Visual & Digital Arts

This class is a learning laboratory for digital art making processes from brainstorming through digital output. Students are encouraged to mix media, taking clues from a rich tradition of avant-garde experiments and current trends in digital art. All projects incorporate digital tools in some stage of their process, though the final format may integrate traditional techniques and materials. The class establishes a collaborative learning environment, wherein all participants will take turns sharing their expertise and discoveries in a laboratory of emerging technologies.

This course explores the role and importance of an artist manager, what they do, and how they impact the career of the artist and their brand. The course begins with the basics: why an artist needs a manager, the keys to finding the right partner, and a typical management contract. From there, students will cover the details of planning an artist’s career, money management and what to do when things go wrong.

In this course students will consider the formation of museums, non-profit and artist-run alternative space and commercial galleries. Students will examine different typologies of institutions—their structure, spaces, and performativity. Coursework will include video and film screenings, the study of artist writings, cultural criticism, live work, and class visits to cultural organizations in New York City and across Long Island.

The challenge of contemporary public curating is responding to the shifts in urban space and usage, to new technologies, and to new forms of social and interventionist artistic practice. This course will provide an overview of curatorial models for visual and media art, ranging from approaches to online exhibitions to models for presenting digital art in indoor spaces such as museums and galleries, at festivals or in outdoor spaces. Students will engage with challenges of and best practices for the presentation of digital art in various contexts, audience engagement, organizational structures, as well as exhibition documentation.

Introduction to Arts Entrepreneurship is a survey of a business strategies, including money management, investing, insurance, taxes and all the other details behind a successful career in the arts. This course also emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial thinking, engages students with the fundamentals of the arts “business”, and explores ways to influence and shape the industry’s future. The course will explore the inner workings of the arts industry, using creative problem-solving exercises, discussion questions, collaborative projects, case studies, and hands-on activities. Students will have firsthand experience with guest experts in the fields of promotion, management, and artist representatives, and thus begin creating their own networks and a path to their future activities in the arts.

Drawing on their work from the Curating Displays of Visual Works class, students will create one or more curatorial platforms in the public domain. This will require the identification of a site with related research on its historical, socio-political, and environmental context; researching the various stakeholders; writing concept statements and invitations or projects briefs for artists; a budget and communication plan; and a public presentation for feedback. This is an intensive course with substantial expectations of work outside class time. There will be guest speakers, site visits, outside research and group meetings.

The explosive growth and transformation of the modern city has inspired its frequent representation in photography, cinema, television and other media, influencing how we view and understand modern urban life. This course examines the different facets of the city over time, including industrialization and development, suburbanization, race, poverty and even dreams of future cities as they are seen through a variety of modern media.

This class offers a comprehensive study of media options available for the promotion of artists, products, and services. It includes a brief discussion of marketing plans, followed by a detailed look at both old and new media. Concepts such as integrated marketing communication are melded with creative tools for branding. Students will analyze an existing promotion plan, as well as create one of their own for a new product. Particular attention is given to the use of the internet for communication and the location and retrieval of business-related data.

This class offers a comprehensive study of media options available for the promotion of artists, products, and services. It includes a brief discussion of marketing plans, followed by a detailed look at both old and new media. Concepts such as integrated marketing communication are melded with creative tools for branding. Students will analyze an existing promotion plan, as well as create one of their own for a new product. Particular attention is given to the use of the internet for communication and the location and retrieval of business-related data.