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Alumni Studio Visit: David Rich
NYSS: Describe a typical day in the studio. David Rich: At present I paint from late morning into evening or night. In the past my schedule involved teaching during the day and painting at night. I usually have a couple of new paintings in progress, as well as a couple of older paintings being significantly […]
December 16, 2020 · Alumni
Student Perspective: Halle Dillon MFA 2020
I first learned about the New York Studio School as an undergraduate through my college professors at Hollins University. I understood it was a serious art school for committed artists but moving to New York City for grad school seemed like an impossible dream to me at the time. After graduating from Hollins, I joined […]
December 7, 2020 · Student Perspectives
Student Perspective – Marathons: Mimi Kwon, MFA 2021
Art is a poem. One word is very important in my life, one picture, and one moment of painting is very special. That has a power and that is my motivation to be an artist. I fondly remember my first Marathon Drawing in 2019 with Dean Graham Nickson, which was a really wonderful experience in […]
December 1, 2020 · Marathons
Alumni Spotlight: Carlo Cittadini, MFA 2019
While at the New York Studio School, I discovered how to paint with my guts. As I was pushed to work faster than my brain could think, I learned to have a visceral experience that is raw, immediate, and stunning. And then to look. I learned about making, but I also learned about myself; I’ve […]
November 23, 2020 · Alumni
Student Perspective: Jamie Allen MFA 2020
The choice to continue my education was less in pursuit of an MFA, and more so in finding a community that would nurture my growth as a studio artist. I ultimately decided to apply to the New York Studio School after a series of encounters which showed that this was, undoubtedly, the perfect option for […]
November 17, 2020 · Student Perspectives
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Samantha Howard
I have been drawn to the Marathons at the New York Studio School since the time I became familiar with the School. The very notion of a Marathon of any kind is intriguing, and of course appeals to a certain type of personality. I am not being trite in admitting I am a runner, […]
November 3, 2020 · Marathons
“Game Changer: Mercedes Matter” in Gagosian Quarterly
Lauren Mahony and Michael Tcheyan pay homage to the founder of the New York Studio School in Gagosian Quarterly. Mercedes Matter’s devotion to art and artists, manifest in her founding of the New York Studio School, was instilled in her early on. Born Jeanne Carles in Philadelphia in 1913, the future artist, writer, and educator […]
October 28, 2020 · History
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Lisa Wilde
Clintel Steed’s Sacred Geometry Marathon was a transformative experience for me. Because of COVID restrictions, a limited number of students were allowed to attend this Marathon and we were “podded” into two large studios. We all wore masks, including the instructor and the model. The structure of our days was like other Marathons – Clintel […]
October 28, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Heidi Chapson
In a previous life, I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, worked in the music industry, and eventually wound up in the technology space. But the two themes that have remained consistent throughout these years has been drawing and painting. Admittedly, there have been dearth periods, just as much as there […]
October 20, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Rebecca Jones
My work always improves dramatically after participating in a New York Studio School Marathon. With that in mind I decided to make most of the virtual content offered this September and enrolled in the Fall 2020 Virtual Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson & Guests. I have participated in many of the Studio School Marathons and […]
October 12, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Pat Brentano
The Fall 2020 Virtual Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson & Guests was a gift to myself. It was a reawakening, a professional kick in the head. Cezanne said, “There are two things in the painter, the eye and the mind. Each of them should aid the other.” For two solid weeks, in my garage, my […]
October 1, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Julie Marcelia
I first heard about the New York Studio School Marathons from a couple of art related podcasts I listen to. Then I saw a promo on Instagram for the Virtual Marathons. Could a West Coast artist with kids at home participate in a New York Studio School Marathon? I had been looking for something to […]
September 29, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective: Lorena Velez MFA 2020
For many years, while working as a self-taught painter in Peru, I had the dream of pursuing an education in painting. Studying art at the New York Studio School has been an opportunity that I never even imagined to live. I have learned so much that it has changed me in different ways. Not only […]
September 15, 2020 · Student Perspectives
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Ella Leidy
“Are you an image maker or an image seeker?” The question, posed by Dean Graham Nickson, caught me off guard. I didn’t know how to respond, not least because it dovetailed so neatly with the questions I had lately been asking myself, that had led me to the New York Studio School in the first […]
August 31, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Carolyn Enz Hack
Process, process, process, making art is a continuum rather than a destination. Even artists who work in a single medium and who have recognizable stylistic attributes do not remain static over the long term and never stop reaching for new ways to satisfy a desire to build on previous work. I attend workshops and frequent […]
August 25, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Brigitte Bentele
When I heard that Graham Nickson’s Summer 2020 Drawing Marathon would be held virtually, with the requirement of only a blank wall of at least four feet and reliable internet access, I gave up on the idea that I would be able to take the class, one that I had taken twice before at the […]
August 18, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspectives – Virtual Marathons: Mary Shea
In 1983 I moved to New York to study at the New York Studio School. I was only able to stay for one semester because I realized quickly that I couldn’t afford New York, but during the brief time that I studied with Mercedes Matter and Ruth Miller, I saw that I wanted to be […]
August 6, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Madeleine Matsson, MFA 2019
Madeleine Matsson, MFA 2019 shares her experience in the Arbor Vitae Landscape Painting Marathon both in person in Summer 2019 and VIRTUALLY in Summer 2020. After graduating from the New York Studio School in 2019, I attended Arbor Vitae Landscape Painting Marathon, with Graham Nickson and Fran O’Neill. That marathon opened up my eyes to […]
July 27, 2020 · Marathons
Student Perspective – Virtual Marathons: Whitson Ramsey
I am a painter from Mississippi and have been interested in attending a Drawing Marathon with Graham Nickson for almost two years. I must admit I was skeptical about what the Drawing Marathon would be like online. I imagined that the large scale works I had seen made during a marathon and the immersive experience […]
July 27, 2020 · Marathons
Alumni Studio Visit: Maryna Bilak, MFA 2014
NYSS: Describe a typical day in studio. Maryna Bilak: Since I have to balance my studio practice with motherhood, I don’t have a regular schedule and my typical day in the studio is extremely chaotic and ever changing. It reminds me of my early years when I painted around people en plein air with changing weather, changing light, and all the […]
July 16, 2020 · Alumni
