Its History
by Mercedes Matter

To appreciate the New York Studio School one should know why and how it came about.

By the 1950s virtually all art schools had become degree granting colleges, diluting the study of art beyond recognition. Those students who were serious about studying, who felt themselves committed to becoming artists, found attending these art schools-turned-colleges, with their frantic pace, their days fragmented into a multitude of courses, completely frustrating.

In September of 1963 an article appeared in ARTnews, by painter Mercedes Matter, which gave voice to these students' grievances. It ridiculed art education for what it had become, contrasting it with the character of what academies of fine arts and artists' ateliers had been.

The article had the effect on her students of making them want a genuine art school such as she had described, wanting it enough, in fact, to give up their B.A. degree, with its practical advantages, to create the school themselves if she would help them. She agreed, and together they founded the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

A poster by photographer Herbert Matter was sent out to students throughout the country, which inspired enthusiastic response. A need for such a school had been widely felt.

For the faculty, the students chose the artists whom they had admired as instructors; Matter enlisted the artists of exceptional quality whom she knew to be sympathetic, so that from the start the School had an unparalleled faculty.

The early faculty included for painting: Charles Cajori, Louis Finkelstein, Philip Guston, Alex Katz, Earl Kerkam, George McNeil, and Esteban Vicente; for sculpture: Peter Agostini, Sidney Geist, Reuben Nakian, and George Spaventa; for drawing: Nicholas Carone and Mercedes Matter; for art history: Meyer Schapiro and Leo Steinberg.

Each artist donated a drawing to help the School get started. During the summer, under the leadership of Marc Zimetbaum, the students searched for an appropriate loft, pooling what savings or resources they had to secure it.

The School opened on September 23rd, 1964 as announced on the poster the previous spring, with a student body of sixty selected students.

The students realized that during the first week they had spent more hours drawing at the School than in an entire semester at another institution. This was to be the character of the New York Studio School: daily continuity of study through work in the studio.

The J.M. Kaplan Fund was the first foundation to give its support, but required a Board of Trustees to handle the finances. Mrs. Henry Epstein agreed to form this, and devoted herself entirely to the School. Mrs. John D. Rockefeller gave her support through the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. W. McNeil Lowry, Vice President of The Ford Foundation, was known to consider that for focus and atmosphere, schools in the arts were better outside of the college or university system. The Ford Foundation, through Lowry, gave the School the largest grant ever given to an art school up to that time.

Most gratifying was the endorsement given by the artists' community. Twice, over 300 artists donated drawings outright to the School. They were sold as collections to the Weatherspoon Gallery in North Carolina and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. They showed an excellent cross-section of drawing in the United States, representing artists of every persuasion, including the most celebrated.

During the second year, Mrs. Epstein died. As the loft had to be vacated, and more space was needed, she had been looking into possible buildings. After her death, the most ideal location became available: the eight buildings on Eighth Street and MacDougal Alley, which had comprised the original Whitney Museum of American Art. This would mean an enormous commitment. Again, it was thanks to a student that it became possible. The sudden death of Claudia Stone brought it about. At the approach of her 21st birthday, Claudia had been requested to make a will, in which she had bequeathed half of her estate to the School. Thus the School's marvelous building and permanent home is testimony of how much the School owes to the devotion of its original students.

During the years there have been a number of Directors or Deans, including Sidney Geist, Morton Feldman (who had been a major influence at the School through his talks), Mercedes Matter, Bruce Gagnier, and since 1988, Graham Nickson.

Throughout changes in leadership, the School has maintained its essential character of learning through perception as a basis and allowing students the circumstances for consistent work.

Graham Nickson, the current Dean, has expanded the School in a number of ways, one of which includes his Drawing Marathon. He has restored the building to its inherent beauty, and enabled the necessary reparations to be made. Most importantly, he has infused the atmosphere of the School with his extraordinary energy and his passion for art.