Incredibly, The Art Students League building, the epicenter for student art and culture is turning 125 years old in a month. Founded in 1875 by a group of artists who wanted to experiment with new techniques and forms of expression yet excluded from established galleries, the students joined a movement to create a center that could be a home to innovative artists and ideas.
Opened in 1892, the League has served as an incubator, school, creative haven, studio, and gallery for artists, dedicated to fostering independence and providing accessible, affordable and high-quality education and instruction in the fine arts.
Artists who have studied at ASLNYC include Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, James Rosenquist and Ai-Weiwei among others. Today, thousands of aspiring and emerging artists study drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media at the League.
To commemorate this occasion, the Art Students League of New York will be opening up their building for a two-day celebration of parties, open house events, exhibitions, auctions, art sales and experiential events on Friday, May 11th and Saturday, May 12th.
Art Students League’s ST[art]UP Weekend:
Friday, May 11th
7:00pm-10:00pm
Price: $250 and above
At this kick-off event, guests will gather in the studios designed to evoke the grandeur of the Vanderbilt Gallery, where works by the League’s renowned artists will be on display throughout the weekend. Guests will be able to bid and buy artworks by League instructors, students, alumni and young artists. This strolling reception will include sumptuous hors d’oeuvres, themed cocktails and live entertainment.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
11:00AM-3:00PM
Open House | Open Studios
Price: $10 (all ages)
Anybody and everybody can MAKE art, SEE art, or even BE art at the League’s Open House event. Students and instructors will be onsite to run demos and lead workshops for people of all ages and levels of artistic know-how. In the Vanderbilt Gallery, League models dressed to the nines will pose for a series of live sketch sessions. Ever wanted to try your hand at modeling? You, too, can take the stage and become a work for art.
Kid-friendly workshops will include: “Make A Pollock,” “Transformation: The Body Becomes Geometry,” and “Sketching Superheroes” (with the creators of the comic book ‘Black’ Kwanza Osajyefo and Tim Smith).
Saturday, May 12, 2018
8:00PM-11:00PM
House Party
Price: $50-$125
The League has put on some legendary parties in the past – Fakirs Balls, Dream Balls and 140NOW – and this one promises to be a fabulous evening of dancing, performance, costumes, and over the top FUN. So join the League for the unforgettable inaugural ST[art]UP House Party!
Tickets for the ST[art]UP events are available now at: https://www.theartstudentsleague.org/startup/
