Summary
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.
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 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. 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, 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 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: