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SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY
S M FA AT T U F T S
Where can you receive an education that combines the resources of a world-renowned research institution and the opportunities of an historic, forward-thinking art school? Introducing the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, an intimate art school within a comprehensive university that takes a personalized approach to studio art education. TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
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From Day One Curriculum Unpacked Undergraduate Program Graduate Program Life at SMFA Futures Visit
FROM DAY ONE
AT SMFA AT TUFTS, YOU’LL FIND A CHALLENGING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, A COMMUNITY THAT INTERMINGLES ACROSS YEARS AND DISCIPLINES, AND A STRONG FACULTY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM. THE FULLY SELFDIRECTED COURSE OF STUDY FREES STUDENTS FROM THE TRADITIONAL CONSTRAINTS OF A MAJOR AND THE NARROW FOCUS OF A SINGLE MEDIUM, ENCOURAGING OUT-OFTHE-BOX THINKING, POWERFUL PUBLIC-FACING WORK, AND A TRAILBLAZING ATTITUDE TOWARD CAREERS OF THE FUTURE.
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Alberto Checa, BFA ’21 / Post-production: Futility Suit .001 / Found Material, Steel, 2018
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STUDIOS
The heart of our curriculum happens in the studio. From VR and digital media labs to a papermaking class on the properties of pulp, there are myriad ways for students to experiment across mediums and bring form to their ideas. Without a foundation year, students have the freedom to forge their own creative path.
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LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
With access to hundreds of courses across the university, SMFA at Tufts students have an enormous toolbox to draw from to give context to their work. Perhaps a physics class will fuel a welding project, or studies of war and American values in literature will inform a performance piece. At SMFA, these courses support your studio practice and help deepen your artistic inquiry.
Notebook by Kenson Truong, MFA ’18 “ Coming to Tufts and being able to actually study marine biology taught me the accurate language, the way to present it, and how to analyze data which allowed me to go deeper into the concepts of my work.”
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COMMUNITY
You’ll be encouraged to collaborate with and learn from your peers. A printmaker’s art may gain new dimensions from a sculptor; a painter might discover a new form of rhythmic mark-making amid the sonic experiments of a sound artist. At SMFA, the cross-pollination of ideas fuels your individual discovery and brings a deeper level of engagement to the work.
MENTORSHIP
The studio curriculum is entirely customizable, but you won’t be alone in forging your path. Every SMFA student has an advisor who acts as a mentor and resource. Whether recommending courses, providing outside research ideas, or making introductions between students that spark collaborations, we’ll help you build personalized curricula that foster growth and offer new challenges.
Charles Goss / Professor of the Practice, Drawing
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CULTURE
A long-standing academic epicenter, Boston has a rich cultural and artistic history. SMFA students can find new inspiration thanks to the school’s relationship with the Museum of Fine Arts and its proximity to institutions like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art.
“In Between,” a solo exhibition by Maia Lynch, MFA ’13, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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COLLABORATIONS
Inspired by political movements and digital media? Impassioned by environmentalism and papermaking? SMFA students are encouraged to work with faculty and students from across the entire university to explore areas of interest. These collaborations are just one aspect of an SMFA education that adds possibility and complexity to student work.
3D-printed “fractal donut,” created in SMFA’s Advanced Production Lab in collaboration with a Senior Software Engineer, exploring the interface of mathematics, sculpture, and technology.
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CURRICULUM UNPACKED
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CREATIVE FREEDOM
Freedom is the foundation at SMFA. You can explore whatever ideas and mediums interest you. The open curriculum celebrates the notion that ideas, not requirements, drive your practice and coursework. And by fostering those concepts and providing an environment for growth, SMFA empowers you to express yourself, build your skills, and create something that will have an impact on the outside world.
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Darkroom Photography
Programming Languages The Death of Painting
Literature of the Beat Generation
Social Engagement: Practice and Theory
Print Matters
3D Foundations
Project Development & Exhibition Strategy
Art of Building Empire
Digital Design and Fabrication
Understanding the “Art World”
Screenprinting A-Z
Cultures of Computing
Media Culture Now
Properties of Pulp
Neo-Noir and Its Contexts
Experimental Printmaking Monoprinting
Game Design
History & Aesthetics in Hitchcock
The Audio-Visual Imagination
Cyanotype and the Contemporary
Stop Motion Animation
Creative Futures: Business Essentials
Socially Engaged Art
Critical Drag
Ephemeral Objects Professional Practices: Survival Skills
Kinetic Sculpture
Sonic Forms Advanced Sculpture Projects
Appropriation Art: Duchamp & Digital Disobedience
Virtual Reality
Material Lab: Fiber Etching and Intaglio Criminology
Thinking with Plants
Decolonizing Anthropology
C O U R S E W O R K . At SMFA you’ll have the creative freedom to select a personalized mix of
courses to explore your interests both inside and outside of the studio. This means you can build the schedule that best supports your individual learning goals. You will have access to a broad range of classes that allow you to truly explore ways in which your diverse interests overlap and inform one another.
15 Borges & the Encyclopedia of the World European Witch-Craze Introduction to Machine Learning
Aquamania: Wet Media Podcasting: Crafting Audio Stories Investing, Psychology, and Human Behavior
Installation Projects
Artificial Intelligence Migration in a Turbulent World
TV in the Age of Change
Visual Rhythm
From Drawing to Building
Props & Puppets
Feminist Science Fiction
Gender in Medieval Art & Literature
Design Architecture Making a Picture Instead of Taking One
Theories & Methods of Art History
Ethnomusicology Mathematical Neuroscience
The Culture, Philosophy, and Practice of B-Boying
African Politics
Film and the Avant-Garde Curatorial Approaches
The Greening of Art
Social Change & Community Organizing Arts of Africa
Women in Greek Mythology
Sonic Dimensions: The Culture, Theory, and Politics of Sound Power, Performance, Protest
Special Topics: Hayao Miyazaki
The History of Consumption
Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Startups The Photographic Book
Quantum Mechanics
The Anticolonial Mode of Thought From Beijing to Bollywood Authority and How to Evade It
Museums and Digital Media
“At SMFA we work with whatever medium or art material that we would like, and we can explore any concept or focus that we would like, to research. I think that was one of my favorite benefits of coming to Tufts University. I have access to classes in philosophy, or math, or physics, or any of the sciences. I actually was able to take a class in marine biology, which is something I’m really fascinated by and incorporate into my practice.”
Kenson Truong, MFA ’18, explores themes of race, gender, sexual orientation, cultural context, and personal identity in his studio practice. Long enthralled by cephalopods and their exceptional capacity for camouflage and adaptation, as well as their cognitive ability to engineer escapes, he explores these themes throughout his work, which includes visual devices of camouflage through text, light, and sculptural installation. Kenson Truong, MFA ’18 / Homo Sapiens / Paper, Thread, Ultraviolet Ink, Blacklight Flashlight, 2016
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“Coming to Tufts and studying marine biology, learning the accurate language, analyzing data, and going deeper into the concepts and also philosophy has enriched my practice.� His coursework, and the support of his faculty mentors, has provided him with the confidence to address provocative topics without hesitation.
“Who you are is not the medium that you work with. How you approach each medium is what counts. That’s what got me here. You have the ability to get your hands in everything. The school teaches you to find your own voice and your own identity as an artist. It’s your fingerprint whether you take it to painting or sculpture.”
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Rachel Shiloach, BFA ’18, focuses her artistic study on expressive movement as a mediator between the inner and outer worlds. In her work, inside and outside mean different things: body and space, desires and reality, the perceptual and the tangible. She came to SMFA at Tufts with a background in formal dance, which has influenced her work in movement. Rachel was drawn to the school’s inclusive approach to art. “The agenda of 1. Rachel Shiloach, BFA ’18 / Clay / Video Still, 2017
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SMFA is that art is art and there’s no necessity for categorizing or dividing,” she says. She took full advantage of the open curriculum during her time at SMFA, working across printmaking, time-based media, and choreography. “You have the option to be the kind of artist you want to be at this school. Your choices are based on your voice.” 2 & 3. Rachel Shiloach, BFA ’18 / Fish / Video Stills, 2017
4. Rachel Shiloach, BFA ’18 / Layer / Video Still, 2017
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CLEARING CREATIVE PATHWAYS
Inspiration can’t always wait. If you’re inspired to work with clay but aren’t enrolled in ceramics, you won’t have to put the idea on hold until next semester. At SMFA you’ll have access to all studio resources regardless of your current course load. And if you need technical assistance, you can approach our studio managers anytime outside of class to learn new skills and processes that support your work. Whenever inspiration strikes, you can pursue it.
Not sure how to use a lathe? Studio managers are here to train students how to use equipment safely — maybe you’ll add your name to the woodshop’s wall, which includes every student who’s passed their safety test since 1994.
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SPACES AND RESOURCES
In our open curriculum, students draw on resources from multiple spaces and disciplines, moving seamlessly between studios to complete their projects. Students have access to all studios through their classes or individualized guidance from studio managers and are empowered to explore their artistic practice without limits. DISCIPLINES INCLUDE:
Animation Bookmaking Ceramics Digital Media Drawing Film and Video Graphic Arts Illustration Installation Jewelry Metals Painting Papermaking Performance Photography Printmaking Sculpture Sound Welding Woodworking
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“We are material geeks! Our school store isn’t just about products on a shelf; it’s about 55 years of collective experience. We’re artists too and see our role as a student service – helping students to find the right materials for their projects, even teaching them how to use those materials!” TERRI NORDONE AND DAE WON LEE / ART STORE TEAM
“My job is making the unconventional possible — whether that means projecting your video piece inside a ceramic sculpture or displaying your VR project on an old-school black and white television.” DAEL MUNDY / STUDIO MANAGER , MEDIA ARTS
Students can check out equipment from the Media Stockroom, which houses over 7,000 items, ranging from entry-level to professional video, sound, and photography equipment. “As far as photographic processes go, there’s really no limit to what you can do here.” CHRIS MALIGA
C H R I S M A L I G A / S T U D I O M A N A G E R , P H O T O G R A P H Y “I do training one-on-one with students. They
can always email me or stop by my office and schedule an appointment if they want to learn a piece of equipment that we have in the stockroom or if they want access to one of our studio spaces that they didn’t necessarily get access to in their classroom. Sometimes students who work in other mediums, such as painting or sculpture, will run into situations where learning some basic photography skills can come in handy. For example, I often train students on how to photograph their artwork and create a digital archive. That’s a skill that someone who is taking photo classes might already be familiar with, but for someone who works in a completely different medium and doesn’t really use photography, it’s an important skill that they’ll want to pick up for their professional practice.”
“Students come to me with ambitious ideas all the time. Some people might think it would be easier to say no, but that really isn’t our style. Problem solving is fundamental to making good art.”
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A D A M “L E G S” C O W E L L
A D A M “L E G S” C O W E L L / S T U D I O M A N A G E R , W E L D I N G “I do lots and lots of training. Whether
that’s going to be how to work in the space safely or explaining some of the basic principles of engineering. I help students make their objects function as well as look nice. But my job is to train them on how to do it themselves. The Welding Studio is available to any student who wants to use it. Even if they just want to feel a little bit better about working with fire or working with electricity. It’s really empowering. For students who want to take the next steps, we can take on specialized projects. Like right now I’m working with a group of students to design and build a forge tailor-made for projects they have in mind and customizable for projects we haven’t even envisioned yet.”
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“Bring us your crazy ideas, your vague ideas, your lack of ideas — we’ll listen, we’ll talk, we’ll overwhelm you with resources that will deepen your research and help you make your best work.” ASHLEY PETERSON / RESEARCH & INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN
“The creative practice that I developed during my own study at SMFA has always dealt with emerging technologies, and it’s awesome to be able to share those thoughts and skills with the current student population. The Advanced Production Lab is definitely a meeting place for experimental fabrication techniques — from 3D-scanning for virtual reality to laser-engraving on sandwiches — we’re always up to something special around here.” SIMON REMISZEWSKI / APL MANAGER
Students enjoy 24-hour access to our Drawing and Painting studios.
“We’re all artists in the studio — just some of us have more experience.” John Schulz, Professor of the Practice, Printmaking. The printmaking studios cultivate an atelierstyle of instruction, meaning that undergraduates, graduates, and faculty rub shoulders, making their work in the same space and sharing their collective experience.
J U L I E P L AY L / S T U D I O M A N A G E R , P R I N T, PA P E R , A N D G R A P H I C A R T S “It’s fun to get students
who’ve taken a painting class last semester and a ceramics class the semester before and then show up in printmaking and are like ‘Cool, I want to learn printmaking.’ Students come in to ask questions or just to talk – my door is always open. I get all sorts of questions. I get process-based questions like ‘How do I do this?’ or ‘How do I clean this?’ or ‘How do I use this piece of equipment?’ Sometimes it’s just ‘Can you come look at my work and talk to me about this?’ and having a critique about their work in process, which is really great. I had a student recently who had questions about how to write a proposal for a grant. As an artist with a practice of my own, I’d been through that process many times. So, we sat down and talked about how you go through the proposal writing, and what she could do to make her work a little bit more clearly understandable to the grant committee. She ended up getting the grant! She just spent the last two weeks in Thailand, so that was amazing to be able to be a resource for her!”
“I don’t like having cabinets with things locked up more than I have to. I try to keep everything out and visible. Students aren’t going to ask me how to use something if they can’t see it.” APRIL FRANKLIN
A P R I L F R A N K L I N / S T U D I O M A N A G E R , M I S S I O N H I L L FA B R I C AT I O N S T U D I O “I always try to
make the space as welcoming and accessible as possible. Accessibility is huge. As studio managers we view ourselves as a team. We communicate about each studio’s strengths and we’re always exploring techniques that other studios might have. If a student is trying to construct a project in my studio but I think they’d have more success with welding, I call Adam Cowell, the studio manager down there. I’ll say, ‘Hey Adam, I’m sending this student down to you to talk about X, Y, and Z.’ We’re really focused on our students having as many resources as possible.”
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SUPPORT
GETTING
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As a student at SMFA, you’ll get the continuous support of a dedicated advisor to help craft your experience. With an encyclopedic knowledge of the school and its offerings, advisors help with course selection, to track degree requirements, and to make sure students have everything they need to thrive. In addition, you’ll receive crucial mentorship from seasoned faculty and staff who help students to push out of their creative comfort zones, encouraging students to refine skills, take risks, and make conceptual connections across mediums.
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“Community is everything for artists – it is how the work gets better, how artists get opportunities, and how a creative life can be possible.” ABIGAIL SATINSKY
Abigail Satinsky CURATOR, TUFTS UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES
What does mentorship mean for an artist? The way I think about mentorship is building community — it is vital for artists to build a network to enrich their practices in the long term by finding mentors who will challenge and support their work and to give that support to other emerging artists as well. Community is everything for artists — it is how the work gets better, how artists get opportunities, and how a creative life can be possible. How do you mentor students at SMFA? At the galleries, our goal is to provide a window into how contemporary artists are working today, by exhibiting a diverse array of practices and mediums, as well as inviting nationally and internationally recognized working artists to engage with the SMFA community through lectures, studio visits, and workshops. We make opportunities for students to find their mentors in the wider art world, which hopefully helps in figuring out how to continue their practices after leaving school. In my role, I create the space for those connections to happen. I share alternative and experimental models of exhibition-making and practice, both in classrooms and one-on-one, and work directly with students to demystify the back end of how exhibitions and programming works in the exhibitions office.
Tanya Crane
PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE, METALS
What does mentorship mean for an artist? Mentorship is guidance through a process — it’s about relating and problem solving. How do you mentor students at SMFA? Through ideation, I guide students through their thought process by pointing out the potential in metal. I’ll give them examples of artists who use metal and related materials to accomplish ideas within their range. I encourage students to set parameters for their projects. And finally, I encourage students to move beyond their initial solution to push their idea into a well-thought-out culmination of concept.
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“Our job is to help our students discover what interests them and to find what’s available at Tufts to help them soar as individuals who are committed to making a contribution to the world by doing work they believe in.” NANCY BAUER DEAN OF SMFA AT TUFTS
Leah Gadd
ASSOCIATE DEAN, UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING
Mentorship supports artists in growing and developing their individual practice by posing questions, providing guidance, and pushing the boundaries of the way they think and approach their studio practice. Mentorship provides a constructive and critical dialogue about the work within a larger cultural context, helping artists understand their own practice and location within contemporary art making and society at large. My personal approach to mentorship focuses on empowering students to feel confident in their own decision-making, encouraging students to take ownership and responsibility for the work they make and their role in the world. I am interested in helping each individual cultivate curiosity, risk-taking, and experimentation within all of their intellectual endeavors.
Michelle Samour
PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE, PRINT & PAPER
Mentoring is one of the core components of our teaching as it not only supports students as they navigate the school, but as they begin to think about how they can use the skills and experiences that they acquire, to build and sustain their own art practice. Because we are actively practicing artists, we can share our experiences with students and connect them with resources both inside and outside of the school. Additionally, our curriculum values and embraces interdisciplinarity, and this serves as a model for the interconnectivity that is required to maintain one’s own practice in the context of the larger world. Our high faculty to student ratio and nonhierarchical approach to teaching fosters an environment where we can work together as artists, thinkers, makers, and researchers, and where we, as faculty, can encourage and support the next generation of artists.
“Because we are actively practicing artists, we can share our experiences with students and connect them with resources both inside and outside of the school.” MICHELLE SAMOUR
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EXPANDING BEYOND
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You will evolve in complex ways during your time here. No matter which path you forge through your self-curated curriculum, you will meet artistic challenges, develop relationships with mentors, collaborate with other artists, and look beyond the scope of your work to see art in its broader context. Those possibilities are expanded upon by virtue of being part of Tufts University, where students gain access to a large array of academic disciplines. While this diversity is essential in helping you explore your intellectual passions, it also plants seeds for unexpected growth that will continue long after you have completed your studies.
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“I used the Montague Travel Grant for travel to South Wales where I interviewed ex-coal miners and explored the post-industrial landscape, a mirror project to one I had done in central Pennsylvania. My travels helped to ground my work and research in a broad historical context, and helped me to make connections between people and their stories, while also setting the foundation for a future residency in Wales.” SARAH JE NK I NS, MFA ’17
“Through Summer Scholars I was able to travel to Documenta 17 in Kassel, Germany, to study the correlation between politics and contemporary art. I worked hand-in-hand with a professor in the Visual and Critical Studies department developing my own terminology and assisting in his research. These experiences taught me new methods and skills while I went into depth with some of the themes that interest me most: how artists reflect the problem of helplessness in the face of a world full of products, the use of intervention in art to provoke action in the face of passivity, and the struggle of art for political relevance.”
O LI VI A C ARY E- HA L L ST E IN , B FA ’18
“Being granted a Traveling Fellowship allowed me to spend extensive time in Houston, Texas, to pursue my Mars on Earth project at Johnson Space Center. It was an extremely gratifying experience to be able to plan and execute my art-making the way I wanted while being able to worry a little less about finances. It also allowed me to accept an artist residency at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah, and participate in the NY Times Portfolio Review in New York City.” C ASSAND RA K LOS, B FA ’14
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Traveling Fellows
Summer Scholars
Since 1899, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts has awarded Traveling Fellowships to select alumni.
The Summer Scholars program funds rising juniors and seniors to pursue ten-week, independent research projects working closely with a faculty mentor. What’s your obsession? Early American political poetry? Traditional dance groups in South Africa? Trans-masculine and genderqueer midwives? Students take on subjects like these, exploring their interests through a body of research and studio work.
As one of the largest endowed art school grant programs in the country, the Traveling Fellowship has provided critical early career support for many notable SMFA graduates, including Cy Twombly, Nan Goldin, Mike and Doug Starn, Ellen Gallagher, and recent graduates such as Evelyn Rydz, Gonzalo Fuenmayor, and Daniela Rivera. Each year, SMFA awards ten Traveling Fellowships. Fellows receive up to $10,000 to pursue travel and research related to their art. In addition to this financial support, the fellowship has opened up significant exhibition opportunities for recipients, both at the school and at the Museum of Fine Arts. This year’s recipients will travel to locations including Greece, Ghana, China, South Korea, Hungary, India, Tibet Autonomous Region, Germany, Bangladesh, and Switzerland.
Awards, Grants, and Fellowships There are a number of opportunities available to SMFA at Tufts students designed to bring public recognition to their work, exhibition opportunities, and often provide significant funding to enlarge the scope of their practice. E XAMP LE S INCLU D E
Carolyn & Robert Springborn Fellowship Dana Pond Competition Dean’s Research Award Montague Travel Grant Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship Stella and Sumner Cooper Award Timothy F. Nichols Drawing Breath Award Will and Elena Barnet Painting Award Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography
The funding allows recipients to travel across the globe or retreat into their studios. Students share their findings at the Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium, an unparalleled platform for active academic dialogue among scholars for the past twenty years.
Career Services Ryan Smith, Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the Arts, helps students interested in careers and opportunities in the arts explore their options and tap into the vast resources of the Tufts Career Center. “I spend time specifically with SMFA at Tufts students to make sure they are accessing every resource and stay motivated in their search for everything from opportunities to get their work seen to finding internships and jobs. Working with faculty, staff, and alumni, I help students build bridges outside of the studio and campus. I coach them on talking about their practice, seeking opportunity, and being able to confidently engage with arts communities in Boston and beyond.” Ryan Smith Students are given the support to navigate online resources like Handshake, a career services tool for current students and alumni to find job listings, internships, employer profiles, and career events, while also receiving specialized guidance for aspiring artists and creative professionals on essentials like artist statements, portfolios, and websites. Internships are common and you’ll find our students in the studios of internationally known artists like Ai Wei Wei, Maya Lin, and Matthew Barney; at tech companies like Google and Apple; and gaining invaluable experience in galleries and museums across the country.
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UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
We trust the questions you’re asking and the way you approach your practice. We don’t want you to conform to one way of thinking or making art. We want you to be yourself. Our goal at SMFA is to deepen and broaden your unique artistic inquiry through a personalized program of study. That’s exactly what our BFA in Studio Art is designed to do. This flexible curriculum aids you in developing a rigorous set of skills to support your artistic practice and provides the tools, resources, and support to help you make work of impact.
STUDIO COURSES Freedom is the foundation at SMFA. Our open studio curriculum is entirely elective — allowing you to curate your courses based on your artistic inquiry. You will forge your personalized pathway through one-on-one mentorship and close academic advising while building your skills, pushing your ideas, and challenging your art practice — ultimately preparing you for a range of careers across contemporary art and emerging fields.
TWO CAMPUSES All students benefit from access to two distinct campuses, with the full range of community, academic, and resource offerings available. Our Medford/ Somerville campus is home to the School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering, while our Fenway campus is home to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts studios, classrooms, and workshops. With dedicated shuttle service between campuses, we make it easy. You can be in Medford one morning — taking a writing class with engineers, using the gym facilities, and contributing to the student newspaper. That afternoon, you can be at SMFA — collaborating with a classmate in the studio, practicing with the Skate/ Sculpture Club (they make sculptures you can grind on), then hopping the subway to SoWa Open Studios.
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Undergraduate Campuses with One Unique Experience
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Financial Need Met
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES COURSES Art practice is a vital part of society as a whole, and the work we produce isn’t done in a vacuum. For that reason, the BFA program combines intensive studio arts training with classes in liberal arts and sciences. In addition to your studio art curriculum, you’ll take courses that expose you to a range of academic offerings on both campuses. These courses — which may include classes like Arabic, Art & Anthropology, or Cosmology for the Curious — inform your understanding of the world in which you are making work.
FINANCIAL AID We are serious about making sure that all of our admitted students can afford a Tufts education. To remove the financial obstacles that often make higher education inaccessible, we are proud to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need, for all students, for their entire Tufts career. This means that we are able to build a learning community that is truly diverse — both culturally and economically.
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ADVISING Your first year at SMFA is full of newness. You’re acclimating to a new schedule, new city, new friends, and maybe even a new climate. We know it’s a big change, which is why we work to help you adapt and connect to the academic and support resources of both campuses. The Academic Advising team at SMFA at Tufts works in partnership with the faculty to support you throughout your studies. Advisors help you track degree requirements, assist with course selection, and connect you to the faculty and staff that are important to your development.
REVIEW BOARDS The Review Board is an essential aspect of the SMFA experience. It’s an opportunity to engage in extended discussion about your comprehensive body of work across studio and liberal arts disciplines with faculty and peers. Rather than looking at your work as a set of isolated pieces created in different classes, the Review Board considers your work as the product of a researchbased, creative process. It presents an invaluable moment to reflect on your progress and clarify goals for your next chapter.
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Student-to-Faculty Ratio
SENIOR THESIS In the final year of study, you have the option to apply to our Senior Thesis Program. Thesis students participate in a year-long trajectory of research, writing, art-making, and career-building centered around critical dialogue with peers, faculty, visiting artists, and arts professionals. This program acts as a capstone to the undergraduate experience, helping students to assess the progress they’ve made and clarify the directions they’ll take next. Students work closely with a dedicated set of Senior Thesis faculty towards a final public exhibition. Along the way they cultivate skills in the planning and development of ambitious projects, form durable bonds with their classmates, refine writing and professional presentation, all while honing their concept and craft. The professional practices developed during Senior Thesis serve as a platform for the development of an ongoing, independent art practice.
COMBINED DEGREE While all BFA students access liberal arts and sciences courses as a crucial component of their program, some students have future goals that require additional, dedicated study in one of our School of Arts and Sciences majors. This is where the 5-Year BFA + BA/BS Combined Degree Program comes in. If you’re a future mathematician who intends to use 3D forms as teaching models, a future diplomat who plans to immerse yourself in the arts community of Quito, or another combination that has yet to be imagined, the Combined Degree will give you a bespoke dual-degree program leading to both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree.
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UNDERGRADUATE WORK
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1. Tori Baisden, BFA ’17 / Lover / 3D Printed Resin Knuckle Ring, Lady Print Bomber Jacket, Wig, 2017 2. Minoo Emami, BFA ’ 19 / Memory #3 / Colored Pencil on Paper, 2016 3. Keith Robitaille, BFA ’ 19 / Mom / Platinum Palladium Print, 2017 4. Chloe Bustin, BFA ’ 18 / Self Illusion / Mixed Media Installation, 2018
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UNDERGRADUATE WORK
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1. Nicolas Papa, BFA ’18 / Motel Papa / Installation, 2018 2. Lily Oliver, BFA ’ 21 / Thomas Pond in the Rain / Digital Photography, 2016 3. Ellie LaCourt, BFA ’18 / Maintain Yourself / Stop-motion Animation, 2018 4. Renee Coppola, BFA ’ 18 / Fruiting Body / Fabric Sculpture, Animation, 2018 5. Salvadora McCaffrey, BFA ’18 / Black History / Sticker, 2018 6. Cleo Miao, BFA ’18 / Simulation / Mixed Media Installation, 2018
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UNDERGRADUATE WORK
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1. Beckett Reed, BFA ’21 / Untitled / Digital Illustration, 2017 2. Tyler Villa, BFA ’18 / Pink Broken Target / Mixed Media, 2018 3. Quinn Guarino, BFA ’ 18 / Me painting something big 15 years from now / Graphite on Paper, 2018 4. Liz Maelane, BFA ’ 20 / It. And. She. / Performance, 2017 5. Olimpia Saxe-Coburg, BFA ’19 / Cement Ring / Cement, Bronze Casting Grain, 2016 6. Max Nagel, BFA ’ 18 / The Newbury Street Inn II / Inkjet Print on Aluminum, 2017
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FINDINGS FROM NICOLAS PAPA
“It was important to me that whatever program I found myself in I would have a lot of freedom. I valued the freedom to work in any material I wanted and craft an individualized curriculum that would support my interests.”
Before Nicolas Papa enrolled in the SMFA program, he wasn’t even certain that going to an art school was the right path for him. But being in what was still an exploratory stage with his art, the promise of an open curriculum and the opportunity to learn and work across mediums and subject matters were what convinced him it would be a good fit.
“My first year was just a work explosion as I jumped into this new environment and was producing and producing and producing. I created more work my first year than I ever had before.�
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“My second year was about mixing things up. I primarily took painting and drawing my first year, so in my second I really branched out.”
FIRST YEAR
SECOND YEAR
“I got here and was overwhelmed and terrified at first. I hadn’t really confronted any critique or lecture environment before, or learned in a museum— everything was very fresh, very new for me, which was exciting, but also a shock to the system in the best way! I took a class with Ethan Murrow who helped me think about my process, form analogies between painting and language, and build a narrative with my work. He really shifted the way I was thinking about my art.”
“In my sophomore year, I had a studio space of my own for the first time which was really pivotal to my entire practice. I also applied for the Intermediate Studio seminar and got in! I was the youngest student in the class and I very much wanted to prove that I could hold my own. We pushed boundaries in there and I credit that class for teaching me to think about how my work was being seen by the viewer.”
CLASSES
CLASSES
Intermediate Observational Drawing / Figuremania / Sculpture 1 / English 1: Difference Visible / Technology & Painting / History of Photography Through Ideas / Figure Painting / Portrait Painting: Subject and Subjectivity / Aquamania / English 2: Monstrous (Con)Texts
Intermediate Studio Practice / Book of Genesis and Modern Interpretations / Wear We Are / American Art and Visual Culture / Down, Dirty & Dimensional / The Films of Alfred Hitchcock / Sonic Forms / Creative Writing: Fiction
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“I slowed down and really focused on my process in my third year, and pulled a lot of inspiration from my professors.”
THIRD YEAR
“I had some really great teachers my junior year. Patte Loper, who taught my Observational Painting class, helped me take a step back and slowed me down in a good way. Angelina Gualdoni, my Intermediate Projects teacher, had a really great intuition that comes from years of knowing how to read paintings which I admire so much. And I took a film course with Jane Gillooly which got me thinking about time-based mediums when I’d been feeling pretty static in what my paintings were accomplishing.” CLASSES Art & Aesthetics / Classical Mythology / Film 1: Visions and Construction / Observational Painting / Ropes & Rocks / Advanced Painting: Painting Space / Photo 1 / Intermediate Projects / Journey of the Hero / Human Nutrition
“My thesis has been a conduit for all the things I’m interested in to come through without feeling like any one has to be compromised or sacrificed.” FOURTH YEAR
“It can be tricky sometimes being a student and creator at the same time, but I really found a balance in my fourth year. Classes like Music and Literature and Audio Visual Imagination helped set my thesis in motion in a way that I didn’t expect. I’m doing an installation. I love this format of being able to control the whole environment and making the experience of viewing tangible and activated in different ways other than just canvases on a wall. The installation itself has been a way for me to talk about things that conceptually matter to me but also art format-wise that I’ve always wanted to try. My paintings have a place in this. My music has a place in this. I’ve worked on music throughout my student career but haven’t really made it a part of a lot of my pieces. The installation has a piece in it. It’s been a good kind of conduit for all those things that I’m interested in to come through without feeling like any one has to be compromised or sacrificed.” CLASSES The Audio-Visual Imagination / Music and Literature in American Culture / Oral and Visual Storytelling / Senior Thesis / Medieval Art in the Mediterranean: Pagans, Jews, Christians, Muslims / Type as Image / Advanced Drawing Seminar: Drawing Now / Arte Povera and Post-WWII Sculpture
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FINDINGS FROM
Alicia Rodriguez Alvisa B FA ’ 1 8
“For me concept always comes first, and then the medium is what shapes and translates it into a physical form.”
Untitled from the series Pulling
Alicia Rodriguez Alvisa came to SMFA with a distinct purpose: to build a practice and body of work conceptually focused on identity and femininity, with photography as her primary medium. “My main focus was to learn as much as I could about photography, technically and conceptually,” she adds. But her professors and coursework at SMFA would nudge her toward new mediums and broaden her artistic perspective. “Finding performance and video afforded me and my work a new kind of freedom,” she says.
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“My first year I was focused on taking mostly photo classes and using them as a way to explore the female identity with hair as my motif.”
FIRST YEAR
“The photo classes I took in my first year were both very technical and also conceptual: they allowed me to translate my ideas into the medium and work on writing about my projects as well. I also took a class on art and philosophy during my first-year that really pushed me to start thinking about how to incorporate more theory into my work. It was a year of discovery and learning how to connect more with my work.” CLASSES Photo 1 / The Graphic Arts Toolbox / English 1: Writing and Research / Photo 2 / Making a Picture Instead of Taking One / English 2: Monstrous (Con)Texts
“Pulling is a series that depicts women as a strong and powerful center. It represents women as a monument, breaking away from how we perceive the female body. Drifting from the sensual and sexualized femme fatale, I explore through the body concepts of strength and power. The hair symbolizes the physical vigor and virility within the action of pulling. Inner and outer forces that are constantly dragging them, but make them stay firm. It is a body of work that offers landscapes as bodyscapes and bodyscapes as landscapes, a journey in which the concepts progress from one frame to another. An unsexualized depiction, that gives importance to a woman’s cycle of growth, knowledge, strength, and struggle.”
“I used my second year as a time to explore other mediums besides photography and dig further into the idea of identity as a theme.” SECOND YEAR
CLASSES
“When I started at SMFA, identity was a very broad term for me. I came here as an international student from Cuba, a country where race was not a big topic. I soon realized that in America I’m considered a person of color and that’s something that I hadn’t internalized. By my second year I felt ready to start researching and learning more about it so I could eventually bring it into my work. I also used my second year to delve into other mediums like performance and video.”
Large Format Photography / Special Topics / Papermaking: Reconfiguring the Natural and Manmade / Beginning Performance / The Films of Alfred Hitchcock / History of Photography Through Ideas / Digital Modeling
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“My third year was about finding a good balance between photo, my main medium, and classes I was less comfortable with, like performance and video.” THIRD YEAR
FOURTH YEAR
“For me it was very important to keep taking photo every year so I was continually producing a body of work that I was proud of. I always took photo the most seriously, and then I would allow myself to go a bit crazier and be freer with my concepts in my other classes. I learned in my third year the benefit of not being so controlling with my work. I ended up producing a photo series about being split between two cultures that won the Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography and videos about struggling to discover new parts of my identity which earned me the Carolyn & Robert Springborn Fellowship.”
“My feminism classes really opened my eyes about what it is to be a woman and person of color in the U.S. I used the readings from my classes to develop a more cohesive body of work and my thesis.”
CLASSES Photo 3 / Contemporary Art: The Prequel / Exhibition of Performance / Special Topics / Advanced Seminar: The Portrait / Video 2
CLASSES Feminism / Moving Image - Media Arts / Senior Thesis / Contemporary Art: The Present / Understanding the Art World
“At the beginning, I said I’m only going to do photography, but being at SMFA helped me realize that there were other mediums like performance and dance that I could use as tools in my work.”
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Marnae Rathke, MFA ’18 / Light Hex / Video Still, 2017
63 GRADUATE PROGRAMS
As a graduate student at SMFA at Tufts, you’ll join a community of working artists engaged in interdisciplinary research to create boundary and medium-pushing work designed to shape the contemporary, global art world. Our community helps you to formalize your practice and form the professional network that will shape your path for decades to come. This education affords you a critical understanding of your work and its relationship to the world. The MFA and Post-Baccalaureate programs provide the support, intellectual rigor, and advanced interdisciplinary competencies to launch your career in the visual arts.
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MFA PROGRAM The Master of Fine Arts program at SMFA is a rigorous, interdisciplinary program rooted in contemporary art. Our students are committed to producing bodies of research through art-making, supported by a professional community of global artists and scholars. COURSEWORK
STUDIO PRACTICE
Our curriculum integrates studio practice with seminars and colloquia that explore relevant ideas in the visual arts, cultural theory, and practical and critical skills across diverse mediums. The program encourages students to hone their practice through both individual development and creative collaborations. This personalized curriculum, developed in concert with faculty across disciplines, pushes you to foster an independent art practice that is informed by research and advanced through access to the studio spaces and resources of the entire university.
Your studio practice is developed by rigorously pursuing the implications of your work, often across studio disciplines and bodies of knowledge. You will deepen and expand your practice through refinement of skills and exploration of the demands of your vision. You’ll work closely with staff and faculty as you take risks and watch your practice grow.
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Evan Blackwell, MFA ’ 18 / (Re)creation Of / Mixed Media Installation (detail), 2018
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1. Elly Stormer-Vadseth, MFA ’18 / Ecology of Fallen Leaves / Video Still, 2017 2. Elly Stormer-Vadseth, MFA ’18 / Shapeshifting Grass / Video Still, 2017 3. Elly Stormer-Vadseth, MFA ’18 / Shapeshifting Hay / Video Still, 2017
67 SEMINARS
CRITIQUES
In addition to your studio classes, you’ll take seminars that explore and analyze a range of subjects in contemporary art. These intimate, discussion-based classes will help you to articulate through speaking, writing, research, and presentation. These conversations will dispute histories and imagine new political futures; they will galvanize connections while building rapport with peers and enhancing your leadership skills.
Critiques are a central element of your development as an MFA student. The discussions you’ll have during your two years here — with faculty, with fellow students, with visiting artists and curators — will be a driving force in the transformation of your practice and forging of your voice. Informal exchanges, such as faculty studio visits, and formal critiques, like Review Boards, serve as checkpoints to assess progress and provide opportunities for further discourse about your practice.
MENTORSHIP
MISSION HILL COMMUNITY
In addition to your faculty advisor and academic advisor, the range of informal mentorship opportunities is abundant. This may come in the form of critiques with faculty members outside of the graduate faculty cohort, studio managers who are helping you learn specific tools and methods, or curatorial staff helping you prepare for the Thesis Exhibition. Your peers and faculty members, as well as the entire SMFA community, are there to help instruct, influence, and collaborate in the development of your professional practice.
The Mission Hill Building is a dedicated space for individual studios and graduate community development. You’ll have access to fabrication, classroom, and exhibition spaces, and participate in workshops and open studios — all while finding community through material investigation, shared research, critique, and conversation. You’ll build a network of friends, colleagues, and risk-takers — artists of the world.
THESIS & EXHIBITION
The MFA graduate program culminates in your Thesis Exhibition. This is an opportunity to apply theory and method in a project, formulating a question and developing a potential answer. You’ll explore the broader implications of your practice through aesthetic, social, political, economic, and scientific considerations. At SMFA, a thesis is never a definite conclusion, but a moment within your artistic development that demonstrates your ability to continue your work outside the confines of the institution. Your thesis will also include a written component — reporting on your research, process, and intention as they inform your practice — as well as a thesis defense during which you’ll present before your Thesis Committee comprised of two graduate faculty advisors and an arts professional drawn from outside the SMFA community. The final exhibition propels graduates into the contemporary art community and launches their professional career as artists.
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RO UN D TABLE DISCU SSI ON
We sat down with the Director of Graduate Studies, Jeannie Simms, and MFA students Jamie Kay and Kimberly Barnes for a discussion on contemporary art practice through the lens of their experiences at SMFA. They touch on the role of mediums as tools, personal questions they explore in their work, and provide firsthand insights and advice for artists interested in exploring SMFA.
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Jeannie Simms Director of Graduate Studies / Professor of the Practice, Photography
What role does the artist play in contemporary society?
Jamie Kay MFA ’18
KIMBERLY: Artists focus on what is relevant in people’s lives. I think the term relevant is an interesting one, because it implies cognition. When something’s not relevant, you edit it out. But when it is, it sticks in your mind, changes the way you think. Trying to find the relevance of how your work relates is one of the tricks of our trade. JAMIE: Causing a change in thinking. Oscar Wilde said that artists have a way of selling a fantasy to the world. And seeing is such a big part of our culture that it is often a stand-in for thinking. So one of the roles of the artist is to help people see, or think about the world, from new vantage points, or perspectives.
Kimberly Barnes MFA ’18
JEANNIE: I think artists can help us imagine a different political future, a different economic future, and a different spiritual future. We can do that in ways that are very abstract, much like science, and kind of on the edges of our ability to understand or know them.
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Do mediums play a role? How do you view the term “interdisciplinary”?
I think artists can help us imagine a different political future, a different economic future, a different spiritual future. JEANNIE SIMMS
How does SMFA prepare students to think conceptually? JAMIE: SMFA helps develop the conceptual thinking behind a student’s art. You’re not just throwing stuff together and saying it’s art, but rather you have an intention and a plan to support an idea. This happens through oneon-one studio visits with amazing faculty. You end up finding the right chemistry with the right faculty members, and they become your thinking-partners. Together you test out your ideas and experiment. And then you create a piece of artwork, viewing it from as many perspectives as possible. JEANNIE: Seminars are definitely where students learn this. It’s a space to have conversations about the politics of the internet, to talk about colonialism, to talk about reframed history, to look at critical race theory, look at law, and even economics, or economic theory. I think that’s one of the things that is the most powerful, and one of the most informative aspects of the program.
KIMBERLY: It’s more about how we use mediums. For example, using mediums to tackle certain challenges and ideas within certain concepts or within our society. For me, interdisciplinary means there are no limits to what we make, how we make, how we talk about our work, and what we talk about through that work. I wanted to go to a school like SMFA that was about everyone coming together and learning from each other. JAMIE: Really, it’s not so much about the medium as it is about the idea, and then finding the right mediums to support that idea. For me, mediums include practically anything — solar panels, wind generators. I have a piece with copper pipe. Anything can be medium to me. It also refers to the cross pollination of academic disciplines — psychology, sociology, anthropology, ecology. These are the things I want to study and bring together in an interdisciplinary way. It gives you a different perspective, a different way of navigating and communicating. JEANNIE: I consider myself an artist, and I use certain tools. I use a lot of photography and moving image. But my subjects are migration, language, labor, etc. I encourage students to locate their subject matter. I think we have so many tools at our disposal now, and so many ways of learning. Artists can use any tools in order to embolden and give power to their subject matter. JAMIE: One of my favorite things to witness is a painter picking up video for the first time. The paintings bleed into the video. The video has a painting aesthetic to it. You could see what they did before in their new medium. The same is true across academic disciplines. If someone was an engineer before, and then they pick up art, the two blend together. I always enjoy seeing that pattern.
Jamie Kay, MFA ’18 / Solarium / Mixed Media Installation, 2018
Anything can be medium to me. It also refers to the cross pollination of academic disciplines — psychology, sociology, anthropology, ecology. These are the things I want to study and bring together in an interdisciplinary way. JAMIE KAY
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The Montague Travel Grant was the best way to open up my perspective. That was my first time traveling internationally, too. KIMBERLY BARNES
Kimberly Barnes, MFA ’ 18 / Estrangement (Can You Tell Me What’s Real?) / Video Stills, 2017
What questions does your practice explore? KIMBERLY: Through my practice I discuss Black identity. I often explore hair, because I realize people outside of the Black community don’t understand. I explain the anxiety I get when I don’t have hair extensions. That anxiety and that fear are real for me, and it’s real for women of other minorities. It’s not imaginary just because someone else doesn’t experience it. So I think that’s how my work evolved from starting SMFA to now graduating.
I had the idea of making a video piece as a Black woman. The aim of which is to call attention to what people perceive me to look like with my hair, first with extensions, and then when I take the extensions out. When I have an afro it’s perceived as negative, masculine; people don’t approach me or people are afraid to talk to me. When I have the hair extensions, they’re longer and they’re feminine, and perceived as appealing. The way I’m being perceived isn’t who I actually am. It’s just based off how I have my hairstyle. I wanted to show that battle with myself, with how I present myself. JAMIE: My themes are civic duties and rights, ecology, media, and literary theory. I work with water, wind, and piping. Copper is a material theme that I’m trying to incorporate through all of my work because copper connects the entire world. Copper is the electricity; it is the communications. I’m trying to incorporate plumbing because I think plumbing is a metaphor for the flowing of information and media and the art itself. It’s communication.
How have your studies at SMFA surprised you or opened you up to new ideas and explorations in your work? KIMBERLY: The Montague Travel Grant was the best way to open up my perspective. That was my first time traveling internationally, too. I wanted to go somewhere that was primarily Black, and see how they look at hair, and see how it relates to America, and vice versa. I would have never been able to afford to travel internationally.
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Your proposal was strong because it was expanding vastly, looking at hair in an American context to looking at it as an international or diasporic conversation. That enabled you to do and see something you might not have dared yourself to do prior. JEANNIE:
KIMBERLY: I wanted to go to Nairobi. I was interested because I use hair in my work, and I read an article recently that said people in the community would collect hair extensions. They would wash them, and recycle them, and sell them, or use them for their own beauty salons. I was wondering what was it about hair? Also, at that moment, I learned that the natural hair movement in Nairobi, and Kenya at large, was sort of mirroring America. Everyone was starting to wear their natural hair again. I just thought what about that is relevant? Why is it that important to live in a slum, and then still recycle hair, and what is it about, not just beauty, but what is it about appearance and keeping up that personal self ?
What insights or advice would you give potential SMFA grad students? Why choose SMFA over another program? JAMIE: The resources are great at SMFA. The classes are diverse and cover many mediums. The population is diverse and very international. And there is a lot of diversity in the way people work and think. It’s highly encouraged to be interdisciplinary and leverage the synergy and creative possibilities that come from that type of practice. Furthermore, the school has some of the best teachers I’ve ever come across in my entire life. Every student finds a faculty member that is a mentor who helps guide their practice.
It also requires that you be self-motivated. The program gives you only so much structure, so you learn to develop your own structure as you move on into the real world, which is a big, scary place and you won’t have assignments guiding your practice. You will be creating your own questions. KIMBERLY: I would say it’s okay to not know what you’re doing. Give yourself a break. Don’t be afraid to challenge professors, peers, or yourself. Make friends. The best thing about grad school is the community you build with your cohort. Talk to people.
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POST-BACCAL AUREATE Are you a ceramicist who’d like to develop your painting skills? A recent undergrad looking to plunge into critical theory in preparation for graduate study? A scientist committed to art and looking to build a professional studio practice? Whether you have recently completed your bachelor’s degree or you’re preparing for a career pivot, the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate offers an immersive studio experience. The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate is a one-year program that offers intensive studio work supported by professional development through seminars, studio visits, and guest curators and artists. Students receive individualized attention through the close advising and mentorship of the Post-Baccalaureate faculty. Whether your undergraduate degree is in Economics, English, or Fine Arts, you’ll be joining a community dedicated to studio art practice and invested in pursuing their next professional steps. COURSEWORK
MISSION HILL COMMUNITY
As a Post-Baccalaureate student, you’ll have access to studio art classes that can be chosen from across the SMFA curriculum. Each semester will culminate in a Review Board — an opportunity to engage in extended discussion about your work with faculty and peers. In addition to your studio and seminar studies, you’ll take advantage of resources in our art history department to provide theoretical and historical context to your practice.
Post-Baccalaureate students are given an individual studio in our Mission Hill building where they ’ll join a dynamic group of Post-Baccalaureate and Master of Fine Arts candidates. More than just a space to make your work, your studio is a place to explore community and build the relationships that will carry you through the program and your career.
P O S T- B A C C A L A U R E A T E S E M I N A R A N D C O N S U LT A T I O N
In the Seminar you’ll cultivate professional skills while surveying the landscape of contemporary practice. Through presentations by visiting artists, faculty, and fellow students, you’ll explore professional options, hone presentation skills, and clarify direction. You’ll engage in grant writing, residency applications, and curatorial opportunities, while building a professional network with gallerists and working artists. In addition, the Consultation provides a weekly studio visit during which you’ll receive feedback and support for your developing studio practice.
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GRADUATE WORK
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1. Kristen Powell, MFA ’ 18 / Shadow Workers / On-site Projection Printed as Archival Pigment Print, 2017 2. Ariel Baez, MFA ’18 / Letter to Law Enforcement Using Twitter / Video (screen capture), 2017 3. Ariel Baez, MFA ’18 / Show Your I.D. / Video Performance, 2018
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4. Mingxin Cynthia Zhang, MFA ’18 / The Missing Daughters 1 / Inkjet Print on Silk, 2018 5. Clara Kim, Post-Bac ’18 / Curtain Call / Printed Chiffon, Wood Frame, LED Light, 2018 6. Teddy Benfield, MFA ’18 / Untitled (New England Fishery Paper Studies/Vanitas) / Archival Inkjet Print: Handmade Paper, Acrylic Paint, House Paint, Ink, China Marker, Found Objects, 2018 7. Ziwei Li, MFA ’18 / Untitled-3 / Polylactic Acid, 2017
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GRADUATE WORK
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1. Jacob Schaub, MFA ’18 / Everything Must Go / Digital Collage, 2018 2. Sofia Plater, MFA ’18 / Tilting Totems / Cement, Resin, Hot Glue, Silicone, Wood, Glass, Metal, Internal LED Lights, 2018 3. Olivia Sherman, Post-Bac ’18 / Spring Break with the Hot Dog Eaters / Oil, Collage, and Oil Pastel on Canvas, 2018 4. Sofia Plater, MFA ’18 / Cement 1 / Mixed Media, 2017
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5. Samual Belisle, MFA ’ 18 / Life is Beautiful / Oil on Cardboard, 2017 6. Samual Belisle, MFA ’18 / Family Van / Oil on Cardboard, 2018 7. Alyssa Pomfrey, MFA ’18 / It is what I say it is / Chair, Cinder Block, Boxing Hand Wraps, Weight Plates, 2018
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GRADUATE WORK
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1. Katie Lee Mansfield, MFA ’18 / Farm Stories / Performance, 2018 2. Eli Brown, MFA ’ 18 / No / Video Still, 2018 3. Eli Brown, MFA ’ 18 / Thesis Exhibition Installation / Driftwood, Bass Wood, Fungal Mycelium, Flax Substrate, Glass, 2018 4. Ardea Thurston-Shaine, MFA ’ 18 / Surface / Oil on Wood Panel, 2018 5. Soojin Kim, MFA ’18 / Memorial No. 8 (Sugar Time) / Installation of American Sweets, 2018 6. Soojin Kim, MFA ’18 / Cracked Oreo No. 50 / Conte Crayon on Paper, 2016
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LIFE AT SMFA
We’re a tight-knit community at SMFA. Whether you’re having a coffee in the atrium between classes, making work in the animation studio, or attending the opening of an exhibit, you’ll be surrounded by people who know your name. For many of you, this will be the first time that you’re part of an artistic community. Honestly, it’s awesome. The experimental, inclusive spirit you and your peers build in the studio touches every aspect of your life at SMFA. And there is always something spontaneous and unexpected happening (read, conga line through the dean’s office).
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↓ Thrifting in Allston
You’ve got to look good at art school!
WE’VE ACQUIRED A CENTRAL HUB, SO WHEN THE VIRUSES, DULLAHANS, SHINIGAMI, HOMUNCULI, WITCHES, HOLLOWS, AND KILLER MECHAS ALL TRY TO DESTROY HUMANITY, YOU HAVE AN OFFICIAL PLACE TO HIDE.
↓ Horror Club*
Scary movies, scary stories, scary places. Halloween 24/7.
↓ Biking Club*
Boston has a great bike community – there’s a path than runs for miles along the Esplanade on the Charles River. * Indicates Tufts club
I TOOK MY MOTHER ONE YEAR AND LEARNED SHE’S ALLERGIC TO LILACS. ↑ Arnold Arboretum Lilac Festival
↓ Science Fiction and Fantasy Society *
A HAVEN FOR ALL NERDS ON CAMPUS WHO JUST WANT TO HANG OUT WITH OTHER NERDS AND EAT FOOD AND COSPLAY AND STUFF.
BECAUSE IT’S WHERE ALL THE COOL KIDS HANG OUT AND I LIKE TO PRETEND TO BE A COOL KID. ↑ Pavement Coffeehouse ↓ Tasty Burger
on breaks from the studio. ↓ George’s Island
IT HAS AN OLD CIVIL WAR FORT THAT’S HAUNTED BY THE LADY IN BLACK.
“I studied architectural design before I came here. Now I make installations – it’s all about space.” ↑ Si Chen,
MFA ’18
I actually touched a Goya print! ↑ Secret rooms in the MFA like the Morse Study Room * Indicates Tufts club
Weird stuff in jars, taxidermied animals, and the glass flower collection all make great subjects for drawing. ↑ Museum of Natural History
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↓ Library Sounds*
Are you compelled to make noise in the library? Come see a balloonplaying virtuoso or a Dutch sound-poet or someone stuff a bunch of contact mics in their mouth and gargle.
Suspiria on 35mm! ↓ Midnight Movies at Coolidge Corner
↓ El Pelon Taqueria
Their fish tacos are on-point.
“This summer I watched 75 films.” ↑ Keith Robitaille, BFA ’19 ↓ Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum ↓
ITS CENTRAL GARDEN IS A QUICK URBAN ESCAPE – IT FEELS LIKE I’M IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT ERA.
We make sculptures. Then skateboard on them. Get in on it before they figure out what we’re up to.
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↑ Skate/Sculpture Club*
Their boba have the perfect consistency. ↑ Tea-Do Teahouse
↓ Katie Lee Mansfield, MFA ’ 18 →
“LAST SEMESTER I APPLIED TO TONS AND TONS OF GRANTS AND I GOT TWO. ONE TO GO TO THE GAY RODEO IN ARIZONA AND ONE TO GO TO TOKYO AND RESEARCH AMERICAN COWBOY CULTURE THERE. THAT WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED IF I DIDN’T GO HERE.”
A wonderful hour of serenity — a weekly de-stresser for when project deadlines loom. ↑ Yoga Club*
M I L E S . O F. B O O K S . ↑ Brattle Book Store
* Indicates Tufts club
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“My name is Dill but I hate cucumber.” ↑ Dill Ma, BFA
’ 19
→
I once saw the peacocks escape and walk across the street to a dance studio. ↑ Franklin Park Zoo
Because I’m a public park nerd. ↑ The Fens
↓ China Pearl in Chinatown
I had a roommate from Ethiopia and a roommate from India and we’d go looking for the most authentic Indian and Ethiopian food - somehow we ended up picking a dim sum restaurant WE TRY TO GET OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY as our favorite though.
I’m from Kansas City and even I like the burnt ends there. ↑ Blue Ribbon Barbeque
AND WORK WITH HIGH SCHOOL KIDS AROUND THE CITY SOMETIMES COLLABORATING ON ART EXHIBITIONS IN THEIR SCHOOLS. ↑ Students of Color Club *
CATS → FIND OUT WHO OWNS A CAT – BECOME FRIENDS WITH THEM – GO TO THEIR HOUSE TO SPEND TIME WITH THE CAT.
“I came from an art high school in Miami so I had been doing art 4 years before. I started as a sculptor, then a painter, then realized I was better at printmaking and am now studying to be an art conservator. I would have never been able to figure that out in another program.” ← Khadine Caines, BFA ’19 ↑
vegan jackfruit tacos! ↑ Taco Party Food Truck
As far as legal techno goes in the city – it’s the spot. ↑ Elk’s Lodge ↓ The Black Market
A GREAT INTRODUCTION TO BOSTON’S UNDERGROUND ARTS COMMUNITY WHETHER YOU’RE SELLING YOUR OWN STUFF OR CHECKING OUT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS UP TO. * Indicates Tufts club
My karaoke showstoppers are Roxanne and Billie Jean. ↑ Hanging out with my Photo Squad
↓ Outdoor Club *
ARTISTS IN NATURE – HIKING, KAYAKING, AND EXPLORING ALL THE NATURE TO BE FOUND IN AND AROUND THE CITY.
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↓ Somerville Theater
YOU CAN BRING A PIZZA IN WITH YOU.
An SMFA prom for students who want a do-over, or a firstcrack at going to prom – dj’s, drag, performance art, dancing, and free food. ↑ SPROM * ↓ Salem
THERE’S A WITCH MUSEUM WITH ANIMATRONIC WITCHES – NEED I SAY MORE?
↓ Rock Climbing Club*
falling doesn’t equal failure! ↓ Riding the Buses
I just like to take a random bus to the end of the line to see what’s there. “I MET THE BEST TEACHERS HERE - THEY REALLY CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK.” ← Cynae, BFA ’ 18 ↑
↓ Super 88 Food Court in Allston Best pho in Boston — and if you smile at the lady who runs it, she’ll give you extra basil.
↓ Eco Reps *
WE WORK ON A LOT OF THINGS LIKE REUSABLE UTENSILS FOR ALLSCHOOL LUNCHES AND ESTABLISHING AN ART-SUPPLY SWAPPING SYSTEM TO REDUCE ART-MATERIAL WASTE.
↓ DIY Music Scene
A GREAT WAY TO SEE PEOPLE FIGURING OUT THEIR ACT OR TO FIGURE YOUR OWN OUT.
a great vinyl collection and a great basement venue ↓ Deep Thoughts JP
* Indicates Tufts club
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SMFA at Tufts is located between the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the Avenue of the Arts neighborhood – a thriving community of students and art-world professionals. It’s a perfect place to explore the richness of Boston’s art collections (there are 56 museums in the city!) and to make connections with scholars, artists, and art world insiders from across the globe.
↓ Life in Boston
Boston is a thriving center of arts, history, and innovation. Home to over 80 colleges and universities, our city is truly a hub of culture and learning, offering countless opportunities for collaboration, investigation, and fun!
Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most creative cities in the country, an international center of education, and a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. Whether you’re attending a First Friday celebration in one of our many arts districts, or interning at one of the startups in our Seaport Innovation District, you’ll feel the same groundbreaking energy that draws tech and design firms, gallerists and researchers, writers and filmmakers to our city. And whether you want to fill your evenings with art openings, live music, restaurants, nightclubs, symphonies, theater, sports, coffeehouses, or an escape to the beaches and mountains right outside of the city limits, it’s as easy as hopping on the T, Boston’s public transportation system.
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FUTURES AT SMFA
Rapid technological advances and seismic cultural shifts mean professional trajectories look different for today’s graduates. Succeeding in this new landscape will require imagination, creativity, strategic thinking, and adaptability. During your tenure at SMFA you’ll be developing those exact skill sets while working across mediums and subject matters, designing a personalized curriculum of your own imagining, and strategizing new ways of exploring your creative questions. You’ll complete your degree with a diverse and developed set of competencies that will prepare you for whatever comes next.
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NOTABLE ALUMNI
E D M U N D TA R B E L L
ALEX GREY
F R A N K W. B E N S O N
L A U R E L N A K A DAT E
K AT H A R I N E L A N E W E E M S
J E D E D I A H CA E S A R
LOÏS MAILOU JONES
R I D L E Y H O WA R D
W I L L B A R N ET
JUSTIN LIEBERMAN
ALLAN ROHAN CRITE
CHEYNEY THOMPSON
R I C H A R D S CA R RY
R A C H E L P E R RY
M A R I E C O S I N DA S
H O L LY C O U L I S
E L L S WO RT H K E L LY
SHINIQUE SMITH
C Y T W O M B LY
L A L L A E S S AY D I
L O I S TA R L O W
N E ETA M A DA H A R
JIM DINE
KRISTEN DODGE
SUSAN HOWE
LESLIE HALL
J OA N J O N A S
DAW I T L . P ET R O S
L A R RY P O O N S
GEORGIE FRIEDMAN
DAV I D LY N C H
COBI MOULES
JA N B R ET T
G O N Z A L O F U E N M AYO R
P H I L I P- L O R CA D I C O R C I A
DA N I E L R I C H
SHELLBURNE THURBER
E V E LY N RY D Z
NAN GOLDIN
LIZ PRINCE
DAV I D A R M S T R O N G
C U L L E N WA S H I N G T O N J R
MARK MORRISROE
V I CT O R “ M A R K A 2 7 ” Q U I Ñ O N E Z
M I K E A N D D O U G S TA R N
JOO LEE KANG
ELLEN GALLAGHER
J UA N T R AV I E S O
TODD HIDO
THOM SOLO
BORU O’BRIEN O’CONNELL
COORAIN DEVIN
SHEILA PEPE
TA M A R A A L - M A S H O U K
O M E R FA S T
DA N I E L B A R R ET O
EILEEN QUINLAN
S A FA R A N I S I S T E R S
KRISTIN BAKER
M A R I N A P I N S KY
I am excited by the balance between design and fine art worlds in my work—that I am maintaining a career in multiple fields with success. MO L LY H AT CH
Molly Hatch BFA C LA S S OF ’0 0 S TUD IO A RTI ST
H O W D I D S M FA H E L P P R E PA R E Y O U F O R T H E J O B Y O U H AV E T O D AY ?
The SMFA program supported my development of an independent studio practice. The habitual need to get to the studio developed during my studies at SMFA—learning to figure out what got me excited to make, what kept me coming to the studio every day absolutely came out of the freedom to explore any medium I wanted to and the self-driven nature of the SMFA curriculum. W H AT D I D Y O U E N J O Y O R VA L U E M O S T A B O U T Y O U R S M FA E D U C AT I O N ?
The strong focus on academics and studio art has been undeniably valuable in my career and was also one of the major attractions to SMFA and Tufts. The rigorous academic and studio art courses helped to pave the way for my career working with historic and contemporary themes and to feel prepared to make and to write about making. W H AT A R E Y O U W O R K I N G O N I N Y O U R C U R R E N T R O L E T H AT E X C I T E S Y O U ?
I am excited by the balance between design and fine art worlds in my work—that I am maintaining a career in multiple fields with success. I can’t wait to see how I sustain the work!
Taliaferro Jones
Todd Hido
CULTURAL CONSULTANT & STUDIO ARTIST
STU DI O ARTI ST
H O W D I D S M FA H E L P P R E PA R E Y O U F O R T H E J O B Y O U H AV E T O D AY ?
H O W D I D S M FA H E L P P R E PA R E Y O U F O R T H E J O B Y O U H AV E T O D AY ?
My critical thinking skills were honed at SMFA. The world is increasingly more complicated. We need intelligent, out-ofthe-box thinkers to solve problems. Where you do learn to have vision? You learn it in art school.
I do not even think of what I do as a job since I am doing exactly what I want to do every single day. Currently I am traveling and shooting all around the world. I feel like I learned that there were no limits on what I was capable of. This came from teachers taking us to artists’ homes, studios, and museum exhibitions. They continually exposed us to the very best.
B FA + B A CL A S S OF ’ 96
W H AT D I D Y O U E N J O Y O R VA L U E M O S T A B O U T Y O U R S M FA E D U C AT I O N ?
One of the things I loved about SMFA is that the creative process was taught in an integrative way, which opened me up to the possibility of learning many art-making processes; not all schools offer that. W H AT A R E Y O U W O R K I N G O N I N Y O U R C U R R E N T R O L E T H AT E X C I T E S Y O U ?
I am currently a cultural consultant for an upcoming museum project in Costa Blanca, Spain. I’m also pursuing a master’s degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University.
BFA CL ASS OF ’91
W H AT D I D Y O U E N J O Y O R VA L U E M O S T A B O U T Y O U R S M FA E D U C AT I O N ?
The fact that I was able to have the freedom and flexibility to do as I liked. For my personality, that particular set up worked out for me. Not having to be at school all the time led me to spend almost all of my days there anyways as I was addicted to photography. W H AT A R E Y O U W O R K I N G O N I N Y O U R C U R R E N T R O L E T H AT E X C I T E S Y O U ?
I am working on my 14th photobook called Bright Black World. It is a book of landscape photographs that seeks to find some light in this increasingly dark world we are living in.
I was serious about my work, and the faculty acknowledged that and took me seriously from day one. RID LEY HOWARD
Ridley Howard MFA C L A S S O F ’ 9 9
GA LLER IS T & S T U D I O ART IS T
H O W D I D S M FA H E L P P R E PA R E Y O U F O R T H E J O B Y O U H AV E T O D AY ?
The faculty and student body were committed to serious conversations about art. There was a kind of intellectual ambition and rigor among the most serious students that prepared me for a long-term studio practice and the reality of the larger art world. W H AT D I D Y O U E N J O Y O R VA L U E M O S T A B O U T Y O U R S M FA E D U C AT I O N ?
I was serious about my work, and the faculty acknowledged that and took me seriously from day one. They wanted me to succeed in the studio, to push my work forward. They always treated me like a real artist, and considered my ideas and work with criticality and respect. It taught me to have a certain confidence, but also self-criticality. W H AT A R E Y O U W O R K I N G O N I N Y O U R C U R R E N T R O L E T H AT E X C I T E S Y O U ?
I have maintained my own studio work since graduating in 1999. That always excites me. I have upcoming shows in Basel and LA. I also help run a gallery in Brooklyn called 106 Green, and I am currently starting a small gallery called Howard’s in Athens, Georgia. Both are really ways to connect with other artists and to build community.
SMFA made my
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world really big again. It made me get rid of these limitations I put on myself and opened up how I viewed the world around me. MARE K MODZ E L E WSKI
Marek Modzelewski M FA C L AS S O F ’ 1 3 E NT R E PR E NE U R
H O W D I D S M FA H E L P P R E PA R E Y O U F O R T H E J O B Y O U H AV E T O D AY ?
Going to SMFA helped me regain a sense of self. It made me ask important questions about life, career, and what happiness really is. Being part of such a vibrant, adaptable, and challenging community drove me to make a concerted effort to go after more creative pursuits while working with people I love. Today as GM of Treeline, I help organizations create new things in new ways. A great lesson of art school is – think it, build it fast and cheap, test it via critique, rapidly make changes, test it again, and get it out there. I do the same thing now only we use the business terminology of Design Thinking, Lean Methodology, and Agile Development, but it’s the exact same process. W H AT D I D Y O U E N J O Y O R VA L U E M O S T A B O U T Y O U R S M FA E D U C AT I O N ?
An odd thing that comes with getting a bit older is your world becomes smaller. You stop challenging yourself. You start accepting the way things are. SMFA made my world really big again. It made me get rid of these limitations I put on myself and opened up how I viewed the world around me. It also gave me so many life-long friends — whether
it was my classmates, the faculty, or the staff — I found this wonderfully committed, hardworking, and quirky tribe that is always there for me to bounce ideas off of, for collaborations, or just to hang out with. W H AT A R E Y O U W O R K I N G O N I N Y O U R C U R R E N T R O L E T H AT E X C I T E S Y O U ?
For the most part, my firm makes things that currently don’t exist. Organizations — Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, hospitals and universities, even leading startups – come to us to solve their problems. This ranges from collaborating with them to reengineer how they develop new products and services, or to have us make something magical for them. It’s an amazing mix of creativity and functionality. I spend most of my days brainstorming and trying out new ideas with a great team of engineers, artists, developers, and consultants.
When you visit our campus, you’ll experience the energy, community, and spirit of SMFA. You’ll meet current students and see what they’re working on. More than anything, you’ll get the chance to envision yourself on campus and see if we’re the right fit for you. VISIT
SMFA campus tours provide you and your family an up-close view of what really happens on campus. Talk to our current students, tour our studio facilities, and learn more about how our interdisciplinary studio curriculum, paired with an academically rigorous liberal arts education, powerfully prepares students for an ever-evolving world after graduation.
A P P LY
We engage in a personalized admissions process that values meeting with prospective students to share our campus and provides guidance regarding portfolio submission. For more information on the application process, visit us online or contact the SMFA at Tufts Admissions office.
S C H O O L O F T H E M U S E U M O F F I N E A R T S AT T U F T S U N I V E R S I T Y
230 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115 Admissions 617-627-0077 smfaadmissions@tufts.edu V I S I T U S O N L I N E AT S M FA .T U F T S . E D U
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS PAGE 8 Vase of Flowers in a Niche Jan van Huysum II (Dutch, 1682–1749) about 1715 Oil on panel Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Stanton Blake 89.503 Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston PAGE 9 Cabinet‑on‑stand England or the Netherlands, about 1690 Ebony, boxwood, yew, and other woods; ivory veneered on wood; oak Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Graham Gund 1987.467a‑b Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Molly Hatch images by John Polak Additional photography by Lucas Roy, Jake Belcher, Anna Miller, and Tim Correira for Tufts University © 2018 Tufts University | SMFA and the SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS are trademarks of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and are used by permission.