The New York Studio School is honored to announce a transformative gift of $500,000 from Parker and Alexandra Conrad and the Conrad Family. This generous donation establishes the Conrad Fund for Teaching Fellowships, an endowed fund dedicated to supporting visiting faculty of exceptional distinction in drawing, painting, sculpture, and related media.

Through the Fund, the School will invite artists to teach intensive Marathons or semester-long courses, enriching our curriculum and inspiring students with new perspectives. In recognition of this gift, a studio at 8 West 8th Street will be named by Parker’s father, Winthrop “Whit” Conrad, a graduate of the School and current Trustee. We are pleased to share the newly named Wolf Kahn Studio, after the late prominent American artist Wolf Kahn, a dear friend of Whit Conrad and consummate master of color.

“Being part of the New York Studio School community has been incredibly meaningful to me, and I look forward to meeting the students who will paint, draw, sculpt, and create in the Wolf Kahn Studio for years to come,” said Whit Conrad (Certificate 2011).

We are deeply grateful to Parker Conrad and patrons like him, whose generosity helps ensure that the School can continue to succeed, expand, and offer our students the distinctive, immersive education that defines the New York Studio School.

Parker Conrad is an entrepreneur who builds innovative solutions that empower organizations and the people within them. A graduate of Harvard University, he is the CEO and co-founder of Rippling, an international software platform that allows businesses to manage their HR, finances, and IT. In addition to his professional accomplishments, his support of our school strengthens opportunities for students, fosters creativity, and helps ensure that the next generation of artists can thrive. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Alexandra MacRae, and their children.

Whit Conrad is a New York City and Bedford, NY, based artist, and a graduate and current trustee of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. He is a former trustee of both the Vermont Studio Center, where he was board chair for 7 years, and the Katonah Museum of Art. Previously a corporate lawyer in NYC, he has degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School.

Whit Conrad’s paintings are immersive explorations of landscape, memory, and emotion, where trees, water, clouds, and sky take on a vivid, almost sentient presence. His work juxtaposes recognizable natural elements with unexpected, imaginative transformations. Whit’s poetic scenes in which figures and forms navigate forces larger than themselves, evoke mystery, wonder, and a sense of journey through both real and imagined worlds.