Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Type Public
Established 1873
President Dr. David P. Nelson
Academic staff
 280[1]
Students 2,070[2]
Undergraduates 1,740[2]
Postgraduates 204[2]
Address 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
42°20′13″N 71°05′59″W / 42.336809°N 71.099614°W / 42.336809; -71.099614Coordinates: 42°20′13″N 71°05′59″W / 42.336809°N 71.099614°W / 42.336809; -71.099614
Campus Urban
Nickname MassArt
Affiliations AICAD
Colleges of the Fenway
NASAD
NEASC
Professional Arts Consortium
Mascot Mastodon
Website www.massart.edu

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (also known as MassArt) is a publicly funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree. The college is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. MassArt is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, the Colleges of the Fenway, a collegiate consortium located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts, and the ProArts Consortium, an association of seven Boston-area colleges dedicated to the visual and performing arts.

History

In the 1860s, civic and business leaders whose families had made fortunes in the China Trade, textile manufacture, railroads and retailing, sought to influence the long-term development of Massachusetts. To stimulate learning in technology and fine art, they persuaded the state legislature to charter several institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1860) and the Museum of Fine Arts (1868). The third of these, founded in 1873 was the Massachusetts Normal Art School, intended to support the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870 by providing drawing teachers for the public schools as well as training professional artists, designers, and architects.[3] During its first decade, the state rented space for the school in several locations including Boston's Pemberton Square, School Street, and the Deacon House mansion on Washington Street. In 1886 the state built the school's first building at the corner of Exeter and Newbury Streets, and then in 1929 moved the school to its second built campus at Longwood and Brookline Avenues. In 1983 MassArt was relocated to the former campus of Boston State College at the corner of Longwood and Huntington Avenues, after the latter school's merger with the University of Massachusetts Boston. Boston has designated Huntington Avenue as the "Avenue of the Arts", in recognition of the location of MassArt, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Symphony Hall, and other educational and cultural institutions along this thoroughfare.

Timeline

  • 1869: Fourteen prominent citizens petition the Massachusetts Legislature to provide drawing instruction "to all men, women, and children"
  • 1870: Legislation is enacted to make drawing a required subject in Massachusetts public schools[4]
  • 1873: Legislature appropriates $7,500 to establish the Massachusetts Normal Art School
  • 1876: Student work exhibited at the US Centennial Exposition is acclaimed by delegations from France, Austria, and Canada
  • 1880: School relocates to the historic Deacon House and begins offering post-graduate education
  • 1886: New Massachusetts Normal Art School building is constructed at the corner of Newbury and Exeter Streets
  • 1901: First person of color graduates from school
  • 1905: Alumnus and faculty member Albert Munsell develops what has become the world's leading color system
  • 1912: Courses are added in psychology, literature, and education theory
  • 1924: School becomes the first art school in the country to grant a degree, the Bachelor of Science in art education
  • 1929: School is renamed Massachusetts School of Art
  • 1930: Massachusetts School of Art moves to its new building at the corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenues
  • 1940: Faculty member Cyrus Dallin's sculpture, Paul Revere, is installed in Boston's North End
  • 1950: School grants its first Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in design and fine arts
  • 1957: First African American is appointed to the faculty: alumnus Calvin Burnett ('42)
  • 1959: School is renamed Massachusetts College of Art
  • 1969: Studio for Interrelated Media is founded, one of the earliest interdisciplinary college art programs in the country
  • 1969: Courses in environmental design are added to the curriculum
  • 1972: Master of Science degree is awarded in art education
  • 1975: Master of Fine Arts degree is awarded in two- and three-dimensional fine arts
  • 1981: Master of Fine Arts degree is awarded in design
  • 1983: School begins to occupy and renovate the eight-building campus at the corner of Huntington and Longwood Avenues
  • 1989: MassArt opens its first dormitory, christened Walter Smith Hall after school's founding principal
  • 1992: MassArt completes a $14,700,000 project refurbishing the Huntington Avenue campus
  • 1993: "Longwoood Campus" building on the corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenues, which had served as the College's main campus since 1930, is acquired by neighboring Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which integrates the building into their facilities (retaining the exterior facade, but gutting and rebuilding the interior).
  • 1997: Dr. Katherine H. Sloan, the first woman and tenth president of MassArt, is inaugurated
  • 2000: Dynamic Media Institute is founded, a Master of Fine Arts program focused on new uses of media in communication design
  • 2002: Artists' Residence opens, guaranteeing housing for all first-year students
  • 2003: Legislature approves the New Partnership with the Commonwealth, which is a new model for its state funding
  • 2007: Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approves the college's proposal to offer a Master of Architecture
  • 2007: Governor Deval Patrick signs legislation changing the college's official name to Massachusetts College of Art and Design
  • 2012: Dawn Barrett, the eleventh president of MassArt, is inaugurated.
  • 2014: Kurt T. Steinberg named Acting President.[5]
  • 2016: The Design and Media Center, designed by Ennead Architects, a three-story glass facade at 621 Huntington Avenue, prominently positioned on Boston's Avenue of the Arts contains 40,000 square feet of new space for the College.
  • 2017: David P. Nelson, the twelfth president of MassArt, is inaugurated.

Academics

MassArt offers a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, a Master of Teaching in Art Education, a Master of Fine Arts, a Master of Architecture (Track I & Track II - Pre-Professional-Professional), and a Master of Design Innovation, and is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) http://www.naab.org/accreditation/accredited-programs/. MassArt also offers a number of pre-college (both credit and non-credit) programs for high school students, and continuing education and certificate programs for professional and non-professional artists.[6] In addition, MassArt still fulfills its original mission, with ongoing programs for primary and secondary school teachers of art.

MassArt's undergraduate curriculum includes a Foundation Program for the first year, which provides compulsory exposure to the basics of 2D and 3D art and design. Graduation requirements include an elective studio and multiple Critical Studies courses. Students at MassArt have the option of majoring in Fine Arts (2D), Fine Arts (3D), Communication Design, Environmental Design, Media and Performing Arts, and Art Education. Within those majors they can choose to focus on disciplines such as Industrial Design, Art History, Fashion Design, Architectural Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, Painting, Printmaking, Ceramics, Glass, Sculpture, Fibers, Metals, Photography, Film/Video, and in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM).[7]

According to the College Board website, 30% of MassArt's student body are Asian, African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or multiracial.

Traditions and celebrations

The "Mass Art Iron Corps" hosts an "Iron Pour" event at MassArt approximately four times a year. The event is centered around a spectacular pouring of white-hot molten iron into molds for sculpture. In the past, this was celebrated by accompanying music, dance, and other performances. However, around 2010, the Boston Fire Department insisted on greatly reducing the number of people present, because of safety concerns. The pours are still claimed to consume around 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) of iron per year.[8]

The 2D Fine Arts department hosts an annual Master Print Series, where MassArt invites a visiting artist to work collaboratively with the students and faculty of the printmaking department to produce professional-level editions for the artist.[9]

Twice each year, before Christmas and at the end of the academic year in May, a large week-long public sale of "MassArt Made" artworks by alumni and current students takes place in the Tower Building. Works included in the sale are selected by a jury panel, and artists receive 60% of the revenue derived, with the remainder going to support MassArt programs.[10]

The MassArt Auction, a separate, ticketed event, is held in April, and features major artworks.[11] The general public is invited to both events, as well as a number of receptions celebrating the opening of art exhibitions.

Campus

This symbolic former main entrance to the MassArt academic buildings is still in daily use.
One of MassArt's primary locations, the Tower Building. The red brick building at the lower left has since been transformed into the new Design and Media Center.

MassArt is headquartered at 621 Huntington Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, and occupies a trapezoidal block of old and new buildings it has acquired over the last two decades. Most of its academic buildings were the former campus of Boston State College, acquired after BSC was merged with the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

MassArt is located on Huntington Avenue, which has been designated and signed as "The Avenue of the Arts" in Boston. The campus is also adjacent to the Longwood Medical Area, and its immediate neighbors on Longwood Avenue include Harvard Medical School and MCPHS University (formerly Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences). Nearby neighbors along Huntington Avenue include the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM), the Museum of Fine Arts, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), and the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Further along "The Avenue of the Arts" are Northeastern University, the Boston University Theatre, Boston Symphony Hall, Horticultural Hall, and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Previously, MassArt had occupied a number of buildings scattered throughout Boston's Fenway-Kenmore and Longwood neighborhoods, with its main campus located on the corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenues. In the mid-1990s, that building was acquired by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which then gutted and rebuilt the building's interior, but kept the distinctive facade intact.

In 2009, the Campus Center (located in the Kennedy building, at the corner of Huntington and Longwood Avenues) saw major renovations, including a new two-story glass facade on Longwood Avenue, food services, and the college bookstore. The lower level includes the ReStore, a student-run freecycling space to accept and redistribute surplus art supplies, materials, tools, equipment, and publications free of charge.

In 2016, the building formerly housing a gymnasium was completely gutted and renovated into a new Design and Media Center, including facilities for the Studio for Interrelated Media program. In addition, the new building provides a spacious formal entrance into the academic campus, and new gallery space. This major project was described on the MassArt website, and included a live construction webcam feed.[12]

Transportation

The MassArt campus is served by the MBTA Longwood Medical Area stop on the Green Line "E" Branch, at the corner of Huntington and Longwood Avenues (next to the Campus Center). This location is also a stop on the MBTA #39 and CT2 bus routes. Other nearby public transit options are described online.[13]

Parking spaces are extremely scarce near the MassArt campus, especially during the day. A limited number of paid spaces for students and staff are allocated by a formal application process. Visitors may use metered and commercial parking in the area.[14]

Maps

The MassArt academic campus is compact, consisting of a number of interconnected buildings constructed and renovated over a span of several decades. Different floor heights in adjacent buildings are accommodated by a mix of stairs, ramps, and elevators, resulting in a complex internal layout that can disorient visitors.

An official map is available on campus and online, but it has not yet been updated as of 2016 to show the new Design and Media Center building.[15] In 2014, two additional maps were available on campus: a "Campus Tour Map", and a "Campus Galleries" map. The first of these maps showed all the MassArt buildings (including the 3 dormitories) and included detailed directions to the main entrances of buildings which are open to the public. The "Campus Galleries" map showed the locations of 7 main gallery spaces, with detailed instructions on how to reach them.[16]

Academic buildings

The MassArt academic campus is composed of six interconnected buildings: Kennedy, South, Collins, North, East, and Tower. There is also an enclosed courtyard located in the center of the quadrangle formed by South, Collins, North, and East. The academic campus flagship is the 13-story Tower Building, wrapped in a dark glass facade, with prominent entry/lobby spaces along Huntington Ave. The Morton R. Godine Library occupies the top two floors of the Tower Building, and the President's Office is on the 11th floor. There is an auditorium in the low-rise section of the Tower Building.

The new Design and Media Center building serves as the formal main portal into the academic campus, featuring a large, spacious entry lobby that can accommodate very large temporary art installations and exhibits. Contemporary media laboratories, classrooms, meeting spaces, project and installation spaces, and galleries are also located here. There is a permanent graphic timeline history of MassArt and its predecessor schools alongside a long ramp at the side of the entry lobby, highlighting and illustrating the accomplishments of faculty, staff, and students over the years.

Art galleries

There are at least 10 galleries on campus available for student shows, or exhibitions by more-established artists. These galleries include the Arnheim Gallery, Brant Gallery, Bakalar and Paine Galleries, Doran Gallery, Godine Family Gallery, President's Gallery, Student Life Gallery, Tower Gallery, and North Crackertorium Gallery (located at the junction of the North and East Buildings). The Pozen Center, an area built specifically to house larger scale events and performances, is located on the ground floor of the North Building. The new Design and Media Center features a cavernous entry lobby space used for large temporary installations, as well as additional smaller gallery spaces.

MassArt’s galleries are always free and open to the public, showing cutting-edge exhibitions in a variety of media. The Bakalar and Paine Galleries are the largest free, contemporary art space in New England, showing a variety of temporary exhibitions by professional artists.[17] Over the years, the Exhibitions and Visiting Artists Program has matured into one of the area’s most influential presenters, consistently ranked among the year’s top ten by The Boston Globe.

In addition, artworks in all media are informally displayed throughout the campus, in hallways, stairwells, ramps, outdoor spaces, and classrooms. Students can (and do) install artwork almost anywhere, subject to a safety review.

Bakalar and Paine Galleries exhibited DRAW/Boston from January 23th - March 4, 2017, a show that brought together over 40 artists to exhibit their sketches and work in progress. This exhibition sought to express the artistic creative process from local artists as well as artists from around the world. The exhibition was curated by Tomas Vu, a MassArt Graduate Program Director and faculty member. The show included artists such as David Altmejd, Cecily Brown, William Kentridge, LeRoy Neiman, and Kiki Smith, along with Mass Art Faculty and students. In addition to sketches by these artists, there was an interactive mural, Demonstration Drawings, describing political topics. The work in the gallery was displayed as if they were found in studios, scattered and not in order. The names of the artists who created the pieces were also written in blue ball point pen on the wall. The show gave students and visitors a chance to explore the creative process of artists from all over the world.

Residence halls

The campus includes three student residence halls, all located directly across "The Avenue of the Arts" from the MassArt academic campus: "New Residence Hall" (578 Huntington Ave.), Smith Hall (640 Huntington Ave.), and "The Artists’ Residence" (600R Huntington Ave.). All residences feature 24/7 professional security, telephone/cable/data connectivity, and partial or full Meal Plans. Each residence hall has its own live-in Residence Hall Director and trained student Resident Assistants.

Smith Hall houses only first-year students admitted to the Foundation Program at MassArt, in suite-style living spaces of 3 to 5 students. It is a renovated 5-story apartment building located immediately across the street from MassArt's Kennedy building. In addition to student rooms, there are studio workrooms and quiet rooms on each floor.[18]

The Artists' Residence ("The Rez") houses freshmen, upperclassmen, and graduate student artists. It is a 9-story structure located across the street from the MassArt Tower Building. The Artists' Residence is the first publicly funded residence hall in the United States designed specifically to house art students, and it includes studio spaces and a spray room on the top floor.

The New Residence Hall (also called the "Tree House") is a colorful 21-story dormitory tower located next to The Artists' Residence. It is a new structure designed by the firm ADD Inc. (Boston) with extensive collaboration from MassArt students, plus two other member colleges of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium. The external appearance of the building was inspired by Gustav Klimt's painting, The Tree of Life.[19][20]

The Tree House accommodates mostly first-year and sophomore students in suite-style layouts in single, double, and triple bedrooms, with suite-shared bathrooms. The second floor is a Student Health Center, shared by students of MassArt, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and MCPHS University. The third floor is called the "Pajama Floor", and includes a game room / TV Lounge, group study room, laundry room, fitness room, vending area, and a community kitchen.[20][21]

Other facilities

MassArt students have access to common facilities typically found at many colleges, including a full-scale cafeteria, small café, school store, freecycling store, library, student center, health center, counseling center, auditorium, computer labs, and fitness center. Additional not-so-usual facilities include a working letterpress lab with an archival collection of over 500 wood and metal type fonts, 10 art galleries, studio spaces, spray booth, woodworking shop, digital maker's studio, sound studio, and performance spaces.[22]

The Colleges of the Fenway consortium gives MassArt students additional shared access to facilities of five other nearby schools, including their library, athletics, and theatrical resources. MassArt students (with ID) also have free admission to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; and the Danforth Museum of Art—of which the MFA and ISGM are within a short walking distance from campus.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty (past and present)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Quick Facts". 16 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Quick Facts". 16 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "About the College". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  4. ↑ Stankiewicz 2016.
  5. ↑ http://www.massart.edu/About_MassArt/Announcements.html
  6. ↑ "Professional and Continuing Education". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  7. ↑ "Academic Programs". Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Homan, Nate (April 2, 2014). "TWISTING METAL: HANGING WITH THE LAST OF AN IRON BREED". Boston Dig. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  9. ↑ "Bachelor of Fine Arts". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  10. ↑ "MassArt Made Sale". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  11. ↑ "MassArt Auction". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  12. ↑ "Design and Media Center". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  13. ↑ "Public Transportation". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  14. ↑ "Parking". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  15. ↑ "MassArt Campus Map" (PDF). www.massart.edu. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  16. ↑ Emiliani, Julia. "MassArt Campus Map". Behance. Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  17. ↑ "Bakalar & Paine Galleries". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  18. ↑ "Smith Hall". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  19. ↑ "MassArt Residence Story: This is the house that collaboration built". MASCO: Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization. MASCO, Inc. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  20. 1 2 "Massachusetts College of Art and Design's Student Residence Hall / ADD Inc". arch daily. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  21. ↑ "Tree House (New Residence Hall)". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  22. ↑ "Universal Tools". MassArt. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  23. ↑ "Tag: Feature - Improper Bostonian". www.improper.com.

Bibliography

  • Anson K. Cross (1890), Model drawing: prepared for the use of the students of the Massachusetts Normal Art School, Boston, Mass. – via Internet Archive
  • Mary Ann Stankiewicz (2016). Developing Visual Arts Education in the United States: Massachusetts Normal Art School and the Normalization of Creativity. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-54449-0.

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