School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Information
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) as well as a consortium of thirty-six leading art schools in the United States.
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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 with 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 there are no grades in studio classes; credit is awarded through 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: there is 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.
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. The school shares on-campus housing at The Artist’s Residence Hall with Massachusetts College of Art located in between both schools.
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 Copley Square building. 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 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.
- Combined Degrees: A dual degree program (BFA/BA or BFA/BS) in which you major in Studio Art at SMFA and another major of your choice at Tufts University.
- Master of Fine Arts: A 2- to 3-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 graduate 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.
- Diploma: A four-year, all-studio program for both high school graduates and career changers interested in spending concentrated time in the studio.
- Fifth Year Certificate: A program only open to graduates of the Diploma Program that provides one year of access to the school's resources and equipment while working as a professional artist.
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 1928-1930
- Kaiju Big Battel, performance art troupe
- Frank W. Benson, painter. Diploma, 1883
- Jan Brett, illustrator. Attended 1969-70
- Margaret Fitzhugh Browne, painter
- Lisa Bufano, performance artist
- Marie Cosindas, photographer. Attended 1947-50 and 1955–56
- Allan Rohan Crite, painter. Diploma, 1936
- Jim Dine, painter/printmaker. Attended 1950-53 and 1955–58
- Ellen Gallagher, artist painter.
- Kahlil Gibran, Painter / Sculptor. Attended 1940-43
- Francis Golden, illustrator. BFA 1938
- Nan Goldin, photographer. Diploma, 1977; Fifth Year Certificate, 1978
- Leslie Hall (2000–2003), frontwoman for Leslie and the Ly's
- Doc Hammer (briefly attended), painter
- Joan Jonas, performance artist. Attended 1958-61
- Lois Mailou Jones, painter. Diploma, 1927
- Ellsworth Kelly, painter/sculptor/printmaker. Diploma, 1948
- Arnold Borisovich Lakhovsky, painter/teacher
- David Lynch, filmmaker. Attended 1964-65
- F. Luis Mora, artist and illustrator
- Sally Pierone, artist. Attended 1940-1942
- Larry Poons, painter. Attended 1957-58
- Liz Prince (2002–2007), 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
- 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[1]
Current regular faculty members
Roswell Angier Marilyn Arsem S.A. Bachman Michael Barsanti Gerry Bergstein Fritz Buehner Bill Burke Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Abigail Child Mark Cooper David Davison Bonnie Donohue James Dow Barbara Dowling Bill Flynn Nan Freeman Joel Frenzer Barbara Gallucci Jane Gillooly Louis Gippetti Charles Goss Angelina Gualdoni Mags Harries Nate Harrison David Kelley Joseph Landry Patte Loper Joyce McDaniel Ethan Murrow David Mussina Ron Rizzi Jennifer Schmidt John Schulz Tony Schwensen Peter Scott Carl Sesto Jeannie Simms Sandra Stark Mary Ellen Strom Dan Wills Yoshiko Yamamoto Chantal Zakari
References
External links
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Tufts University
- Northeastern University
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Categories: Universities and colleges in Boston, Massachusetts | Art schools in Massachusetts | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | Cultural history of Boston, Massachusetts | 1876 establishments
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