Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Summer Studios in Art and Design
Boston, Massachusetts

For More Information, Contact
Liz Rudnick
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
621 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
617-879-7174
www.MassArtPlus.org
E-mail: lizrudnick@massart.edu

Type of Program: Visual arts
Participants: Coeducational, students entering grades 11 and 12
Enrollment: Approximately 100 (about 50 residential)
Program Dates: Four weeks in July and August
Head of Program: Liz Rudnick, Director of Youth Programs

Location

On the Avenue of the Arts, Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) is situated in the heart of Boston’s cultural district. The Emerald Necklace weaves its way by, with the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums each within one walking block. The Institute for Contemporary Art, the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, the Photographic Resource Center, and more than sixty other museums and art galleries make Boston a thriving urban cultural center.
Outside the city, Massachusetts offers the beautiful rocky coastline of the North Shore and the sweeping beaches that extend down through the South Shore toward Cape Cod. Inland, Massachusetts’ rolling hills, mountains, and farmland extend out to the west toward Mass MOCA and the Berkshires.

Background and Philosophy

MassArt’s precollege summer program is an intensive experience in artmaking and viewing designed specifically for students entering their junior and senior years in high school. Students develop work for their portfolios and develop work habits that encourage excellence in their artistic endeavors. Through the structured curriculum that combines foundation courses with electives, students are able to experience the rigors of higher education in the visual arts. Students attending MassArt’s Summer Studios are well prepared to make decisions about their future education, whether it is a liberal arts education or an education focused on fine arts and design.
Summer Studios takes advantage of MassArt’s extraordinary facilities. Printmaking, metal sculpting, photography, fashion, ceramics, filmmaking, and computer animation are some of the areas students can select to study. MassArt faculty members, graduate students, undergraduate students, and alumni return to the campus for the summer months to teach and share their knowledge with the students of Summer Studios.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, founded in 1873, is recognized as one of the premier colleges of art and design in the United States. A public independent college, MassArt is known for providing broad access to a high-quality professional arts education, accompanied by a strong general education in the liberal arts. The College offers a comprehensive range of baccalaureate and graduate degrees, continuing education, and K–12 programs taught by outstanding faculty members and designed to encourage individual creativity. A major cultural force in Boston, MassArt presents public programs of innovative exhibitions, lectures, and events.

Program Offerings

There are four components to the Summer Studios program: the two morning foundation classes, electives, and Sneak Preview College Day. The morning foundation classes are 2D and 3D Fundamentals and Issues and Images.
2D and 3D Fundamentals All students study the fundamentals of design and composition while building a strong foundation in two- and three-dimensional work. Students develop their ability to observe through the practice of drawing and sculpting from the figure. Students receive a written evaluation from the faculty at the conclusion of the program.
Issues and Images Students study various questions concerning art, including what it is, why people look at and make it, and what the role of the artist is in society. This class emphasizes critical-thinking skills through the study of contemporary art, art history, and current events. Students receive a written evaluation from the faculty at the conclusion of the program. Issues and Images enables students to experience arts in the community through weekly field trips to artists’ studios, galleries, and museums.
Electives All students attend two elective studios. Students receive a written evaluation from the faculty at the conclusion of the program. The Monday/Thursday choices are Surreal Painting: Myth and Metaphor, Painting from the Figure, Architecture, Metalworking, Design and Composition, and Fashion Design. The Tuesday/Friday choices are Ceramics, Printmaking, Jewelry and Metals, Computer Animation, Comic Book Art, and Fundamentals in Filmmaking.
Sneak Preview College Day College Day is a full-day event that addresses the needs of students who are trying to understand college admissions policies and procedures. The morning of this event focuses on portfolio reviews. In the afternoon, several area colleges in the visual arts join MassArt to introduce students to their school’s offerings.

Enrollment

In past years, Summer Studios has had approximately 25 percent of its student body come from Boston and the surrounding area. Fifty-eight percent of the student body has come from western and central Massachusetts. Seventeen percent of the students have come from out of state and from other countries.

Daily Schedule

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday schedule

8:30–11:20
11:30–12:30
12:30–1:30
1:30–4:30

2D and 3D Fundamentals
Issues and Images
Lunch
Electives

Wednesday (except for College Day) schedule

8:30–12
1:30–4:30

Electives
Issues and Images field trips

In addition to program activities, the staff of the residence hall plans additional activities for resident students on evenings and weekends. The following is a sampling of past activities and destinations that residents have visited: Arnold Arboretum, bookbinding workshop, Castle Island, Crane Beach Sand Castle Competition, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, flea markets, George’s Island, gym/team sports, hiking, Institute of Contemporary Art, MIT Science Park, Museum of African American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, New England Aquarium, Newburyport, Omni Theater at the Science Museum, open mike at the Student Center, outdoor picnics and barbecues, papermaking workshop, planetarium, poetry readings, Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, running, science museum, sketching trips, and whale watching.