Our Space

Purpose-built for today's art students

In 2017 the Art & Design department moved to the core campus on Beacon Hill, expanding opportunities for all majors to explore their creative interests and allow for more art and design collaborations across the University.

Our new 31,000 sq. ft. facility in the Sawyer building atop Boston’s Historic Beacon Hill boasts state-of-the-art technology classrooms, light-filled studios, a woodshop and fabrication lab, a printmaking facility, lighting lab, art gallery, and much more.

The department’s close proximity to the Studio Theater, which is also housed in the Sawyer Building, will allow us to further showcase the strengths of Suffolk’s creative campus and expand our curricular partnerships and public programming in exciting new ways.

We have a rich history in Boston dating back to 1923 and have earned our reputation for producing artists and designers who excel in their fields. Our new facility honors that legacy and serves as a wonderful testament to Suffolk’s commitment to arts-based programming.

Connect with us and learn more about our graduate programs in Interior Architecture and Graphic Design and our undergraduate programs.

Visitor in the Suffolk Gallery

Transcript

00:00 (gentle music)
00:06 When I found out that the
00:07 Art and Design School was moving,
00:09 my first thoughts were like
00:11 I'm excited because I do so much on the main campus.
00:20 What does it mean?
00:21 It just means possibilities.
00:24 I was actually really nervous about the move,
00:26 but it's important for our community
00:29 to be here with everyone else.
00:38 The spaces are predominantly a combination
00:41 of manual drawing studios,
00:42 manual working spaces for foundational type classes.
00:47 We also have a number of flexible technical spaces
00:50 that allow students to work both on computer,
00:53 but also to build physical objects within the same spaces.
00:57 We're building a space that took into account where
01:01 art and design thinking is now
01:04 and where we think it's going.
01:08 One of the things that's important
01:09 about this space now is that idea of bridging out.
01:12 We shouldn't just be seeing art students in creative spaces.
01:16 We have all these opportunity to build classes
01:19 that combine arts and sciences, the arts and business,
01:23 the arts and sustainability, or arts and urban design.
01:27 It's exciting and it's endless.
01:32 It's really important that we have kind of
01:33 diversity in what we study.
01:38 I knew I would be in classes with people
01:40 that weren't just art majors
01:42 [Sean] Innovation occurs where you put
01:45 people in the same room together
01:47 asking questions and exploring.
01:50 [Lizzy] I really want people to come down here
01:52 and see the wood shop
01:55 and the print shop and our galleries.
01:59 [Sean] Being in the center of the campus itself now
02:01 really opens up lots of opportunities to become
02:04 much more involved in the activity of city life.
02:07 I love how we have so much access to different types
02:11 of collaborative work that's happening in the city.
02:14 I think it's really fabulous that we now have
02:17 our own gallery space in downtown Boston.
02:21 Our gallery is very well respected by the
02:24 artists in town and they will come in and use it
02:26 and you know, that conversation just keeps on going.
02:29 I am super proud of the new space.
02:31 This is still our home, too,
02:33 and now more people know about us.
02:36 [Audrey] I'm looking forward to when there's a lot of,
02:39 you know, masking tape marks on this table
02:42 and there's a little bit of footprint of paint somewhere.
02:45 I see all these white walls
02:47 and I can't wait to just cover them
02:49 with paint and posters and installation just everywhere.
02:55 I can't wait to make it our home.