First Impressions

Purpose-built for today’s art student

“Our new spaces were designed so students can come in, lay out their ideas, draw, sketch, whatever they need to do in order to build and implement their visions,” says Art & Design chair Audrey Goldstein.

The classrooms are intimate and efficient, says graduate program director Sean Solley.

“They’re designed for a studio dynamic of 16 people,” he says. “That’s quite an important aspect of what we do within design studio, which involves delivering new content on a day-by-day basis, but also a lot of one-on-one interaction with students as they each approach their individual projects.”

Students and faculty will find themselves at the center of Suffolk’s Boston campus for the first time. Though Art & Design completely merged with the College of Arts & Sciences over 20 years ago, until now the department maintained a separate location a 15-minute walk away. That meant art students often missed out on campus activities during the day — and few students in other programs accessed resources like the gallery or art courses for non-majors.

“When I found out that the Art & Design school was moving, I was immediately excited because I do so much on the main campus,” says Sylvan Huynh, Class of 2018. “I’m always here for dance rehearsal, classes in other departments, and my graphic design job.”

Goldstein points to touches like adjoining doors between classrooms “so that ideas and people can pass through,” physical space that reflects Art & Design’s collaborative culture. Designers don’t work in isolation, she says.

For years, Art & Design professors have been collaborating with faculty from other departments to develop interdisciplinary courses that infuse visual thinking into a broader curriculum — and help art students find practical applications for their work through exposure to different disciplines.

In the spring, for example, Amy Monticello of the English department worked with graphic design professor Rita Daly and marketing professor Esi Elliot on a literary publishing course that taught students practical branding and networking skills. Daly worked with the class to create video book trailers, teaching the writers to develop visual storytelling skills.

“Learning how to visualize a story for a client allows students in English, design, psychology, or any major to use creative expression in career-oriented ways,” says Elliot.

Interdisciplinary work encourages critical thinking and creative problem solving, preparing students for the professional world where answers are seldom cut and dried. Art & Design’s move to the main campus opens up myriad opportunities for conversation and planning among faculty in diverse fields.

“We’ve been given good opportunities to try and test out environments where we can find that cross-pollination between programs,” says Solley. “We’re going to put much more of a significant push on these opportunities to bridge the different disciplines.”

A blank canvas

The impact of the move has been immediate and even disorienting, says Class of 2019 fine arts major Liz Sheldon, like “when you come home for summer vacation and your parents have rearranged your room.”

It’s no surprise Sheldon and others are so personally invested in the space. To Suffolk’s Art & Design students, their school is home. They bring vision, talent, enthusiasm, and often tremendous amounts of coffee, and leave with sharpened skills, industry contacts, and portfolios bulging with work. In between they forge bonds and find community.

“They’re usually here to all hours — until they get kicked out of the building — doing work,” says Goldstein. “It’s pretty intense. They live here, the faculty are always here. They’re always going back and forth. I text my students all night long about the work they’re doing.”

There’s one aspect of the beautiful new space that doesn’t sit well with faculty or students:

“It’s so clean,” says Goldstein.

In most circles this reaction would be a compliment, not an admonishment. In an art school it’s an obstacle to overcome.

Nearly every available surface — walls, doors, every hallway and even some closets — is covered in fresh pin board, turning every clear space into an opportunity to add personality. The blank slate’s days are numbered.