School of the Museum of Fine Arts

This school is just getting better and better. It is almost twice the size that it was when I attended college here back in the early 1980s.
Now my daughter wants to go here — and I am very happy for this.
It is the best college that I know of where an artist can get into based on an excellent portfolio — and then join the BFA program at Tufts University (which has reciprocity with the SMFA for their academics).
Also, the SMFA has sister schools in Halifax and Florence. = — for that fun semester abroad.

like most private schools, smfa is built to rake in the $$$$$, and i definitely felt like just another couple thousand in the bank for them as i attended. i graduated last year with a BFA and a lot of debt. the school very small and is constantly shifting, its hard to count on anything. the acceptance rate is so high that a lot of the folks who get in don’t take it seriously, which puts a lot of professors in a situation where they have to badger the students like highschool teachers. For being an art school its really not a great environment for trans students as far as updating info/​policy/​professors/​etc are concerned.
Theyre also severing their relationship with tufts, so, the main drive to go there will be disappearing.

1988 graduate with a BFA in «applied arts» from SMFA & Tufts U. I did the dual degree thing. Also transferred from a tiny upper NY State liberal school with a two teacher art dept that wasn’t enough.
The verdict after being out of SMFA for 26 years? Many of my friends and classmates who graduated around the same I did are still in the art world. Some make a better living at it than others. One glaring deficiency that we’ve all agreed on is the lack of a basic grounding in art, and going straight into «do what you want you to do, do what you feel!» and a lack of business-​for-​artists courses. And, back in the eighties, the on-​campus Tufts courses were either dumbed down or angled for the creative type minds in the Museum School.
At the time, there were classes in life drawing that you could take, and many students realized they were necessary; but that was about it. The painting program was decent – many talented, hardworking art students, undergrad and grad level there and in the sculpture program.
Back then, and apparently now, I think SMFA is better as a school for those who already have their basic art training & grounding, who know what they want out of an art school.

I went to school here for a year. What can I say?
It’s such a small school, but i couldn’t really get any real feel of community there.
I took a mixed media class, where I had to haul all my supplies to the class everyweek, just to work silently for an hour in there.
I took a sound class, and I ended up skipping alot, because the room was so claustrophobic, it was freaking me out.
My film class was awesome. I learned alot, and really enjoyed it. I was sad to leave it, but I can’t be paying that much money just for one class I liked.
I also took one ‘Tufts’ psychology class. Whoa. What a joke. It was almost weird how bad it was.
The library ruled. The café ruled. The film department ruled.
Don’t take photo unless your planning on dying soon. Do you really want to pay that much money for the WORST ventilation ever?
I’m not against art school. BUT I am against art school’s that charge THAT much without suppling EVERY SINGLE art student with studio space. And thats pretty much every art school. Pretty messed up.
A cool thing about SMFA is the no grade system, and the fact that you don’t have to choose a department. Great system, but the staff ends up making you feel a little bit abandoned. and then you start to wonder why your forking up all this money.
No regrets with going, and no regrets with leaving.

I definitely disagree with both of the people who dissed the CE photo classes at SMFA. I took Color Photography (darkroom) in the fall and loved it so much that I’m taking it again this semester, same class, same teacher. Who knows, I may even sign up for it again this summer.
As someone interested in pursuing an MFA in photography, I feel like the CE classes that I’ve taken have challenged me both technically and conceptually and that they are helping me to prepare a portfolio for when I’m ready to apply to grad school.
I’d definitely recommend anyone to take a CE photo class here, 100%.

Well, Considering that I went here for 3 years, and taught for one year at the Museum School, I’d say I’ve had a quite wonderful experience here. I went for my MFA degree versus the many other under grad and continuing education degrees they offer. The school isn’t organized like many of us would logically have. They encourage their students to take multiple medium classes and to explore different ideas they want to express within their work.
Looking at a contemporary art practice, this school is the place to be in New England. Their conceptual work, beyond intelligent and creative faculty, and pretty decent equipment stock, the school offers a very open minded and self progressing environment. The students produce great conceptual based works, are highly intelligent, but I would have to say, some do not posess the work ethic that I would like to be around.
I learned quickly which classes i wanted to explore, and what classes to stay away from. Being with the older upper classmates and other graduate students, the conversations were very intriguing and always stimulating.
I would LOVE to see them implement an attendance policy and stricter rules to the school, but the board has their decisions they like to keep about the «originality» of the school. I went to an undergrad of being graded and not being able to miss two classes without failing, so I have a much different work ethic.
I’d say passion and contemporary thought are what strives this school much farther ahead than the other art schools in the area. They always have a phenominal visiting lecture series, great opportunities for students to take responsible roles, and other opportunities.
I don’t know how the Continuing Ed office works, but do your research before you take a classes here. If you want to take photos of pretty boats and photograph children, try some place else. These faculty here want you to think about what you are doing and what you have to say and think.

If you are intersted in photography don’t dare to take classes at SMFA. The worse continuing education school ever. They charge more than NESOP but quality of classes are very very poor.

Origin Story, two versions:
Version One: Radioactive fall out creates giant Japanese movie monsters, rising out of the swamps of the Fens. They continuously wage war across the planet, across the universe, across dimensions, for supremacy. Wanting to definitively settle disputes with maximum Fighto, but also wanting to avoid mass urban destruction and apocalypse, decide to work out differences in wrestling ring. Thus, Kaiju Big Battel is born.
Version Two: Clever, kitschy, pop culture damaged art school project starts at local museum school, rises from back alleys, to clubs, to MTV, to global domination. Involves people in homebrewed monster suits beating the snot out of each other. Mythologies and legends born. Involvement of radioactivity unknown, but we tend to think YES!
We thank the Museum School for 10+ years of giant monster wresting madness. Here’s to another decade of Japanese monster wrestling dominance!
As for the rest of the school, I’m glad they’re around, and I think it patently unfair to one star them for their art sale.
–1 star «what have you done for me lately» penalty, since they’ve yet to follow up on Kaiju (but then again, where do you go after that)

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Upon entering I was immediately overwhelmed by these racks upon racks of artwork arranged alphabetically. Alphabetically by what, though? Artist? Genre? Animal? Vegetable? Mineral? Blood type? We wandered through a room of two of random art, with their title labels haphazardly thrown alongside the pieces, the glass in the frame scratched, fingerprints, windex splatters. Come on kids, I got my BFA from a liberal arts school and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that presentation means a lot. Why spend 50 hours on a painting, if you’re going to hang it off a thumbtack and attach some droopy piece of paper to it. And don’t try and be obtuse with me!
We decided to check out the second floor, where were we going? I don’t know, the sign just said Outlet with taped arrows on the floor. Ok. I scanned the wall and saw some «interesting artwork». Fall leaves held together by wire with feathers attached to it? It sort of reminded me of the kind of garbage I had to make in my creative art therapy course I took in college. «Um. The leaves like… um…represent my dreams… and um, this wire here is related to my heartstring and um…(insert some other sensitive bullshit)». I don’t mean to be overly critical on the students’ art, that’s not what I’m here for, but I have to say that in terms of being selective and well presented, this show was not up to par with other student galleries I’ve seen.