Her work as an author, historian and lecturer was key to the opening of the National Museum for Women in the Arts in 1974.
[6] After earning her master's degree in 1957, the Council on International Educational Exchange in New York City hired her as their director of program development.
In 1964, she obtained her first faculty position, assistant professor of art history at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.
She defended her dissertation on Spanish artist Luis Egidio Meléndez under the direction of José Lopez-Rey.
[8][9] Tufts served as a member of the editorial board of the Woman's Art Journal until the end of her life, and was replaced by Comini after her passing.