CURRICULUM

The landscape of the art world is constantly shifting. With the emergence of global communication and reach, the relationships among various art worlds and between artists and institutions has increasingly become more complex and intertwined. This shift and transformation have created an exciting time for one to be an artist and to learn how to carve out a personal path.
In this seminar we will consider ways to develop an art practice in conjunction with a deeper understanding of contemporary art, theory and the ever-changing New York art communities and institutions. We will consider how artists have constructed their communities and networks and how they continue to strive. We will explore art practices that move beyond the conventions of traditional art spaces and into the public realm where art is grounded in its connection to alternative audiences and communities. We will be extending and redefining what it means to be an artist today and push beyond the normative definition of what an exhibition space is and its function. We will visit various for profit, non-profit and alternative exhibition spaces as well as artist’s studios, and look at how artists approach their studio practices which can be varied with surprising similarities and overlaps. We will look at how to build a strong, sustainable artist community and facilitate a constructive discourse around art-making and ideas. Through seminars, studio visits, readings, site visits and journal entries, students will learn and discuss the new models of cultural institutions, audiences, processes and practices. Course work will involve readings that reference artist communities, collaboration, and correspondence. Students will begin to form a critical and conceptual foundation for their own studio/creative and writing practice.

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What does it mean to place our attention in three different directions at once? And how will it help with art and everyday life? In Music of Changes, Cage uses chance operations in the I Ching to make decisions about the sound, duration, and tempo of his composition. By de-centering his role as artist, Cage opens himself up to unexpected possibilities, training himself to weave this outside input into his process.
This seminar will take an “everything everywhere all at once” approach to the artistic process. We will look to the 60-70’s for inspiration, examining artists who energetically blurred the lines between visual art, film, music, dance, installation, and performance. Beginning with the techniques of indeterminacy and chance operations, we will open ourselves up to new starting points for our creative practice. Instead of asking, how do I make a film? We might ask: where are my impulses taking me and what medium can best express these ideas? Throughout the semester we will study and test techniques that are both within and outside of our discipline. By cultivating a “beginner’s mind” we will learn new skills that widen the lens of our creative practice, preparing us to become artists in New York City.

Curated in collaboration with the Indeterminacy Festival, The Indeterminacy Creative Labs invite audiences into the unpredictability of the creative process. In this public forum guest artists will drop us into a current project and share work that is still in development. The intention is to provide artists and audiences the opportunity to enter into a space of play and experimentation as new work is still evolving.
Learn more about past and upcoming Creative Labs HERE.

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There are moments in our careers when creating community and working alongside other artists can change your life forever. This is an industry that’s about community and having the bandwidth to create and conceptualize at a high level. This residency will push your artistic practice in new and unknown ways that will challenge your conceptual thinking and your use of materials. In our meetings, we will be discussing ways to have a deeper understanding of conceptualizing a body of work, challenging or creating theories, and critiquing one another in a positive and helpful manner. The Studio Residency will provide a context in which you will examine your practice thus far, allowing you to create works that reach beyond what you’ve done in the past while still harnessing your accumulated experience and knowledge. We will have curators and visual artist join us during our main critique days so you all can get exposure to the New York Art Scene.
This studio residency will be a graduate style studio practicum where students are expected to work independently to generate their own projects. There will be some guidance along the way, but mostly this is an opportunity to flesh out thoughts and ideas through a creative process in one of the biggest art capitals of the world. By the end of the semester all young artist should have a full portfolio with images and an accompanying platform: This could be a social media app, a website, or a video montage with a voiceover. All students should expect to have four main critiques throughout the semester and check in points in between. There will be one-on one meetings that are non-negotiable. Here is where you can use the studio director as a sounding board for ideas, that means six total one-on-one meetings midterms and finals included. There will also be a commitment of 10 hours minimum in the studio weekly that will be logged.
Through critiques, artist visits, one on ones, experimentation, reflection, and community building, students will learn to develop new creative habits and explore what it means to be a professional artist in this contemporary period. The studio residency, by its structure and design, fosters creativity amongst a community that can create everlasting relationships while helping to create a foundation for a sustainable life-long practice in the arts. Always remember to be kind, show love, feed one another, and watch the growth that can happen in a short amount of time.

NYAP’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series feature guest artists from a wide range of disciplines, specifically suited to our student body each semester. The lecture series gives you the opportunity to learn directly from industry professionals and important gatekeepers.
Recent visiting artists include:
- Visual artist, Kari Chonolky
- Filmmakers, Marttise Hill and Julius Pryor of Pryor Hill Productions
- Writer/Critic, Mónica de la Torre
- Filmmaker, Sushma Khadepaun
- Musician/Audio Engineer, Sophie MacArthur (Swaya)
- Actor, Folami Williams
- Filmmaker, Crystal Kayiza
- Visual artist, Lina Puerta
See our past and upcoming Visiting Artist Lectures HERE.