Established in 1873, Massachusetts College of Art was the first and remains the only four-year independent public college of art and design in the US.

In the 1860's, civic and business leaders whose families had made fortunes in the China Trade, textile manufacture, railroads and retailing, sought to influence the long-term development of Massachusetts. To stimulate learning in technology and fine art, they persuaded the state legislature to found several institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1860) and the Museum of Fine Arts (1870). The third of these, founded in 1873 was the Massachusetts Normal Art School.

MassArt was founded to satisfy two imperatives-a business demand for industrial drawing skills, and the belief of educators that training in drawing could promulgate both manual and intellectual skills, and yield even spiritual benefits.

Today, Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) is a public, independent college of art and design. The college’s professional baccalaureate and graduate programs prepare students to participate in the creative economy as fine artists, designers, and art educators, and to engage in the well being of their society. As a national leader in visual art and design education, the college influences contemporary culture through the accomplishments of its alumni/ae and the creative activities of its faculty and staff.

The College is nationally known for offering broad access to a quality professional arts education, accompanied by a strong general education in the liberal arts, awarding the BFA, MFA, and MSAE degrees, as well as certificates in graphic design. MassArt offers seventeen areas of concentration, including art education, art history, graphic design and illustration, architectural, fashion and industrial design, ceramics, fibers, glass, metals, sculpture, painting, printmaking, filmmaking, photography, and interrelated media.

MassArt is committed to offering students a vibrant learning and living environment that is conducive to aesthetic and creative development. The college has a tradition of small classes conducted in critique and lecture format by faculty who are professional, working artists—many have won fellowships and recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, Polaroid, Guggenheim, and Britain's Royal Society of the Arts.