School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts


The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University is a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Massachusetts. SMFA is part of Tufts University's largest school, the School of Arts and Sciences, and offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees that combine studio arts training with interdisciplinary liberal arts and science education.
It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. SMFA is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, a consortium of several dozen leading art schools in the United States, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.

History

The School was founded in 1876 under the name School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 1876 to 1909, the School was housed in the basement of the original Museum building in Copley Square. When the MFA Boston moved to Huntington Avenue in 1909, the School moved into a separate, temporary structure to the west of the museum's main building. The permanent building, designed by Guy Lowell, was completed in 1927. The red brick building provided improved classroom, studio and library facilities.
In 1945, the Museum School and Tufts College first collaborated to develop a joint degree program focused on teacher training. The creation of additional programs in cooperation with the two institutions followed soon after. SMFA and Tufts established joint Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degree programs in 1956 and 1966, respectively.
In 1987, a newly renovated and expanded school building, designed by architect Graham Gund, more than doubled the size of the existing structure; providing 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 would become a part of Tufts University and on June 30, 2016, the integration was completed.
With the late-2022 opening of the Green Line Extension of the MBTA Green Line E branch light rail transit route, there is a direct connection between the SMFA Campus and the main campus of Tufts University in Medford.

Academics

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 and mediums, students are free to concentrate in the areas that best align with their interests. Courses are offered in the following areas: animation, ceramics, digital media, drawing, film and video, graphic arts, installation, metals, painting, performance, photography, print and paper, sculpture, sound, and virtual reality, as well as visual and material studies, which consists of cross-disciplinary study of the related fields of art and architectural history, film, and the language arts.
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 artwork that a student has completed during a semester. Review Boards are led by two faculty members and two fellow students. There are many opportunities for students to exhibit their artwork at SMFA's main building on the Fenway, at the Mission Hill building, and on the Tufts Medford-Somerville campus.
Opportunities to exhibit works include the annual SMFA 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, and spaces in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The school's main campus building, located at 230 the Fenway, is adjacent to and just to the west of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Most studio classroom space is located here, as well as the SMFA Cafe, the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library, the School Art Store, and the Grossman Gallery, which is part of the Tufts University Art Galleries' exhibition space. The Mission Hill building, located about a quarter mile from the main building, includes studio spaces for graduate and post-baccalaureate students as well as classrooms, workshops, and The SMFA Writing Center.

W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library

The W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts is the fine arts branch of Tufts University's Tisch Library. The library's collections focus heavily on contemporary art and studio practice. Its circulating collection is primarily focused on books, multimedia content, print periodicals, zines, and ephemera related to the areas of study at SMFA. Special Collections are non-circulating — for in-library use and viewable only by appointment — and devoted mainly to artists' books.

Notable faculty

Painting and drawing faculty