School of Visual Arts
Established	1947
Type	Proprietary
President	David Rhodes
Academic staff	971
Undergraduates	3,522
Postgraduates	424
Location	New York, NY
Campus	Urban
Colors	Crimson/Gold
Mascot	Squidley
Website	sva.edu

SVA's Main building

Close-up of the main building

The Photography building

SVA's West Side building

The School of Visual Arts (SVA), is an art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States.^[1] It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and was renamed in 1956.^[2] It offered its first degrees in 1972.^[3] SVA is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of 36 leading art schools in the United States.

Curriculum [edit]

SVA is a fully accredited art college that requires the completion of a four-year, 120 credit course for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. This includes 72 accumulated credits' worth of studio classes (where the curriculum requires the creation of some type of art), 30 accumulated credits of Humanities and Sciences courses, 12 accumulated credits of art history courses, and six discretionary credits. The Master of Fine Arts degree requires completion of 60 credits and a thesis project, while the Master of Professional Studies degree requires 30–36 credits and a thesis project, depending on the program. The Master of Arts in Teaching degree requires the completion of 36 credits and a thesis project.

As of 2000^[update], the undergraduate degrees offered at SVA are Advertising, Animation, Cartooning, Digital Art, Film & Video, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography, and Visual & Critical Studies.^[4]

In 1983, the school introduced its first graduate offering, a Master of Fine Arts program in painting, drawing and sculpture. Currently, SVA offers graduate programs in nineteen fields: Art Education; Art Criticism & Writing; Art Practice; Art Therapy; Branding; Computer Art; Design; Design Criticism; Digital Photography; Fashion Photography; Illustration as Visual Essay; Live Action Short Film; Photography, Video and Related Media; Social Documentary Film; Interaction Design; Design for Social Innovation; Products of Design; and Critical Theory and the Arts.^[5]

There are also non-degree departments offering courses in Art History and Humanities & Sciences, and a Continuing Education Division that offers non-credit courses from most SVA departments.^[6]

Location and campus [edit]

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The school has two Manhattan locations: in the Gramercy Park neighborhood, on the East Side; and in the Chelsea neighborhood, on the West Side, with a number of buildings catering to classes in different departments. From 1994 to 1997, the school also had a branch campus in Savannah, GA. However, the campus was closed following a lawsuit from the Savannah College of Art and Design.^[7]

Main building [edit]

The Main Building is located at 209 East 23rd Street, between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, and features classrooms, administrative offices, a cafeteria (Moe's Cafe) and an amphitheater on the third floor. The upper floors are mostly designated for the film, video, graphic design, advertising, illustration and cartooning classes. The building's lobby and an adjoining room also serve as a museum space for exhibits and public events.

Second Avenue building [edit]

The school does not own this entire building, which is located at 380 Second Avenue, but only three of its floors, including the second, where the school's library and some classrooms are located, the fifth floor, where undergraduate animation studios and the graduate design department are located, the seventh floor, where the illustration classrooms and studios are located, and the eighth floor, where administrative offices, and classrooms designated for Humanities and Sciences classes are located.

Photography building [edit]

Located at 214 East 21st Street, this building is where classrooms and studios used for undergraduate and graduate photography classes are located, as well as the school's radio station, WSVA, and some administrative offices.

West Side building [edit]

This building, located from 133 to 141 West 21st Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, contains most of the studios serving drawing and painting classes, particularly for freshmen. It also features classrooms for courses in interior design, printmaking, BFA & MFA computer art, and art history. The lower level also features an art gallery and a cafeteria.

SVA also owns the building across the street, at 132 West 21st Street, which has offices, classrooms and studios for undergraduate cartooning & illustration, and graduate interaction design, Illustration as Visual Essay, computer art, art education, art therapy, art criticism and writing.

BFA Fine Arts building [edit]

Located at 335 West 16th Street, this building houses the BFA Fine Arts Department, Sculpture Studios and Digital Lab.

SVA Theatre [edit]

Located at 333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues, in Chelsea. It was formerly the Clearview Chelsea West Cinema, and was purchased in 2008. Renovation of it began that September, and it opened in January 2009. Designer and SVA Acting Chairman Milton Glaser produced designs for the Theater's interior and exterior of the building, including the sculpture situated atop its marquee. The 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) facility houses two separate auditoriums, one with 265 seats and the other with 480, hosts class meetings, lectures, film screenings and other public events. The SVA Theatre has also hosted the red-carpet New York première of Ethan Hawke's The Daybreakers: and a diverse list of world premières connected to SVA's educational mission and student interests ranging from the feature documentary Redlight, produced and narrated by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu (2010); to the FOX animated comedy Allen Gregory (2011); and The Hunger Games (2012). Community partners that have used the theater include the Tribeca and GenArt film festivals, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC environmental initiative, and the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting.^[8] The theatre is also home to the Dusty Film & Animation Festival, held annually since 1990, which showcases the work of emerging filmmakers and animators from the SVA Film, Video and Animation Department. More than 3,000 people typically attend the Dusty Festival, which is considered one of the top student film festivals in the country.^[9]

Galleries [edit]

SVA has three gallery spaces: the Visual Arts Gallery, at 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor; the West side Gallery, at 141 West 21st Street; and the SVA Gallery/Visual Arts Museum, at 209 East 23rd Street. The galleries show a mix of student and professional art.

Residence halls [edit]

There are a number of residence halls for students at SVA:

• The George Washington Residence is located at 23 Lexington Ave. The building houses Residence Life, the Office for International Students, Student Affairs and VASA (Visual Arts Student Affairs) on the Mezzanine. The top floor is designated as the Solarium for cooking, and a student lounge.
• The New Residence is located at 215 E. 23rd St. The building houses only freshmen and is an apartment styled dormitory.
• The Gramercy Women's Residence is located at 17 Gramercy Park South and houses only female students.
• 10th St Dorms are located at 101 10th St and house mostly upperclassmen.
• Ludlow Dorms are located at 101 Ludlow St and house mostly upperclassmen. This building was opened during the 2009–2010 academic year.

Notable instructors [edit]

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Animation

• Aurelio Voltaire Hernandez – musician, animator, author and artist^[10]

Art history

• Donald Kuspit – author of numerous books, including The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist; The Dialectic of Decadence
• Robert C. Morgan – art critic
• Thyrza Nichols Goodeve
• Jerry Saltz – former head art critic, Village Voice, currently writes for New York

Cartooning

• Jessica Abel – graphic novelist, La Perdida^[11]
• Sal Amendola – comic book artist primarily associated with DC Comics^[12]
• Will Eisner – comics legend whose SVA courses led to his famous books Comics & Sequential Art and Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative
• Tom Hart – cartoonist/writer, Hutch Owen
• Carmine Infantino – writer and editor during the silver age of comic books
• Phil Jimenez – illustrator on Wonder Woman, New Xmen, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, JLA-Titans, Planetary/Authority^[13]
• Klaus Janson – a veteran of several Batman comics, including The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Black and White, and Batman: Gothic^[14]
• Harvey Kurtzman – cartoonist, editor, and founding editor of Mad magazine^[15]
• Matt Madden – cartoonist/writer known for works such as Odds Off
• Jack Markow - cartoonist, originator of the course in magazine cartooning
• Rick Marschall – writer-editor, Nemo, the Classic Comics Library
• David Mazzucchelli – illustrator of such works as Batman: Year One and creator of Asterios Polyp ^[16]
• Joe Orlando – artist-editor, vice president of DC Comics, associate publisher of Mad^[17]
• Gary Panter – cartoonist/writer, Jimbo in Purgatory
• Walter Simonson – worked on Thor and X-Men-related comics^[18]
• Art Spiegelman – comics artist, editor and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel memoir, Maus
• Bhob Stewart – comics for The Realist, Charlton, DC, Marvel and Warren Publishing
• Sam Viviano – contributor and art director at Mad magazine

Fine arts

• Richard Artschwager – sculptor and designer
• Alice Aycock – creator of large, architectural sculptures; solo exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art.
• Lynda Benglis – innovator of materials in the 1970s; feminist icon.
• Robert Beauchamp - painter
• John Button - painter
• Dan Christensen – painter
• Michael Goldberg – painter
• Eva Hesse – sculptor
• Chaim Koppelman - printmaker, created the Printmaking Dept. at SVA (1959) where he taught until 2007
• Joseph Kosuth – conceptual artist
• Ronnie Landfield – painter
• Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt – artist
• Michael Loew – painter
• Robert Mangold – painter
• Brice Marden – painter
• Keith Milow – artist
• Marilyn Minter – exhibitions include Salon 94 (NY), Whitney Biennial 2006.
• Elizabeth Murray (artist) – painter
• Joseph Nechvatal – digital art and theories of virtual reality.
• Steve Poleskie - screen printing
• Joel Shapiro – sculptor
• Carolee Schneemann – artist
• Barbara Schwartz – artist
• Marjorie Strider – sculptor
• Jack Whitten – painter
• Neil Williams – painter
• Larry Zox – painter

Graphic design

• Edward Benguiat – calligrapher and type designer who created over 600 typeface fonts, such as Barcelona and Bookman, and who has designed the logos for periodicals such as The New York Times, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, teaches typography.^[19]
• Milton Glaser – designer who created the famous "I love NY" logo.
• Steven Heller - co-founder of the school's MFA "Designer as Author" program.^[20]
• Debbie Millman – partner and president of the design division at Sterling Brands
• Stefan Sagmeister – award-winning graphic designer based in NYC
• Paula Scher – graphic designer and principal at the Pentagram design consultancy. Created redesigns of the Citibank and Tiffany brands; her work is featured in the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
• James Victore – independent graphic designer
• KAWS – graffiti artist, limited-edition clothing and toy designer

Illustration

• Ray DiPalma – poet and visual artist
• James McMullan – illustrator and designer
• John Sheridan – poster artist and magazine cover illustrator^[21]
• Robert Weaver – pioneering American illustrator from the '50s^[22]
• George Woodbridge – American illustrator known for his exhaustive research and historical accuracy, with exacting expertise in drawing military uniforms^[23]

Photography

• Guy Aroch – photographer, BFA photography department professor
• Marco Breuer – photographer
• Elinor Carucci – photographer, BFA photography department professor
• Laurel Nakadate – video artist, photographer, BFA photography department professor
• Stan Shaffer – photographer
• Amy Stein – photographer
• Amy Taubin – film critic, former curator of video and film at The Kitchen, MFA Photography Video and Related Media department.
• Jerry Yulsman – photographer (Playboy, Collier's, Look) and novelist (Elleander Morning)

Filmmaking

• Roy Frumkes – screenwriter and independent filmmaker ^[24]
• Bob Giraldi - director and independent filmmaker
• Chris Newman – sound engineer, three-time Academy Award winner and five-time nominee, sound mixer/director. Film credits include The Godfather, Amadeus, The Exorcist, The Silence of the Lambs, and The English Patient
• Lew Schwartz, founder of film department and former Batman artist and Emmy Award winning film-maker^[25]
• Amy Taubin – curator, film critic and filmmaker (Film Comment, Millennium Film Journal, Artforum, Premiere, L.A. Weekly, Sight and Sound, The Village Voice)

MFA Computer Art

• Lillian Schwartz – Visiting Scholar

Notable alumni [edit]

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Animation

• Bill Plympton – twice Academy Award-nominated animator
• John R. Dilworth - creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog
• Derek Drymon
• Chris Prynoski – animator^[26]
• Jerry Beck – animation historian
• Pres Antonio Romanillos – supervising animator at Disney and DreamWorks animation.
• Daisuke Tsutsumi – concept artist and art director at Pixar.
• Kal Parekh - actor
• Rebecca Sugar - storyboard artist and composer for Adventure Time

Cartooning

• Peter Bagge – underground cartoonist
• Kyle Baker – graphic novelist and animator
• Chris Batista – comic book artist on Legion of Superheroes and 52
• Matt Davies – Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist
• Dennis Detwiller – comic book artist, collectible card game illustrator (Magic: The Gathering) and video game designer (Scarface: The World is Yours)
• Steve Ditko – co-creator of Spider-Man, creator of The Question and others
• Bob Fingerman – alternative/underground cartoonist and creator of Minimum Wage and White Like She
• Drew Friedman – alternative cartoonist/illustrator known for his celebrity caricatures
• Rob Gilbert/Robby Gilbert – children's illustrator, animator cartoonist/illustrator known for his comic, "The Adventures of Ranger Rick"
• Archie Goodwin – longtime editor and writer for Marvel and DC
• John Holmstrom – founder of PUNK magazine, co-founder of Comical Funnies with Peter Bagge, and creator of Bosko, "America's Least Favorite Cartoon Character"^[27]
• Jamal Igle -– DC Comics Artist of Firestorm, Nightwing, Supergirl and Zatanna^[28]
• James Jean – 2001 graduate^[29] who became the cover artist for the comic book series Fables and The Umbrella Academy, for which he has won six Eisner Awards for "Best Cover Artist".^[30]
• Phil Jimenez – DC Comics writer/artist for Wonder Woman and artist for Infinite Crisis
• Kaz – underground cartoonist known for his strip Underworld
• John Paul Leon – comic book illustrator, known for work on Earth X, Static
• Mark Newgarden – underground cartoonist and creator of the Garbage Pail Kids^[31]
• Joe Quesada – Comic book illustrator, editor-in-chief and later Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Comics; majored in illustration and graduated in 1984.^[32]
• Lew Schwartz, founder of film department and former Batman artist and Emmy Award winning film-maker^[25]
• Carlos Saldanha – director and co-director of the films Ice Age, Robots, and Ice Age: The Meltdown
• Joe Sinnott – longtime Marvel Comics inker
• Gerard Way – lead singer of My Chemical Romance, artist of The Breakfast Monkey and author of The Umbrella Academy^[33]
• Graig Weich – creator of the short film "Ravedactyl: Project Evolution".^[34]

Computer art

• Laurence Gartel – digital art pioneer^[35]
• Nikita Mikros – independent game designer

Film and Video

• Chantal Claret – Founding member and lead singer of Morningwood^[36][37]
• Michael Cuesta – Director of L.I.E.
• Michael Giacchino – film composer^[38]
• Jared Leto – film actor (Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, Fight Club) attended SVA for a BFA in Film and Video; during which time he directed and starred in a short film entitled Crying Joy. He has also directed music videos for his band 30 Seconds to Mars: "The Kill", "From Yesterday", "Kings and Queens", "Closer to the Edge", "Hurricane" under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins, and also "A Beautiful Lie" under the alias of Angakok Panipaq.
• Jonathan Pontell - Emmy, Golden Globe, and George Foster Peabody Award winning television director, producer and editor
• Jesse Richards – painter, Remodernist filmmaker and founder of U.S. Stuckism center
• Harris Savides – cinematographer of the films Last Days, Elephant, Gerry, Zodiac, and Milk
• Bryan Singer – film director, attended SVA for two years before transferring to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles^[39]
• Dante Tomaselli – film director of Anchor Bay Entertainment's Satan's Playground
• Trevor Moore – comedian and founding member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know^[40]
• Sam Brown – comedian and founding member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know.^[40]
• Zach Cregger – comedian and member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know.^[40]
• Joseph M. Petrick – writer and co-director of The Mother of Invention^[41]
• Andrew Bowser – co-director and star of The Mother of Invention^[42]
• Ti West – director of the horror comedy The Roost and Cabin Fever 2
• Kazuhiro Soda – director of observational documentaries "Campaign", "Mental", and "Peace"
• David Caspe – Creator of the ABC hit show Happy Endings. Also is a sought-after screenwriter, he penned the film That's My Boy, starring Adam Sandler. He graduated from SVA in 2005 with an MFA.
• Steve Carr – film director who directed the films Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Daddy Day Care, Next Friday, Are We Done Yet?, among other comedy hits.
• Randall Emmett – film producer who produced the films Rambo, Iron Man, and more. He has also worked as a personal assistant to Mark Wahlberg. He graduated SVA in 1995 with a BFA in Film and Video.
• Samuel Bayer – Music video and commercial director who has directed music videos for Green Day, Blink 182, Lionel Richie, and Sheryl Crow. He also directed the 2010 remake of The Nightmare on Elm Street. He graduated SVA with a BFA in Film and Video in 1987.
• Andrew Rona – Film producer and studio executive. He is the former co-president of Rogue Pictures. Since 2008, he has been the president of Silver Pictures. He has also produced the films Unknown, Scary Movie 3, Scream 2, Scream 3, Project X, and many more.
• Carlos Saldanha – director and co-director of the films Ice Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Rio. His films have grossed over $2.6 billion dollars worldwide. According to box office mojo, he is the 38th most successful director of all time based on box office gross.
• Craig Gillespie - Film and commercial director who directed the films Lars and the Real Girl, Mr. Woodcock, and the 2011 film Fright Night, starring Colin Farrell. He is also a very prolific commercial director, he has been directing commercials for the past 16 years. His next film is set to star Will Ferrell and will be produced by Ben Stiller, it is titled "The Flamingo Thief".
• Barry Rosen - Television producer and director who executive produced the television series Zorro, produced numerous TV movies including Christmas Every Day, and has directed and produced countless television series.
• Fred Armisen - Actor, comedian, writer and Saturday Night Live cast member. Did not graduate.

Music

• Jared Leto – lead singer and co-founder of alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, also actor and film director (see the previous category)
• Aurelio Voltaire Hernández – animator and comic artist who is also known as Voltaire (musician), artist of "BRAINS!", a song written for the Cartoon Network show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in the episode Little Rock of Horror.
• Mark McCoy – influential hardcore punk frontman, notable for Charles Bronson (band) and Das Oath, among a plethora of others.
• Gerard Way – lead singer and co-founder of alternative rock band My Chemical Romance, also writer of comic book The Umbrella Academy
• Chantal Claret – Founding member and lead singer of Morningwood

Fine arts

• Ali Banisadr - painter and drawer
• Esao Andrews – painter and skateboard designer.
• Samuel Bayer – commercial and music video director for bands such as Nirvana, Green Day, The Offspring, Blink-182, The Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Metallica, and My Chemical Romance, as well as Green Day's concert film Bullet in a Bible. He has also directed many commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, Nike, and several commercials for the United States Army "Army Strong" campaign. He graduated from SVA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1987.
• Robert Beauchamp - Painter.^[43]
• Mark McCoy – print artist and photographer, notable for releasing on Heartworm Press
• Tom Burr – installation artist.
• Robin Byrd – adult film actress, who took art and sketching classes at SVA. To help pay for classes she did life form modeling.^[44]
• Gregory Edwards - New York City and Frankfurt, Germany painter/artist conceptual artist
• Lori Earley – painter
• Inka Essenhigh – painter
• Neck Face – graffiti artist
• Andrea Fraser – performance artist
• Pamela Fraser – painter
• Barnaby Furnas – painter
• Keith Haring – attended SVA, but was expelled when he used the interior of an SVA building as a canvas for graffiti in a project with Jean-Michel Basquiat^[2]
• Gus Heinze – painter
• James Jaxxa – multimedia artist
• Reverend Jen – performance artist
• Vashtie Kola – also known as Vashtie or Va$htie, director, designer, artist, blogger, party promoter
• Joseph Kosuth – conceptual artist^[2]
• Robert Lazzarini – sculptor and installation artist.
• Dinh Q Lê – fine arts photographer^[45]
• Steve Mumford – painter
• Sol LeWitt – American artist working in multiple media
• Paul A. Paddock- painter
• Elizabeth Peyton – painter
• Andrew Cornell Robinson – multimedia artist
• Brian Rutenberg – painter
• Sarah Sze – sculptor and MacArthur Fellows Program ("Genius Grant") recipient^[46]
• John von Bergen – sculptor
• Charlie White – artist, working primarily in photography.

Graphic design

• Todd Radom – designer of logos for professional sports teams and leagues
• Cojo, Art Juggernaut – fine artist, commercial artist, cartoonist

Illustration

• Federico Castelluccio – Italian-born actor, most known for portraying Furio Giunta on the HBO series The Sopranos^[47][48]
• Paul Brooks Davis – Illustrator
• J. P. Targete – illustrator and concept artist.^[49]
• Tomer Hanuka – illustrator
• Yuko Shimizu (illustrator) – illustrator

Photography

• Lorna Simpson – artist
• Justine Kurland – fine art photographer
• Renée Cox – artist, photographer
• David LaChapelle – photographer
• Noah Kalina – art and editorial photographer
• Amy Stein – photographer
• David Carol - photographer

Other

• Sheila Lukins – cook and food writer who co-authored the The Silver Palate series of cookbooks and The New Basics Cookbook^[50]
• Manuel DeLanda – philosopher and writer
• Rahul Khanna – Indian actor

References [edit]

External links [edit]

	New York City portal
	University portal
	Visual arts portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: School of Visual Arts

• Official website
• Interview with SVA President