Swain School of Design

The Swain School of Design (1881–1988) was an independent tuition-free non-profit school of higher learning in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It first defined its mission as a "school of design" for the "application of art to the industries" in 1902, making it the 12th oldest art school in the United States. By then, the 19th-century whaling capital of the world was already in a textile boom, one that required designers. In response, Swain's trustees developed a meticulous program of study. In the first year, students would train for 40 hours a week in "Pure Design" to prepare them for a second year in "Historic Design." Applied skills spanned a panoply of techniques, involving the design of picture frames, book and magazine covers, illuminations, lettering, stained glass, metalwork, architectural moldings and the "application of ornament to prints." Within a generation, that foresight had made New Bedford, with nearly 70 mills and 41,000 mill workers, the richest city per capita in the U.S.

In 1921, the school removed the word "free" from its name, instituted a range of fees, and began providing options for diplomas and certificates. That's also when they created a teacher training program, and an Atelier Swain, modeled on the principles of instruction at the influential École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, with multiple annual competitions. In 1925, they built the William W. Crapo Gallery, where frequent exhibitions and lectures were held, featuring well-known artists. The school's mission was no longer limited to providing applied training in the arts to the city's poor, but also to "rais[e] the standard of artistic knowledge, and appreciation" for its wealthy potential benefactors.

But the boom was effectively over by the 1930s. A glut of mills and growing competition from the South had decreased profits. Lower profits meant lower wages, and led to strikes. By the 1940s, America was back at war, fabrics were rationed, and the mills were repurposed for the military.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Swain focused on the fine arts during a post-war surge of interest in American Art. The school created new undergraduate degree programs in painting, printmaking, sculpture and graphic design. Then they hired professional artists, with European or émigré training and exhibition histories, to staff them. The new faculty included Sigmund Abeles (1934–), Ron Kowalke (1936–2021), Alphonse Mattia (1947–2023), Joyce Reopel (1933–2019), Nathaniel Cannon Smith (1866–1943), Mel Zabarsky (1932–2019). By 1969, New York City's Parsons School of Design was accepting more than 40 percent of Swain's students in its graduate programs. In response, Swain created a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree, and graduated its first dozen BFAs the following year.

In 1985, Swain created more degree programs: undergraduate and graduate degrees in "ceramics, fiber, metal, and wood as part of a transfer agreement with Boston University's Program in Artisanry." In the same year, Swain introduced a one-year certificate and a baccalaureate program in Architectural Artisanry, which was aimed at both novice students as well as those seeking retraining. But the program never took off. In 1988, spurred by low enrollment and a financially struggling city, the school sold its New Bedford campus, and merged with Southeastern Massachusetts University's College of Visual and Performing Arts in nearby North Dartmouth.

Swain's archives are now part of the since renamed University of Massachusetts Dartmouth archive. In 1999, the New Bedford Art Museum curated an exhibition of notable Swain student and faculty work called "Swain Resurgent."