Founded in 1898 as the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences, the goal of the founders was to cultivate an appreciation of the arts through progressive educational instruction. Apart from its mission as an institution of higher education, the Institute serves as an important cultural center for the state of New Hampshire. In 1924, the State Board of Education certified the Institute’s four-year program to prepare high school graduates to teach art. Shortly thereafter, a four-year program in Fine Arts was approved.

In 1997, the New Hampshire Postsecondary Commission authorized the Institute to award the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. At that time the Institute became the New Hampshire Institute of Art. In 2001, the New Hampshire Institute of Art received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The Institute has applied for accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

With the opening of Fuller Hall in 2001, the Institute doubled the size of its urban campus dramatically increasing the quantity and quality of classes offered by the Institute. In 2004, the Institute partnered with the Greater Manchester YMCA to renovate the fourth floor of the downtown building into co-ed dormitories. This began the residential offerings for BFA students at the Institute. The 2005 acquisition of the 77 Amherst Street building enabled the Institute to increase studio space by 80 percent. That same year, the Institute merged with the Settlement Association of New Hampshire, gaining an all-female dormitory, The Hampshire. In 2006, the Institute renovated the 153 Concord Street Building for senior studio and administrative space and purchased the Harrison Street Apartments. In 2007 30,000 sq ft of downtown retail space in the Hampshire Plaza was renovated to create an additional co-ed dormitory, aptly named, The Plaza.

For more information about our physical plant, click on Facilities