Professor Tom Thayer, Chair • Department Office: Compton-Goethals 109 • Tel: 212-650-7420

The City College offers the following undergraduate degrees in art:

B.A. in Art

B.F.A. in Electronic Design & Multimedia

Programs and Objectives

Study in New York City offers an unparalleled opportunity to absorb not only the range and excitement of the current art scene, but also the riches of the past, through cultural resources of exceptional quality. The programs of the Art Department provide both the general student and the pre-professional with a solid foundation in studio art and art history, as well as advanced work in several specialized fields. Formal course work is reinforced with visits to museums, galleries, and artists’ studios; guest lectures and critiques; and exhibitions in the Art Department Gallery.

B.A. Program Concentrations

Studio Art

For Studio Art students, general instruction in the theory and practice of the visual arts is provided along with training that may include a focus in one or more of the following areas: drawing, painting, electronic design and multimedia, printmaking, photography, sculpture, or ceramic design. This focused study may be either broad or narrow, allowing students to build their skills in one or more areas after receiving foundation training in design. Studio Art students also take art history courses.

Art History

Art History students take introductory survey courses that are multicultural in focus. Advanced courses provide a grounding in historical and current visual culture traditions. Special topic courses are often linked to current museum exhibitions, and professional internships are open to qualified students. This concentration prepares students for career paths in museums and galleries, art publishing, auction houses, art appraisal, teaching art history, archaeology, and other art-related fields. Art History students also take studio art courses.

Digital Design [DGTLDSN]

The Digital Design concentration offers art students the opportunity of working in a range of digital media that includes: graphic design for print and electronic publications; imaging and illustration; web development and programming; video; 3D modeling and animation. These media courses are taken after students complete department foundation requirements in design. Students in Digital Design work on technical and creative projects in print- and screen-based media and focus on conceptualization, visual problem-solving, and production skills to build a professional design/media portfolio. Digital Design students also take art history courses. Students electing the Digital Design Concentration will choose 9 credits of coursework from a range of elective courses, 9 credits of 30000-level EDM electives, plus the 3 credit EDM capstone course (ART 49590 (p. ) Digital Design Portfolio). Depending on the courses selected, students may also need to complete foundational coursework (ART 29500 Typography 1, ART 29510 Graphic Design Concepts, ART 29520 Illustration and/or ART 29526 2D Imaging) that is prerequisite to some of the 3/30000-level EDM courses. See the Advising/Grad Check Sheet for more detail.

Photography

Photography students take courses that provide foundational materials and methods for lens-based art practices; these students choose from mid and upper level courses that provide advanced study in various aspects of photography as an art form. This includes advanced techniques, professional practices, and theory. Special topic and elective courses are offered that engage with the expanded field of photography in New York City and provide portfolio-building opportunities. Students electing the Photography Concentration also take foundation Studio Art and Art History courses. Students choose 9 credits of coursework from a range of elective courses, 9 credits from among the 30000-level Photography courses*, plus the 3 credit Photography Portfolio capstone course. Depending on the courses selected, a student may also need to complete foundational coursework that is the prerequisite for some of the 3/30000-level Photography courses. See the Advising/Grad Check Sheet for more detail.

Teaching Art K-12

Students interested in teaching in schools, community centers, and/or museums pursue coursework in three main areas: studio art, art history, and education. Building on a solid foundation in the theory, history, and practice of creating and analyzing art, students also learn how to create culturally-relevant lesson plans, build community with diverse populations, and teach the arts in multiple settings. Students in this concentration can elect to pursue Initial Certification with the New York State Department of Education that enables them to teach in the public school system in New York. Students seeking their Initial Certification in Art K-12, must complete student teaching requirements via the School of Education. Alternatively, students may opt to teach in out-of-school settings via the non-certification track.

Facilities

Art Gallery

The Art Department’s gallery space displays work of undergraduates, graduate students, and professional artists, as well as specially curated exhibitions. Approximately 2000 sq. ft. in size, the gallery accommodates two-and three-dimensional art.

Ceramic Design

The facilities include a large open work area with 18 pottery wheels and a slab roller, extruder, and a kiln room with three electric kilns. There is a plaster studio where students learn mold-making. Various clay bodies are used for utilitarian, sculptural and architectural ceramics, with equal emphasis on clay’s multicultural traditions (e.g., Egyptian paste and majolica).

Electronic Design & Multimedia

The electronic design studio incorporates four dedicated computer classrooms/labs, a Digital Output Center, and a design studio classroom, facilitating interaction between traditional and digital design production. The computer labs are configured with industry-standard computers configured with hardware and software for a complete range of print and digital applications, including: design, illustration and imaging, print and electronic publishing, animation, video, 3D modeling and animation, web design and web programming and other applications that integrate digital media design and art. Labs provide access to color laser printing and scanning and patch station for audio output and digital video projection. Students have access to medium and large-format archival inkjet printing and checkout of cameras and other media equipment through the Digital Output Center. Payment for printing is through lab fees or credit card. With an open studio policy for currently enrolled students, the lab is available over 60 hrs./wk. under the supervision of the lab manager, faculty, and lab assistants. This facility mirrors the real-world graphics environments found in industry in order to better prepare students for positions in the field.

Painting and Drawing

The painting and drawing rooms are equipped with architectural-quality drafting tables and large easels. Each studio has wall space for critiques and large-scale projects. Model platforms, mat cutters, props and tools for the construction of painting supports are available. The Art Visual Resource Library maintains a collection of slides of student work for reference.

Photography

The photography facilities include a black & white darkroom, a conventional color darkroom, a color processing lab, and an advanced digital lab. Facilities also include shooting studios/classrooms. Equipment includes: Speedotron, Bowens Calumet Travelite, and Interfit flash systems, as well as Smith Victor, Arri and Lowell hot lights, Sekonic light meters, Manfrotto and Oben tripods, large-format Omega enlargers, a 30" Colenta processor, and a NuArc mercury exposure unit. Cameras available for student use include: Hasselblad H5D DSLR, Mamiya 7 and RZ medium format systems, Cambo, Chamonix, and Toyo 4x5 field cameras. A five station advanced digital lab is equipped with iMac stations, Imacon Flextight X1 scanners, a Nikon 5000EDLS scanner, Epson XL10000 and, Epson 750 scanners, and Epson 3880 and 4880 printers. The David and Lenore Levy Collection of Contemporary Photography is available for student and faculty study in all areas of the Art Department.

Printmaking

The studio is equipped for the teaching of intaglio, lithography, relief processes including woodcut and lino-cut, collagraph, carborundum aquatint, water-based silk-screen, photo-printmaking in etching, silkscreen, lithography, and combinations of all the print media. The Printshop houses three etching, one relief and two lithography presses,. There is a 62" x 62" Duhit plate maker with a deep well blanket, a plate cutter, large hot plate, aquatint box, large aluminum bed for lithographic plates, lithographic stones in a full range of sizes, a queen size drying rack, numerous rollers of various durometers and dimensions, a hydrobooth and hydroblaster for silk screen, a large format ink jet printer to facilitate the production of oversized images and a Universal laser cutter with a 12” x 24” cutting bed. The integration of equipment for digital and photographic processes with conventional printmaking equipment allows for the full range of printmaking experiences.

Sculpture

The sculpture studio facility is amply equipped for the creation of traditional and non-traditional three-dimensional art. It accommodates various techniques including wood assemblage, construction, woodcarving, plaster, clay, and stone carving. There is a small efficient area for metal fabrication with metal working tools including mig welders and plasma cutters. The studio also houses a basic wood design shop with a table saw, jointer, surfacing tools, hand tools, and several band saws.

Visual Media Lab

Located in the Compton-Goethals building in Room 245A, the Visual Media Lab is a facility that offers digital media resources to students and faculty in the Art Department at CCNY. Fostering community between the labs in the EDM and Photography programs and building on the model of the former slide library, the VML serves as a supplemental facility that provides technology and image resources in a welcoming learning-based setting. By providing various workshops, the VML offers students and faculty access to tools to work on their class projects and the confidence to apply those tools successfully and creatively.

Department Activities

Art Department

The Art Department sponsors exhibitions, guest lectures and appearances by visiting artists throughout the academic year. Student exhibitions are organized each year in the Art Gallery.

Student Art Societies

Student organizations have been formed around topics of art history, electronic design and multimedia and photography. These groups are open to all students and generally promote and stimulate various forms of art at the college.

Awards and Scholarships

The Art Department grants the following annual awards, including:

Fitzgerald Bynoe Scholarship

For a male student in his junior year who is concentrating in painting or drawing and has a GPA above 3.0.

The Therese McCabe Ralston Connor Awards

For art majors with promise of outstanding achievement.

The Dean’s Prize in Art

Provides framing for a student work selected for a year-long loan to the Dean’s office.

The George William Eggers Art Alumni Achievement Award

For excellence in a specific field of art.

Nancy and Lawrence Greengrass Scholarship

For a sophomore or junior with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

The Joe Harris Scholarship for Excellence in Photography

An annual award of excellence for one or two students of color who are pursuing studies in photography.

Adelaide Jablonsky Award

For a promising sophomore or junior in the area of three-dimensional design. For a sophomore or junior with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

The Joe Harris Scholarship for Excellence in Photography

An annual award of excellence for one or two students of color who are pursuing studies in photography.

The Joe Harris Scholarship

An annual award of excellence for one or two students of color who are pursuing studies in photography.

Seymour Peck Awards in the Arts

For a sophomore or junior demonstrating an overall proficiency in art.

The Holly T. Popper Art Scholarship

For an outstanding graduating female City College art major to study in an M.F.A. program in the Art Department.

The Provost’s Prize in Art

Provides framing for a student work selected for a year-long loan to the Provost’s office.

The Jacob Rothenberg Award for Excellence in Art

For an outstanding student who has demonstrated excellence in all courses.

The James R. Steers Prize

For general excellence in art.

Faculty

Molly Aitken, Associate Professor
B.A., Harvard Univ.; M.A., Columbia Univ., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Becca Albee, Professor
B.A., Evergreen State College; M.F.A., Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Patterson Beckwith, Lecturer
B.F.A, Cooper Union; M.F.A., Univ. of California (Los Angeles)

Joshua Cohen, Associate Professor
B.A., Vassar College; Ph.D. Columbia Univ.

Jayne Cole, Lecturer
B.A., Luther College; M.A., University of St. Thomas; Ph.D., University of Oregon

Marit Dewhurst, Professor
B.A, Univ. of Michigan; Ed.M., Harvard University, Ed.D.

Carl Fudge, Assistant Professor
B.F.A., Brighton University; M.F.A., Tyler School of Art

Leopoldo Fuentes, Assistant Professor
B.F.A., California State Univ. (Los Angeles); M.F.A., Northwestern Univ.

Ellen Handy, Associate Professor
B.A., Barnard College; Ph.D., Princeton Univ.

Sherry Muyuan He, Assistant Professor
B.A., Macalester College; M.F.A., Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Craig Houser, Lecturer
B.A., Carleton College; M.A., Hunter College; M. Phil., CUNY Graduate Center, Ph.D.

Anna Indych-López, Professor
B.A., New York Univ., M.A., Ph.D.

Lise Kjaer, Lecturer
M.F.A., Academy of Fine Arts (Poland); M. Phil., CUNY Graduate Center, Ph.D.

Abby Kornfeld, Assistant Professor
B.A., Cornell University; M.A. New York Univ., Ph.D.

Hajoe Moderegger, Professor
M.F.A, Bauhaus-University Weimar (Germany)

Sylvia Netzer, Professor
B.A., City College; M.F.A., Columbia Univ.

Pilar Newton, Assistant Professor
B.F.A., Rhode Island School of Design; M.F.A., School of Visual Arts

Mark Smith, Associate Professor
B.F.A., Georgia State Univ.; M.F.A, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Tom Thayer, Professor
B.F.A., Northern Illinois Univ., M.F.A.

Professors Emeriti

Robert E. Borgatta
Colin Chase
Sherman Drexler
Madeleine Gekiere
Michi Itami
Irving Kaufman
Jay Milder
Seong Moy
Elizabeth O'Connor
George Nelson Preston
Joan Webster Price
Harriet F. Senie
Annette Weintraub

Name	Degree	Type	NYSED Code	HEGIS Code	CIP Code
Art	BA - Bachelor of Arts	Major	02194 - ART-BA	1002.00	50.0702
Art Teacher, All Grades	BA - Bachelor of Arts	Major	25925 - ARTK12U-BA	0831.00	13.1302
Electronic Design and Multimedia	BFA - Bachelor of Fine Arts	Major	22236 - EDM-BFA	0605.00	09.0702

Department: Art