School of the Museum of Fine Arts Officially Part of Tufts

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, officially becomes part of Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences on Friday, July 1, 2016. Now named the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, or SMFA at Tufts, the school is extraordinary in being both part of a major research university and affiliated with a world-class museum.

Tufts and the Museum of Fine Arts signed a memorandum of understanding on December 22, 2015, that outlined the terms by which the university would assume ownership and operation of the school on July 1.

The acquisition reflects the university’s long-standing commitment to the arts and a relationship between the two institutions that goes back more than 70 years. Tufts University has provided liberal arts courses, as well as accredited bachelor and master of fine arts degrees, to SMFA students, while the SMFA has offered courses in studio arts to Tufts students. The two institutions have also offered a joint, five-year combined-degree program by which undergraduates earn both a B.A. and B.FA.

“I believe arts education is absolutely essential to Tufts,” said Nancy Bauer, dean of the SMFA at Tufts and an academic dean and philosophy professor in Tufts’ School of Arts and Sciences. “I care about promoting the arts on campus, about creativity and breaking boundaries. Artists show us how to be progressive, communicative and provocative. My vision is to take what they’ve already done at the Museum School for a very long time and give them what they need to soar.”

All SMFA students, whether new or returning, will be Tufts University students as of July 1, able to fully engage in all aspects of Tufts’ campus life, including student activities, academic and co-curricular resources and study abroad.

While the admissions process for the 2016-2017 school year is closed, those seeking to enroll in future SMFA at Tufts programs may apply through the Tufts Office of Admissions.

Studio art courses will continue to be offered on Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus as well as in Boston. Tufts is assuming a long-term lease for studio, gallery, classroom, office and social spaces at 230 the Fenway, where the MFA will also maintain space, and at 160 Alphonsus Street in Mission Hill, which houses graduate programs.

– Submitted by Tufts University