NYAA

Summer Undergraduate Residency

Related Links

The New York Academy of Art offers a unique month-long residency in NYC for ambitious undergraduate students and recent graduates. Participants in the Summer Undergraduate Residency Program experience life and work at the New York Academy of Art. The program expands your technical skill, studio practice and professional development, while preparing you for entry into an MFA program. Apply and experience a summer of immersion in the NYC art world. Click here to download our 2024 Summer Residency Brochure.

   

Application Deadline February 19

Notification March 4

Deposit Due March 25

Final payment of tuition May 15

2024 IMPORTANT DATES

June 2024 July 2024
Session One Session Two


Arrive in NYC & Housing Check-in June 2 July 7
Orientation & Classes Begin June 3 July 8
Classes End & Studio Move-out June 28 August 2
Housing Check-out July 29 August 3

ELIGIBILITY

The program is open to current students and recent graduates of US and international institutions and non-traditional students with a demonstrated ability in art. Non-art majors are eligible to apply. Those admitted to the program have the opportunity to work in our studios, take classes and exhibit at the Academy. Two sessions are offered each summer in June or July. For more details about the program, please contact the Department of Continuing Studies at 212.842.5968 or cs@nyaa.edu.

 

PROGRAM OF STUDY

All students in the Summer Residency study five courses designed to explore theories and techniques of contemporary figuration. Students are encouraged to take full advantage of the New York art world and have the opportunities to visit artist’s studios and major exhibitions that may serve as inspiration for their personal studio practice. SURP faculty and the Academy community facilitate this exploration with recommendations for events and happenings each week.

 

Curriculum

+
CS-D401 Drawing: Exploration of the Human Form

This course is designed to develop the student’s ability to represent the human form in pictorial space, a skill that is critical to all artists. Emphasis is placed on gaining an in-depth understanding of the body’s underlying geometry and anatomical structure. Students will be working from the live model to create perceptual, naturalistic drawings, learning about the characteristic contours of muscles and how body parts move in relation to one another and to the picture plane. Course meets once a week for 6 hours, 4 sessions for 24 contact hours.

Core Learning Outcomes

  • Accuracy of transposing visual phenomena to the page
  • Improved abilities in observation, strategies, control and development in drawing
  • Understanding of mark making to forge a more effective strategy
  • An understanding of the  body’s underlying geometry and anatomical structure

+
CS-H403 Theory: The Trajectory of Contemporary Artistic Practice

Taught primarily through discussions, lectures, and readings, this course addresses the social and art historical underpinnings of the emerging contemporary milieu and encourages students to locate their own practice within a larger cultural framework. Students will explore the ways in which contemporary artistic practice and critical theory interrelate, and build their ability to locate themselves and their practice within a larger zeitgeist of contemporary art. This course introduces methods of art criticism, provides an academic and theoretical basis upon which to discuss current artistic practice, and teaches students to gauge personal reactions against established scholarly approaches. Course meets once a week for 3 hours, 4 sessions for 12 contact hours.

Core Learning Outcomes

  • Expanded knowledge of contemporary artistic developments as well as a deeper understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of academic discourses on visual art
  • Explore a range of theoretical perspectives that shape attitudes towards visual art

+
CS-H402 Cultural Studies: Museums, Galleries, Artist Studios

This course is an exploration of the immense and historically significant collection of art that is centered in New York. Using the rich diversity of museums and galleries in the New York City area, this course provides the student with the opportunity to explore many of the city’s art centers and learn visual research techniques to aid in the development of his or her own work. Course meets once a week for 6 hours, 4 sessions for 24 contact hours.

Core Learning Outcomes:

  • Refined rhetorical skills through active engagement
  • Ability to consider how the exposure to work of other artists might impact their own
  • A better understanding of the New York art world through professional practice: studio visits, gallery visits, museum visits, non-profits and more

+
CS-P401 Dialogues in Painting: Traditional Materials

This course examines the practical application of indirect painting techniques from historical and contemporary practice. Students will paint from the live model exploring the warm/cool palette, the dead palette and chromatic palette approach to tonal structure and color theory. Emphasis in this course is on analytical seeing/interpreting of form. Course meets once a week for 6 hours, 4 sessions for 24 contact hours.

Core Learning Outcomes:

  • Ability to address painting development in sequential fashion and optically mix color through indirect layering painting techniques and materials
  • Increased skill in use of toned grounds, imprimatura, underpainting, glazing and vellatura
  • Understanding of how to approach multiple forms in space with a coherent tonal structure
  • Development of core skills of composition, drawing, form, and color/temperature

+
CS-S401 Sculpting the Figure: Perceptual Modeling

This course addresses the challenge of sculpting the human figure from observation, in combination with a systematic study of the largely invisible underlying structure of the figure. Initial instruction promotes analytical seeing and interpretation. Exploration of linear and volumetric systems of proportion supports the architectonic organization in the realization of the figure through the process of modeling. Course meets once a week for 6 hours, 4 sessions for 24 contact hours.

Core Learning Outcomes:

  • Knowledge of human proportions, anatomy, axis lines, planar and mass relationships, and composition
  • Knowledge of materials and techniques for manifesting 3-dimensional form
  • Understanding of the importance of creating maquettes to aid in the development of the final outcome
  • Skills in sculpting—and, by extension, in drawing and painting—the human form

Material List

+
Painting Materials

  • Palette (paper, glass, or wood)
  • Palette knife
  • Canvas and/or panel supports (approximately 11×14, 12×16 but no bigger than 18×24). Smooth surface is recommended, and additional surfaces may be supplemented.
  • Acrylic gesso for priming
  • 2-3 inch painter’s brush or foam brush for application of gesso
  • Linseed oil*
  • Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits)*
  • Two jars with lids for medium use/storage
  • Brushes (assortment of sizes, soft natural or synthetic hair filbert or flat brushes)
  • Oil paints:
    1. Titanium White
    2. Raw Umber
    3. Iron Oxide Red* (also known as: Transparent Oxide Red, Transparent Earth red)
    4. Terre Verte
    5. Yellow Ochre
    6. Ivory Black or Cold Black
    7. Quinacridone Magenta (or, Alizarine Crimson)
    8. Ultramarine Blue
    10. + Any other colors you wish to bring.
    **Please note, your instructor may require additional colors**
  • Paper towels or rags
  • Masking or artist tape
  • Sharpie

*For students traveling to NYC by airplane, Gamsol, linseed oil, liquid mediums, and other supplies may be purchased at art supply stores near the Academy.

+
Drawing Tools

  • Sketch Book (medium size or bigger sketch pad recommend),
  • Pencil
  • Charcoal
  • Sharpener
  • Pink Pearl Eraser,
  • Kneaded Eraser
  • Chamois Cloth
  • Vine Charcoal

+
Sculpting Tools

Please bring any small sculpting tools that you are comfortable with. A few tools will be suggested at the beginning of class.

SURP Scholarships

+
Academy Merit Scholarship ♦

Academy Merit Scholarships for Summer Residency students range from $500-$2,750 and cover tuition and fees for participants. The Academy grants three residency participants in each session a full-tuition scholarship in the amount of $2,750. Full-scholarship recipients are responsible for housing and transportation fees. All applicants are considered for scholarships based on the quality of their application materials and portfolio.