Mark Younkle (5th Year ’91), “Studio Diploma 90,” collage
Lisa Sawlit (BFA ’83, MFA ’07), “Flight of Love,” oil on canvas
(all images courtesy School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University)
It is time, once again, for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (SMFA at Tufts) art sale, an annual event that raises funds for programming and supports student financial aid at SMFA Tufts. Proclaimed as “one of the leading art sales in New England since 1980,” this year’s event runs through November 4 and offers a huge range of items to bid on, from blue chip names like Wangechi Mutu, Sol LeWitt, and Doug and Mike Starn, to current students like Luna Tudo-Doonan (’23). Many participants in the sale are Tufts graduates, but not all — and some received a more ambiguous “diploma” status, rather than a degree, and the sale also includes faculty, staff, current students, and former faculty. There’s also incredible range of prices, with items sporting prices as low as $50, to as much as $65,000.
Liz Cohen (BFA ’96 Union), archival pigment print
Francesca Orelli (BFA ’10), “Awakenings-VII,” hand-cut collage on ivory cardboard, 19.6 x 11 inches
All participating artists set their own sale prices and determine what percentage of the sale goes to support Tufts programming, with 51 out of the 758 items, provided by some 300 artists devoting 100% of their profits to the SFMA scholarship program. With an incredible scope of media, sizes, and prices, there is surely something for everyone at this year’s sale, whether a veteran collector or someone looking to get started.
Bruno Perillo (STUDIO DIPLOMA ’02), “Airplane Gang,” oil on linen, 32 x 48 inches
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Sarah Rose Sharp is a Detroit-based writer, activist, and multimedia artist. She has shown work in New York, Seattle, Columbus and Toledo, OH, and Detroit —...
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