Visitors to the Open Studios Spring 2025 chat with artists from the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts during last year’s Open Studios at 808 Commonwealth Ave. Photo by Wenbin Huang (CFA’26)

Fine Arts

BU, MassArt, Tufts Open Fine Arts Studios to the Public for Second Annual Event

This cross-college “art school crawl” on November 8 will shed light on current graduate students’ artistic processes

Hundreds of graduate students from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University are opening their studios on November 8 to give the public a glimpse into their artistic processes, current projects, and early thesis research.

Open Studios Fall 2025 is a cross-college “art school crawl,” with staggered time blocks to allow attendees to view each school’s graduate artwork. The free event welcomes visitors to BU and the other schools’ campuses to explore their studio spaces and interact with emerging artists.

The collaborative event was piloted last spring. A large turnout and positive public reception encouraged the schools and the event’s sponsor—the Wagner Foundation, a Boston philanthropy—to bring it back for the fall, says Nerissa Cooney, SVA’s programming and media manager.

“Even though we’re really excited about the BU component of it, it is a great opportunity for us to be in dialogue and connect with the larger student artist communities in Boston,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to show the process and materials that you might not usually see.”

Open Studios will begin at the SMFA Mission Hill Building, from 10 am until 1 pm, then continue to MassArt’s Kennedy Building, from 11 am to 2 pm, before ending at the third and fourth floors of 808 Commonwealth Avenue from 3 to 6 pm. Studio visitors are encouraged to drop by at any time during these hours.

“We’ve staggered hours, so that [you can] see a lot of work that students in the Boston area are doing,” says Thatiana Oliveira, director of graduate programming at MassArt. “There hasn’t been something exactly like this, at least not in recent history, in Boston.” 

The event is casual, though Kenson Truong, associate director of graduate programs at the SMFA at Tufts, says he suggested that students prepare business cards and QR codes linked to their personal portfolios and social media accounts.

“It’s a way for folks to get in touch with students if they’re interested in curating or buying students’ work,” Truong says. “We’ve asked students not to worry so much about presenting finished work, because this is a chance for the community to see all the effort that goes into making the work itself.”

Alyssa Doust (CFA’27) is one of about 100 BU artists opening their studio spaces. As a part-time student and employee at BU, Doust has promoted the event to her graphic design cohort through social media.

“It’s a safe space for networking,” she says. “More than anything, this is an opportunity to strengthen our [graphic design] cohort and our relationship with other departments, and to show that our program is here.”

This is Doust’s first open studio event, and she says she is most excited to see her peers get out of their comfort zones and display their art. Most of Doust’s work is digital, though she plans to display printed posters and zines during the event. 

“I work with undergraduates, so I feel particularly excited to bring them into the space and demystify what a graduate art program looks like,” she says. “I’m excited for them to see graphic design through a fine arts lens.”

Sculpture artist Kal Hart (CFA’26) participated in the spring open studios event and says they’re looking forward to another opportunity to chat with other young artists.

“It’s really interesting to see how diverse the art scene in Boston is. It’s very young; we’re all emerging artists,” Hart says. “Being able to see my peers’ work in a more professional context is very interesting.”

Hart will display work from a recent class critique, including wooden and ceramic rocking horse figures.

Open Studios Fall 2025 is Saturday, November 8, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, 160 Saint Alphonsus St., Boston, 10 am to 1 pm; Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Kennedy Building, 621 Huntington Ave., Boston, 11 am to 2 pm; and Boston University College of Fine Arts, on the third and fourth floors of 808 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, from 3 to 6 pm. This event is free and open to the public.