MassArt will cover tuition and housing expenses for 10 students, as well as launch a crowdfunding campaign for winter clothing and art supplies
BOSTON – Dec. 14, 2017 — Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) today announced that it will sponsor 10 Puerto Rican students whose educations were disrupted by the recent hurricanes in Puerto Rico. MassArt will cover the students’ tuition and housing expenses for the spring 2018 semester. The students currently attend the School of Visual Arts and Design (Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico), a public art college accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
“In light of recent events in Puerto Rico, we are so glad to provide art and design students from Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico, a fellow public art school, with an opportunity to continue their education,” said David Nelson, President of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “We will continue to work with other schools across the U.S. to determine what we can all do to help the school and its students in the future.”
This initiative will provide the students with some relief and allow them to continue their art and design education while Puerto Rico and Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico makes repairs and prepares to reopen later in 2018. The students will arrive in Boston by Wednesday, Jan. 10, and from the time of their arrival, MassArt’s counseling staff will be on hand to support the students’ transition. In addition, the MassArt Foundation is launching a crowdfunding campaign with the goal of raising $25,000 for the students’ art supplies and winter clothing.
For the Puerto Rican students joining the MassArt community, the feeling of relief is tangible.
“The hardship Puerto Rico has endured may not be permanent, but it definitely has me feeling like my academic growth has been halted,” said an anonymous student from Escuela de Artes. “Studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to grow not only artistically but intellectually.”
For more information, visit massart.edu/puertorico.
