The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (also known as the Museum School or SMFA) is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University and Northeastern University. SMFA is 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, the juried "Student Annual Exhibition," as well as various galleries and spaces that are available to students around the school buildings and in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, including Bag Gallery, Hallway Gallery, Bathroom Gallery, Underground Gallery.
The School's main campus is adjacent to and just to the west of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 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, the Writing Center, and the registrar's office.
History
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 (4,200Â m2) red brick building provided improved classroom, studio and library facilities.
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.
Academics
Degree programs available at the Museum School include:
- Bachelor of Fine Arts: A 4-year BFA in Studio Art, with a self-designed curriculum, offered through Tufts University.
- Bachelor of Fine Arts: A 4-year BFA in Studio Art, with a self-designed curriculum, offered through Northeastern University.
- Dual Degree: A dual degree program (BFA/BA or BFA/BS) in which you major in Studio Art at SMFA and another major of the student's choice at Tufts University]
- Master of Fine Arts: A 2-year MFA in Studio Art, with a self-designed curriculum, offered through Tufts University.
- Master of Fine Arts: A MFA in Studio Art, with a self-designed curriculum, offered through Northeastern University.
- Master of Arts in Teaching (Art Education): A 1-year (beginning in May, ending in May of the following year) MAT in Art Education, offered through Tufts University.
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate: An intensive postgraduate certificate one year program, this is an opportunity for those who wish to obtain an MFA to strengthen their portfolio or those who wish to set up their own studio practice. Many people in this program have undergraduate degrees in non-art related fields, others are changing careers, and many are recent art school graduates looking to further their education.
- Studio Diploma: A four-year, all-studio certificate program for both high school graduates and career changers interested in spending concentrated time in the studio.
Noted artists affiliated with the school
- David Aronson Painter, Sculptor; Emeritus Professor of Art, Boston University
- Art School Cheerleaders, performance art troupe
- Will Barnet, painter/printmaker. Attended 1928â€"1930
- Kaiju Big Battel, performance art troupe
- Frank Weston Benson, painter. Diploma, 1883
- Jan Brett, illustrator. Attended 1969â€"70
- Margaret Fitzhugh Browne, painter
- Lisa Bufano, performance artist
- Al Capp, cartoonist (Li'l Abner), attended briefly before having to leave for non-payment of tuition
- Marie Cosindas, photographer. Attended 1947â€"50 and 1955â€"56
- Allan Rohan Crite, painter. Diploma, 1936
- Frank Dengler, sculptor. Instructor c. 1877
- Jim Dine, painter/printmaker. Attended 1950â€"53 and 1955â€"58
- Zach Feuer Art Dealer. BFA 1996â€"2000
- Costas Frost, 3D CG Artist, 2007
- Kahlil Gibran, Painter / Sculptor. Attended 1940â€"43
- Francis Golden, illustrator. BFA 1938
- Nan Goldin, photographer. Diploma, 1977; Fifth Year Certificate, 1978
- William Snelling Hadaway, attended 1890s
- Leslie Hall (2000â€"2003), frontwoman for Leslie and the Ly's
- William Melton Halsey, painter/sculptor,1935-1939, recipient of William Paige Fellowship
- Doc Hammer (briefly attended), painter
- Susan Howe (graduated 1961) poet, scholar, essayist and critic
- Joan Jonas, performance artist. Attended 1958â€"61
- Carol Beckwith, photographer, author, and artist
- Valta Us, painter. Fifth Year Certificate, 1971
- Tom Jung, graphic designer and illustrator
- Lois Mailou Jones, painter. Diploma, 1927
- Ellsworth Kelly, painter/sculptor/printmaker. Diploma, 1948
- Arnold Borisovich Lakhovsky, painter/teacher
- Shane Lavalette, photographer, publisher and editor of Lavalette, and director of Light Work. BFA, 2009
- Steven Lisberger, director, graduated 1974
- David Lynch, filmmaker. Attended 1964â€"65
- F. Luis Mora, artist and illustrator
- Sally Pierone, artist. Attended 1940â€"1942
- Stacy Poitras, chainsaw sculptor 1985â€"88
- Larry Poons, painter. Attended 1957â€"58
- Liz Prince (2002â€"2007), comic book artist, Ignatz Award winner
- Richard Scarry, illustrator. Diploma, 1942
- Doug and Mike Starn photographers and performance artists. Diploma, 1984; Fifth Year Certificate, 1985
- Frank Stout, painter, 1949
- Tom Sutton, illustrator and comic book artist
- Edmund Tarbell, painter. Diploma, 1882
- Shellburne Thurber, photographer. BFA, 1976; Diploma, 1982; Fifth Year Certificate, 1983
- Wallace Tripp, illustrator. Attended 1960, 1964
- Cy Twombly, painter/sculptor/printmaker. Diploma, 1949
- Peter Wolf, painter, Singer J Geils Band
- Levni Yilmaz, Animator and Cartoonist
- Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Photographer
- Steven Lisberger, Animator/Director, 1974
- Laurel Nakadate, Video Artist and Photographer
- Omer Fast, Video Artist, BFA, 1995
- Juliana Hatfield, musician, 2012
- John A. Wilson (sculptor)
- Marion Boyd Allen, painter. Attended 1902â€"09
References
External links
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Tufts University
- Northeastern University
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