Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts
The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts is a private low-residency graduate school based in Portland, Maine. It was founded in 2006 by George Smith. Smith created the program to offer the Doctor of Philosophy to visual artists who wanted an academic credential beyond the Master of Fine Arts, a group he termed "artist-philosophers". African-American art historian David Driskell called the institution "one of the single most important developments in the recent history of art education." Students complete much of their work remotely but participate in international residencies, which are held in North America, Europe, and North Africa. The school is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. History

Founding and early years

IDSVA was founded in 2006 by George Smith with the mission to operate a school of graduate studies that provides education in philosophy, aesthetics, art theory, and similar disciplines related to the visual arts. The institution was established to cultivate a space for artists and creative thinkers to grow and develop as artist-philosophers. In a 2014 interview with Steven Knudsen from ArtPulse Magazine, Smith states

Art is the concrete representation of philosophical abstractions, and so it follows that the artist is, by nature and by definition, a philosopher. Even so, there never was a place in the world, a school, that said to the holder of an MFA, ‘If you want a PhD in philosophy, you needn’t go back and take a master’s in philosophy. We recognize your MFA as a substantiation of intellectual/scholarly talent as it comes out of art as philosophy. You can study here, write your dissertation, and take your doctorate in philosophy with us.’ IDSVA is that school. In 2007, IDSVA was granted authority by the State of Maine to confer the Ph.D. in Visual Arts, and inaugural classes were convened at Spannocchia Castle, in Italy. The inaugural cohort consisted of 16 students, seven of whom received their Ph.D. degrees at IDSVA. In 2010, IDSVA is granted Candidacy Status for Accreditation by the Commission on Institutes of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and, in 2015, was granted initial accreditation. In 2019, IDSVA is granted full accreditation by the New England Commission of Higher Education (formerly NEASC). In 2019, IDSVA received a US$1 million gift from leading American educator and psychologist, Edgard E. Coons. This donation established THE EDGAR E. COONS JR. PROFESSORSHIP OF NEW PHILOSOPHY. Dr. George Smith, IDSVA’s founder and president, has been named the first holder of The Edgar E. Coons Jr. Professorship of New Philosophy. References 

Universities and colleges in Maine
Graduate schools in the United States
Educational institutions established in 2006