Tufts University: 175 Years of Innovation

Founded in 1876 as the School of Drawing and Painting of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) was created to extend the educational mission of the newly established Museum of Fine Arts by providing rigorous studio-based training grounded in close study of museum collections. Its long-standing academic partnership with Tufts, which began in 1945 and culminated in the school’s full integration as SMFA at Tufts in 2016, enabled students to combine fine arts education with a liberal arts curriculum. Notably, SMFA utilizes review boards rather than conventional letter grades, using faculty and peer critiques and portfolio reviews to assess a student’s artistic development. This approach rejects rote, depersonalized forms of evaluation in favor of more in-depth conversations focusing on personal evolution. Through its colorful history, SMFA has played a central role in shaping the Boston arts scene, educating generations of artists, educators, and cultural leaders while helping establish Boston as a nationally significant center for contemporary art and arts education.