{"nrhp_refnum":"89000974","name":"Massachusetts School of Art","other_names":["Massachusetts College of Art"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"364 Brookline Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.33899186600007,"lon":-71.10629850799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-08-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A tan brick and concrete college building at 364 Brookline Avenue in the Fenway section of Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1929 as the fifth home of the Massachusetts College of Art. It was designed by the Boston firm Henry and Richmond.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be significant for combining Art Deco form and industrial-style windows with Collegiate Gothic elements and Classical Revival sculpture, and it is described as the only building of its type in the Fenway and the city. It also housed the nation's only autonomous, state-supported art school, and is a major work of Henry and Richmond, successors to Guy Lowell. It meets criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Standing at the southeast corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenues in Boston's Fenway area, this tan brick and concrete building was begun in 1929 and dedicated in 1930 as the home of the Massachusetts School of Art, later the Massachusetts College of Art. Henry and Richmond, successors to architect Guy Lowell, designed it. Its T-shaped plan has blocky masses of varying height, buttresses topped with stylized Art Deco gargoyles, large industrial-style metal windows, Gothic entrance arches, and concrete medallions with Classical Revival figures. Inside, notable spaces include vaulted entrance foyers, a 500-seat auditorium, a vaulted former lobby now used as a gallery, and a fourth-floor room with stained glass panes depicting legendary figures. The school began in 1873 as the Massachusetts Normal Art School and moved several times before settling here. The building was the last major institution erected in this part of the Fenway and is valued for its architecture and its role in public art education in Massachusetts.","period_of_significance":"1929-1939","architect_builder":"Henry and Richmond","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Late Gothic Revival; Modern Movement: Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed with current function as a college; exterior brick, concrete trim and metal window sash are described as in good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.606308-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/7967/63796722/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000974.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000974/d84d3bfa05-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000974/d84d3bfa05-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Massachusetts_School_of_Art_medium_detail.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Massachusetts_School_of_Art_medium_detail.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796722","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_of_Art","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6784360"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/massachusetts-school-of-art-89000974/"}