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Fall 2020

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Commencement

virtual celebration video

Remarks from President David Nelson, alumni and Trustee Elisa Hamilton '07 BFA Painting, Lee Luker '07 BFA Animation / Production team member of Golden Globe awardee "Missing Link," Justine Silva '12 BFA Illustration / Winner of NBC's Making It Season 2, Dean Lucina Bliss crowdsourced content from faculty and students, and Provost Kymberly Pinder. 

Download the Program  View the Academic Awards

remarks from lyla june

Lyla June, an Indigenous environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, community organizer and musician of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages from Taos, NM; offers her congratulations to the Class of 2020.

celebrating the class of 2020

Due to safety precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19, MassArt was required to reschedule our Commencement ceremony to Friday, May 21, 2021 at the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion. 

HONORING GRADUATES VIRTUALLY

Instagram post for the Class of 2020

DIPLOMAS

  • The online Diploma Request form will be sent via the Registrar's Office to students' massart.edu email address with a potential follow-up to the student's preferred private email address as follows:

    - Mid-June for all students who completed their program in the Spring 2020 Term
    - Mid-September for those completing in Summer Term
    - January 2020 for those completing in Fall 2020 term
     
  • Caps and tassels will be sent to all BFA graduates’ homes with their diplomas
   

MASSART MERCH

  • Alumni Relations will be distributing swag and information about alumni benefits mid-June; including details about the student-to-alumni gmail migration. Packages will be mailed or hand-delivered by a MassArt Community member based on your indicated preference on the Alumni Contact Info Form (Deliveries will be available to addresses within a 60-mile radius of MassArt, and will be made observing physical distancing and public health guidelines).

  • MassArt decals, diploma frames, and Class of 2020 lawn signs to celebrate graduating seniors can be purchased through the MassArt bookstore

  • MassArt merch (sweaters, tshirts, etc.) can also be purchased through the bookstore

GRADUATING SENIOR EXHIBITION & SENIOR CATALOG

  • Exhibition will go live on June 11th and be on display through November 1st on kunstmatrix.com

  • The Senior Catalog will be designed, printed and mailed to the homes of seniors who submitted work over the summer.

 All School Show 2017

MFA THESIS SHOW 

  • Curated by MassArt Art Museum Executive Director Lisa Tung, the all-virtual 2020 MFA Thesis exhibition will showcase the work of ten MassArt graduate students in the final year of their respective MFA programs

  • The exhibition is now on view and be on display through June 19th and can be viewed on kunstmatrix.com
FAQs

    • A. We secure our date for the Pavilion years in advance, and are often competing with other area college ceremonies and concerts to reserve this venue. At this moment, every event scheduled this spring and summer are all scrambling to reschedule their dates. This means that the quest for a fall spot was incredibly competitive, and we would not have been able to secure a guaranteed new date for quite some time. Also, as an outdoor venue subject to weather concerns, the Pavilion management strongly discourages bookings past the first week of October, so the rescheduling timeline is quite short and competitive.

    • A. There are other venues in Boston, but all venues that can hold an event of this size are having the same booking issues as the Pavilion. Venues that are smaller would have to be ticketed - meaning that each student would be able to invite only one or two guests to attend. At the Pavilion, there is no limit to the number of guests students may invite.

    • A. The graduating class alone, without faculty and guests, would fill the Tower Auditorium to its capacity of 464. We are planning on having another on-campus event as soon as we are able, which will allow both an opportunity for students to return to campus and celebrate each other and their accomplishments, as well as for departments to gather, connect, and recognize their graduating class.

    • A. Our Commencement Ceremony is just that – ceremonial. Historically, a proxy diploma is handed to graduates on the Commencement stage, and then their actual diplomas are mailed in the summer. This will not change. Faculty will be submitting final grades the first week of June; after the Registrar has verified that you have met all of the requirements for your degree, you will be a graduate of MassArt. Diplomas will be mailed in Summer 2020 to your address on file.

    • A. Awards will still be given and announced as scheduled. We will reschedule the annual Academic Awards Ceremony as soon as is feasible, once restrictions have been lifted and it makes sense to do so.

    • A. The Class of 2021 will participate in their own Commencement Ceremony as planned, also scheduled for May 21, 2021. Note that there will be two separate ceremonies for both classes – you will not be sharing ceremonies. The ceremony for the Class of 2021 will take place later in the afternoon, after a midday break.