Sustainability

Climate change and social impact call for bold, creative responses. At MassArt, sustainability is an active, collaborative effort across disciplines.

MassArt’s Sustainability Initiative empowers artists and designers to address urgent global challenges through creative practice. Students engage interdisciplinary approaches that connect environmental responsibility, social justice, and material innovation. Through coursework, events, and hands-on projects, sustainability is embedded across disciplines—expanding how artists and designers think, make, and lead. From studio to community, students develop the skills to imagine and build a more just and resilient future. Graduates develop the skills to address complex challenges and apply sustainable strategies within their creative work.

Minor

Build interdisciplinary skills to address complex environmental and social challenges. The Sustainability Minor complements your major, expanding your creative and critical approach to sustainable practice.

Featured Work

Get inspired by the extraordinary work being produced by our Sustainability minor students and alumni.

Climate & Justice Teach-In

Learn about MassArt’s annual, campus-wide event focused on sustainability, equity, and creative practice.

Sustainability Studio

Our Sustainability Studio fosters interdisciplinary art, design, sustainability research, exhibitions, and collaborative creative projects.

Student Sustainability Projects

Explore student artwork and interdisciplinary projects addressing climate, justice, and material innovation.

Josselyn Vasquez, BFA ’26, Fashion Design Metamorphosis, Natural materials & dyes, 2026

Olivia Foss, BFA ’24, Glass Coral Light, Colorful blown glass murini pairings illuminated from below, 2024

Haley Johnson, BFA ’23, Painting The Dipper Trail, Painting, 2022

View more work

About Sustainability at MassArt

MassArt integrates sustainability across curriculum, research, and campus operations. Faculty embed sustainable practices into coursework—from regenerative design to circular fashion and environmental advocacy. The Sustainability Initiative supports a growing Minor, public programming, and interdisciplinary collaboration, positioning MassArt as a leader in sustainable art and design education.

Learn how you can get involved

Featured Faculty

Woman with wavy hair smiling in sunlight, indoors, light and shadow patterns evoke a sense of sustainability. Black and white.

Amber Tourlentes

Director, Sustainability Minor; Professor, Studio Foundation

Amber Tourlentes is an interdisciplinary artist, receiving both a MFA and BFA from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before landing in the Studio Foundation program at MassArt Amber taught at Harvard, Tufts, and Princeton University. She teaches first year sustainability spring courses, advises the Sustainability Minor students across the college, serves on the Sustainability in the Curriculum Committee and programs the Sustainability Studios. email: amber.tourlentes@massart.edu

Jane D. Marsching

Sustainability Fellow, 2013-present; Professor, Studio Foundation

Interdisciplinary artist Jane D. Marsching explores our past, present and future human impact on the environment through collaborative research-based practices. Projects have been sited in museums and galleries as well as weather observatories, city streets, radio waves, and the internet. She has worked with scientists, educators, kite builders, meteorologist email: jmarsching@massart.edu

Black-and-white close-up of a person in a hard hat and safety glasses, embodying sustainability in the workplace.

Marjee Levine

Chair, Sustainability in the Curriculum Committee; Professor, 3D Arts

Marjee Levine is a modern-day alchemist; for 20+ years she has sought personal refinement through the practice of working with metals. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Georgia State University. Before her time at MassArt, she spent most of her career working in and running professional fine-art bronze foundries and is an internationally recognized expert in the field of metal casting. email: mlevine@massart.edu

Climate Beacon

MassArt students and alumni contribute to Climate Beacon, a global convening focused on actionable climate solutions. Featured work highlights innovative, materials-based research across disciplines including Fibers, Illustration, and 3D Arts.

MassArt at Climate Beacon

Featured Alumni

Alice Sowa

BFA ’21 Industrial Design, Sustainability Minor

Alice Sowa is a transdisciplinary and process driven designer, researcher, and maker from the San Francisco Bay Area currently based in Iceland Alice Sowa

Haley Roach

’23 BFA Industrial Design, Sustainability Minor

Haley Roach is a UX designer and researcher focused on creating equitable, sustainable, and human-centered design solutions. haleyroach.com

Oliva Foss

BFA ’24 Glass and Industrial Design, Sustainability Minor

Olivia Foss is a Boston-based industrial designer and glass artist driven by a desire to make people’s lives easier, more beautiful, and more sustainable. olivia-foss.com

Haley Johnson

BFA ’23 Painting, Sustainability Minor

Haley Johnson is a Boston-based oil painter whose work celebrates wildlife and natural landscapes, inspired by birdwatching, travel, and deep observation of the outdoors. haleyajohnson.com

Grant Warren

BFA ’18 Industrial Design, Sustainability Minor

Grant Warren is an industrial designer and sculptor specializing in furniture, blending hands-on making experience with manufacturing insight to create thoughtful, production-ready designs. LinkedIn

Grace Emmet

BFA ’17 Illustration, Sustainability Minor

Grace Emmet is an eco-artist and educator whose practice explores ecology, sustainability, and human–nature interdependence through art making and natural materials. graceemmet.com

Four colorful paint blocks and a green paint dab on paper, showcasing Beam Paints’ sustainability commitment.

Person in a beige textured coat with rolled sleeves, showing a snake tattoo, stands by a wooden wall, embracing sustainability.

A person views colorful posters about sustainability, composting, and climate change on a concrete hallway wall indoors.

Get Involved. Make an Impact.

Declare a Minor in Sustainability

621 Huntington Ave,
Boston, MA 02115

(617) 879-7000

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