[1] By the end of the 19th-century, Boston had become an important art center with number of highly respected artists teaching in the city.

The first of its kind in the nation, the legislation added drawing to a list of school subjects that were required to be taught in all Massachusetts public schools: reading, writing, grammar, orthography, geography, arithmetic, United States history, and good behavior.

[3] Located two blocks behind the Museum of Fine Arts, in the New Studio Building near the Back Bay Station, the school was established by Frank Cowles.

[5] "In addition to giving a continuous and thorough training in art, the school meets in a whole, some way, the students who are not able to attend for long periods at a time, or who have been obliged to gain their instruction in an irregular and unwell way, and need to have their deficiencies made up in special lines of study...each student intent on joining is allowed to enter at once upon the highest grade of work for which he or she is capable of, and is carefully advised and guided in subsequent work.

Many exhibition opportunities were open to all students, who regularly won scholarships and awards for their efforts.