New arts degree gives students rare access to Smithsonian museum collections

National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. (Photo by Cliff1066)

As students in the D.C. Metro area, the Mason community has free access to most of the District’s Smithsonian museums. But beginning in the fall 2011, students who choose to pursue a Master of Arts degree in the History of Decorative Arts will have extended, rare access to national treasures.

George Mason University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences has announced a partnership with The Smithsonian Associates to offer a new Master of Arts degree in the History of Decorative Arts.

The unique degree makes Mason a one of a kind institution in the state of Virginia and one of only a few universities in the country to offer a degree in the History of Decorative Arts. The program will be made official in July of 2011, with classes beginning next fall.

The History of Decorative Arts degree was formerly a collaboration of The Smithsonian Associates and the Corcoran College of Art & Design from 2004 through 2012. Students who began their degree with the Corcoran College of Art & Design will be able to receive full transfer credit by completing their degree with Mason.

“They currently have almost 90 students in the degree program and we expect that number to continue and even grow,” said Robert DeCaroli, Mason’s Director of Art History. DeCaroli says the degree will be particularly valuable to Mason students because “it places an emphasis on connoisseurship and object-centered study,” which will make graduates very competitive for certain jobs in museums, galleries and auction houses.

Through their examination of global art, ranging from architecture and jewelry to costumes and portraits, students will receive direct access to many Smithsonian museum collections including the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Most of the degree courses will take place at the Smithsonian Institution’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in Washington D.C. 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW. Other courses and seminars will take place on Mason’s Fairfax campus. Mason art history professors and adjunct faculty will join decorative art specialists from other parts of the country and Europe as course instructors.