Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 1876 |
Parent institution
|
Tufts University |
Dean | Nancy Bauer |
Academic staff
|
135 full- and part-time |
Undergraduates | 301 |
Postgraduates | 149 |
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.
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.