In Session: Perspectives on Art School in the 21st Century

Join artists, art educators, and thought leaders across the United States on September 19, 9am–7pm, for this free landmark symposium discussing systems of fine art education and their futures. Hosted at the Art Students League of New York with its nearly 150-year-history as an alternative art school, this daylong program comprising two panels and a keynote speaker addresses both traditional and non-traditional approaches, inclusive of residencies and other professional development opportunities.     

Moderated by art critic Ben Davis, author of Artnet article “Is Getting an MFA Worth the Price?,” the day’s first panel Degree or Non-Degree: That’s the Question features representatives from full- and part-time degree and non-degree programs across the nation. The League’s Director of Programming Robert Telenick will be joined by Doug Ashford, Professor of Art and Academic Advisor, The Cooper Union; Patricia Cronin, Distinguished Professor of Art, Brooklyn College, City University of New York; Adama Delphine Fawundu, Assistant Professor of Visual Art and Director of Graduate Studies, Visual Arts Program, Columbia University School of the Arts; and Dushko Petrovich Córdova, Associate Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Speakers will discuss their program’s curriculum and pedagogical approach, touching upon the realities of cost and logistics in light of the recent reorganization and closure of art schools around the country.  

The day’s second panel Residencies, Grants, and Other Means: A Holistic Approach to Development as an Artist acknowledges that fine art education happens as much outside the classroom as it does inside. Kalia Brooks, Director of Programs and Exhibitions, NXTHVN; Chiwoniso Kaitano, Executive Director, MacDowell; Katie Sonnenborn, Co-Director, Skowhegan; and Kate Gavriel, Director, Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program will highlight their programs that provide artists with opportunities to develop their practice, network with curators and collections, as well as enrich their standards as professionals—many of the practical skills not acquired through curricula in fine art.   

RSVP required. For information and the full schedule, see the Art Students League of New York’s website.

About the Art Students League of New York 
The Art Students League of New York has been making high-quality, studio-based art education accessible to all for almost 150 years. Founded in 1875 by a group of art students who dreamed of a place where anyone with a passion for art would have space to make it, today the League hosts more than 265 classes, which are taught in-studio and online. Hundreds of history-making artists studied or taught at the League, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Hans Hoffman, Charles White, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Al Hirschfeld, Barnett Newman, Norman Lewis, David Smith, Mavis Pusey, Roy Lichtenstein, Romare Bearden, James Rosenquist, Adrian Piper, Louise Nevelson, Louise Bourgeois, Robert Rauschenberg, Pacita Abad, Lee Bontecou, Ai Weiwei, and more.