Tag Archives: Fine Arts

How can FIT’s Precollege Programs help you on your Artist’s Journey

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The painter Chuck Close is quoted as saying “Inspiration is for amateurs—the rest of us just show up and get to work.” To be a professional artist takes skill and studio discipline. Workshops and courses taught by artists will help you develop the studio practice you need to be a full-time artist.
11-session Precollege Courses
We recommend a high school Precollege Live Class:
  • Basic Life Drawing –  learn how to draw the figure from a live model.
  • Design Composition and Color Theory – explore design principles and color mixing in a studio art environment.
  • Fine Arts Portfolio – get your portfolio ready with an assessment from a college professor and create any pieces missing for a dynamic application.

Summer Precollege Session   Fall Precollege Session
Spring Precollege Session

4-day workshops
We recommend a high school Precollege Workshop:
  • Observational Drawing for Portfolios – learn how to draw what you see, not from reference photos, for portfolio development.
  • Portraits for Portfolios – from self-portraits to drawing a person from observation, portraiture is a critical skill for artists and usually required in art and design portfolios.

Summer Session   Fall Session   Spring Session

1-day Creative Career Series
On Saturday March 30th, spend the afternoon with artist Melissa Starke. Melissa will go over her journey from art student artist and gallery curator and director!

Wherever you are on your journey, there is a Precollege learning experience for you!

Instructor Spotlight: Melissa Starke

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Melissa is an artist who creates abstract paintings and sculptures. She holds a Business Administration AA, a Fine Arts BFA and is a 2020 Art Market Studies MA Candidate. She was the curator for Torche Galerie in Belmar NJ from 2012-2015. She is a three-time Community Development Block Grant recipient from the City of Yonkers, where she is director and curator for the not for profit arts organization and gallery, US+U.  In addition, she manages an artist residency and an education program onsite.

Website: www.urbanstudiounbound.org/melissa-starke

Melissa Teaches:
JSX 035 Color Theory and Application
JSX 038 Multiple Media Workshop

Teaching Philosophy:
Making art is a personal process-it can be fun, playful, meditative, serious, intuitive, contemplative and so on. You have to experiment, make things you love and things you don’t like. Both are supposed to happen and will.  It’s part of figuring out your personal aesthetic/finding your creative voice.

I believe one of the most important things to acknowledge as a teacher is that everyone interprets & processes information differently. I enjoy taking the time to get to know each student, it enables me to make teaching choices that speak to the students I have in that particular class.

Industry Experience/Recent Exhibitions:

  • Gallery Curator & Director Urban Studio Unbound (US+U Gallery) Yonkers, NY 2014-present
  • Yonkers Arts Weekend Co-Producer/Art Direction 2016-2018 in Partnership with the City of Yonkers
  • Urban Studio Advisor/Fine Arts Department FIT
  • Department Coordinator /Fine Arts Department FIT

 Artwork:

Instructor Spotlight: Josef Zutelgte

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1_Josef_Zutelgte_FIT copyProfessor Josef Zutelgte has been teaching in the Fine Arts Department at FIT since 2000, drawing, 3-D design and sculpture. He was born in Germany, attended the Westfaelische Wilhelms University and the Kunstakademie Muenster/Duesseldorf and received an MFA in 1983.  After moving to New York in 1986, he studied at The City College of New York and earned an MFA in Sculpture.  Zutelgte also collaborates with Phil Art Academy, preparing foreign students for U.S. undergraduate and graduate studies. Over the last several years, he has traveled to South Korea and China to coordinate intensive college preparation workshops. In the past, he has taught at Parsons and University of Pforzheim,Germany.

As a working artist, Josef Zutelgte has exhibited throughout the US and Europe, including the Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC, Jack Tilton Gallery  NYC, Roman Zenner Gallery, Germany, Konrad Moenter Gallery , Germany, Univerity of the Arts, Philadelphia, Hunter College, NYC , University of Hawaii.

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Sculpture by Prof. Josef Zutelgte

Awards include Triangle Foundation NYC (Residency), National Foundation of the Arts , Miami (Residency) , and  the Art Development Grant.

Website:
www.josefzutelgte.com

Prof. Josef Zutelgte Teaches:
HSX 021: Observational Drawing for Portfolios
HSX 022: Portraits for Portfolios 
HFA 148 55A Fine Arts Portfolio 

Teaching Philosophy:
In this age of globalization, digitalization, and climate change, the world (both natural and constructed) seems to change dramatically from one day to the next. It is my goal to help students hone their observational skills and encourage them to spend time looking at the world, question why things exist as they do, and propose alternatives in an ever-changing world.

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Sculpture by Prof. Josef Zutelgte

I view the classroom as a place for knowledge and inquiry, experimentation and discovery, failure and success. A successful art education allows and encourages the imagination to flourish. Through teaching, I have observed that as students develop their visual skills, they look more closely at their surroundings. As they find outlets for expression, they gain a deeper understanding of themselves—and this is the starting point for creatively engaging with our world. The creative process should be inviting, challenging, and fun. It is serious work, but we won’t find success if it doesn’t bring us pleasure.

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Sculpture by Prof. Josef Zutelgte

Advice for young students:
An important aspect of learning is to “play.” Art invites and encourages play and, in the process, you learn to take risks, solve problems, and find alternative solutions—all important things you can apply to other life situations.

On Precollege Programs:
It is absolutely awesome to work with many young motivated students and it is a great opportunity  for students to find others with similar interests and desires.

Artwork by Prof. Zutelgte

Artwork by Prof. Zutelgte

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Sculpture by Prof. Josef Zutelgte

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Sculpture by Prof. Josef Zutelgte

Instructor Spotlight: Bing Hu

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DSC_0245Prof. Hu is from the city of Shanghai in the People’s Republic of China. She graduated from the Shanghai Teachers college in 1983, just three years after Chairman Mao’s death and China’s Culture Revolution ended. In 1986 she came to the United States, where she received a merit scholarship at the Art Students League of New York and later obtained her MFA from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1995.

 

 

Teaching Philosophy:
I believe professional education is very important. Learning at a young age is necessary. Young people are like the morning sunlight; the future of whole world belongs to them. Our mission is to provide the best art education and to elevate study energy and power. This power will keep the lights shining for generations.

Flatiron Installation

On Precollege Students:
They are young and energetic. They are like sponges; they can easily absorb information.

Advice for young students:
If you really love art, just do it.  FIT pre-college program was designed to help and to elevate your professional foundation level. I like motivated and flexible students, who are here to learn. I love teaching and working with young kids.

 

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012            “Shattered Debris, Sheer Transformation” at Flatiron Prow Art Space curate by Cheryl McGinnis Project

2009             “Breaking Lines” Cheryl McGinnis Gallery. NYC

1998             “Scattered Petals, Fallen Leaves, Shards of Glass: The Work of Bing Hu”, Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY

1996             “Open House Exhibition”, 111 Fourth Avenue, NY

1995             “Bing Hu Recent Works”. Chinese American Arts Council, Gallery 456, NY

AWARDS

2000            The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc.

1997             The Joan Mitchell Foundation, Inc.

1996             Commissioned to investigate sites in New York City and propose a temporary public art project by the Public Art Fund

1996             The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc.

1993-1995   Awards MFA Scholarship, SUNY Purchase

1989-1990   Merit Scholarship, Art Student League

1989             Nessa Cohen Memorial Foundation, New York

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