where
President’s Gallery
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
621 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA, 02115 USA
when
February 19 — March 20, 2015
opening reception
Thursday, February 19, 2015, at 6:00 p.m.
closing reception
Friday, March 20, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. RSVP →
Gallery talk: Join curator Paul Dobbs at 7:00 p.m for a gallery talk providing additional context and an in-depth look at the important contributions MassArt alumni have made to the creative economy.
Laser cutting demonstration: When you arrive, sign up for a laser cutting demo (15 minutes long and offered throughout the evening) in the architecture and industrial design studios. Space is limited.
Presented in conjunction with Boston Design Week.
Gaining Perspective: A Visual History of MassArt is the first attempt in a long time to step back far enough to get a good view of MassArt’s whole history.
Some already know that MassArt is a unique institution with unusual roots: the country’s only free-standing college of art and design that has been a state institution since it was founded in 1873. It was the first institution to provide wide, public access to professional-level art education.
Most people will be amazed to learn the degree to which MassArt has impacted our world, from everyday matters, like the design of all kinds of consumables and environments, to larger societal matters, like voting rights, sustainability, and the art that inspires and changes us deeply. The history makes you wonder, how did it happen, how did this little upstart school manage this? The exhibition probes for answers.
Since “the proof is in the pudding,” we’ve made something like a TV cooking show. Displaying gorgeous roasts and soufflees, as well as the original recipes, and, between the two, the work inside the kitchen, the subtle techniques of preparation – you know, where Julia drops it on the floor and tosses it back in the pot.
To spell out the allegory...
Those recipes were written down in Boston in the 1870s, just after the civil war and the Great Boston fire, a time of economic and cultural explosions, a time, like our own, when almost anything, good or bad, seemed possible. Those who agitated for, and those who built, MassArt spelled out four recipes:
Visit the exhibition in person and online where you can contribute memories and ideas to the historical exploration!
When you view the show and you’re inspired by what you see, we hope you imagine yourself there “on the ground” as the MassArt experiment unfolded. We can help. One part of the exhibit is an installation that capture an images of you as a time-traveling visitor to MassArt’s beginnings.
View an interactive version of MassArt’s history.
This collection of images celebrates the people that have been part of the MassArt community since its founding in 1873. The collection holds a variety of imagery, from events to scenes in studios to portraits both candid and formal. We invite you to browse the collection and reflect on moments from the college’s past as well as share your own moments. These are our MassArt Memories.
Colleen Venable
Alexi Drago
Caitlin Pereira
Saul Baizman
Paul Dobbs
Sean Maloney
Greg Wallace
Cindy Sherman Bishop
Martha Bourne
J-Hung Graphics
President Kurt Steinberg
Dennis Dahill
Sean Maloney
Darlene Gillan
Patrick Luteran
Sally Barkan
Sondra Grace
Christina Hartman
Liz Herring
Kenlyn Jones
Martha King
Gabrielle Reed
Liz Resnick
Rachel Resnik
Ezra Shales
Lisa Tung
Emma F. Wallace
Chloe Zaug
Saul Baizman
Ellen Carr
Robert Gainfort
Darlene Gillan
Paul Hajian
Lois Hetland
Patrick Luteran
Caitlin Pereira
Andrew Ringler
Greg Wallace
Anne Marie Stein
Mary Ann Stankiewicz
Diana Korzenik
F. Graeme Chalmers
Paul Bolin
(If we got it right, it's a consequence of the years of research and writing undertaken by these historians of art education.)