About the Art Institute

The Art Institute of Boston (AIB), founded in 1912 and merged with Lesley University in 1999, has a dual mission of preparing tomorrow’s visual artists and sharing artists' work and experience with the larger community through year-round exhibits, lectures, presentations and other arts-related events.

AIB's community of artists currently create and study in Boston’s Kenmore Square. Yet the arts play a major role in the larger University. As part of Lesley University, AIB students benefit from access to the University’s full range of program offerings. The experience of all Lesley University students is enhanced through collaboration with the students and faculty of AIB. In fact, more than two-thirds of all Lesley University students are engaged in the arts through programs like Creative Arts in Learning – our largest Master’s Program – or Expressive Therapies, a field pioneered at Lesley.

Through its students and faculty, AIB is deeply engaged in the community through internships and practica, public mural projects and arts-related projects with non-profits and other organizations in greater Boston. In anticipation of the relocation to Cambridge, exciting conversations have begun to build partnerships and collaborations with Cambridge organizations including the Cambridge Arts Council, the Cambridge Public Schools, the Maud Morgan Visual Arts Center and the North Cambridge Artists Association.

AIB’s 580 students are already integrated into Cambridge and Lesley’s Cambridge campuses in many ways. As part of a liberal arts curriculum, AIB students take their humanities and science courses on the Cambridge campus. All residential AIB students live with Lesley College students in on-campus residence halls in Cambridge. Most aspects of undergraduate student life – athletics, student government, student activities, etc. -- are now fully integrated into one undergraduate community of AIB and Lesley College students.

Events @ AIB

Central to AIB’s mission is a year-round celebration of the arts: gallery shows, exhibits, lectures and other events - all open to the public - enable students and the community to learn from renowned local, national and international artists, and display work to the public themselves. A central part of the plan to bring AIB to Porter Square is to enliven Massachusetts Avenue with the culture and character of the AIB community of artists. Learn more about current and upcoming events at AIB by exploring the following links:

• Campus Galleries
• Student Exhibitions  & Events
• Faculty Exhibitions  & Events
• Alumni Exhibitions  & Events
• Visiting Artists & Lectures
• Master of Fine Arts Exhibitions & Events
• Master of Fine Arts Visiting Artists