School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts
Type Private
Established 1876
Parent institution
 Tufts University
Dean Nancy Bauer
Academic staff
 135 full- and part-time [1]
Undergraduates 301[1]
Postgraduates 149[1]
Location Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Campus Urban
Affiliations Northeastern University
AICAD
Professional Arts Consortium
Website www.smfa.edu

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (also known as the Museum School or SMFA at Tufts; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is one of the schools that comprise Tufts University, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school 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.

Overview

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, one of whom is the students' choice, 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 Museum School 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.

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.

Noted artists affiliated with the school

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tufts University Fast Facts". Tufts University. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  2. ↑ http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2011/11/19/drawn-her-animals/pimb7LDc9jaTdAGGOoyt8J/story.html
  3. ↑ Severens, Martha (1999). William Halsey. Greenville County Museum of Art. p. 14. ISBN 096032464X.

Coordinates: 42°20′19″N 71°05′48″W / 42.33856°N 71.09676°W / 42.33856; -71.09676

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