Tufts University

The Arts at Tufts University

Tufts University fosters a vibrant and interdisciplinary arts ecosystem that spans its Medford/Somerville and Boston campuses, anchored by the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS), the Granoff Music Center, and the prestigious School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (SMFA). The Aidekman Arts Center in Medford is home to the Tufts University Art Galleries (TUAG), which present up to four major exhibitions per semester across its main and Fenway locations. TUAG also curates world-class public art across all four campuses and hosts artist talks, workshops, and thesis exhibitions by students Tufts University Art Galleries.

TDPS is supported by impressive performance venues and technical facilities: the Balch Arena Theater, the Jackson Dance Lab, Performance Hangar, Scene Shop, and Costume Shop, all integral to hands-on training in performance, choreography, design, and production. The SMFA campus is centered around intensive studio practice—students have access to drawing, painting, sculpture, digital media, sound, VR, and performance studios, as well as the Performance Studio for developing and staging interdisciplinary work. SMFA’s historic campus, adjacent to the Museum of Fine Arts, offers an immersive art environment and the W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Library, a specialized resource supporting deep research in contemporary art and studio practice.

Music at Tufts thrives in the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, which features a broadcast-quality recital hall, rehearsal booths, ensemble rooms, and a world music room. Across Medford, the campus landscape is enlivened by campus-wide arts initiatives, student-run ensembles, performance collectives, and community programming, supported by TUAG’s curated public art installations and Tufts arts events.

From curated art exhibitions and student installations to performance showcase venues and cutting-edge studio labs, Tufts offers students rich opportunities to make, curate, perform, and share work within a research university deeply committed to creative inquiry and public engagement.