To find an artist's page, please click on their decade of graduation & then their name:
The Visual Arts Alumni Archive is a compilation of images and written statements by alumni of the Visual Arts Division at the Columbia University School of the Arts. The online archive provides an accessible resource providing exposure for alumni works and a means to stay connected to the Columbia community. The materials in the Archive which range from fifty-year-old black-and-white photographs, to recent paintings and sculptures, to fascinating written recollections, speak vibrantly about the history of the Visual Arts Division. In coming years, the Archive will be expanded to include artists from the 1980s to the present.
The thesis essay of alumna Joan Jonas, submitted in 1964 is exemplary of both the artistic energy and urban-fueled inspiration evidenced in so many materials from the Archive. In the opening lines of the essay, Jonas posits that an artist's personality develops through the work of art making, and "it does not exist before the act and should not be preconceived even though certain individual traits, past experiences and influences all combine in the process of making something new." In this same spirit, The Visual Arts Alumni Archive presents the contemporary work of three decades of Columbia artists alongside recollections of their formative experiences and influences at the School of the Arts.
In February 2006, the Archive was inaugurated with an exhibition held at the LeRoy Neiman gallery in Dodge Hall. From Postwar to Postmodernism: three decades of Columbia Visual Artists was comprised of recent paintings and sculptures and highlighted the life-long commitment to creation and experimentation by Columbia alumni. Many alumni attended the event and had a chance to reconnect with each other, and to meet current students, professors, and the president of Columbia, Lee Bollinger. In the coming years as we expand the Archive we hope to host additional exhibitions with the alumni community.