board" which is a review of all of the art work that a student has done during the semester. Review Boards are led by two faculty members and two fellow students. There are many opportunities for students to exhibit their artwork at both the main building and the Mission Hill building.

Opportunities to exhibit works include the annual Art Sale and the juried "Student Annual Exhibition". Various galleries and spaces that are available to students around the school buildings include Bag Gallery, Hallway Gallery, Bathroom Gallery, Underground Gallery, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The school's main campus is adjacent to and just to the west of the Museum of Fine Arts. Most classroom space is located there, as well as the Cafe des Arts, the library, the School's store and the Grossman Gallery. The Mission Hill building, located about a quarter mile from the main building, recently has been renovated and includes studio spaces for graduate and post-baccalaureate students as well as classrooms, workshops, and the Writing Center.

Noted artists affiliated with the school

See also

References
  1. "Tufts University Fast Facts". Tufts University. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  3. "Archives of American Art, Smithsonian". Philip Leslie Hale papers, Biographical Note.
  4. Severens, Martha (1999). William Halsey. Greenville County Museum of Art. p. 14. ISBN 096032464X.

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