Talk:New York Academy of Art

Copyright problem removed
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Early Days
I'm trying to edit this section to reflect Stuart Pivar's account of the founding of the school as laid out in a recently self published book called School of Warhol. As one of the key figures, Pivar's account is valuable, especially considering the current cited sources are a New York Times article on the school from 1986, and a 1996 letter to New York Magazine from former NYAA Director of Sculpture Barney Hodes.

In Pivar's telling he was the primary founder, inspired by a suggestion to start such a school by his close friend Andy Warhol. Pivar assembled the early faculty and advisory committees which included Beal, Leslie, Andrejevic, as well as Frank Mason and Nelson Shanks. This is somewhat supported by NYAA course catalogues from the 1980s, some of which do specifically identify Pivar as "Founder."



Pivar disputes Hodes's account that the school was a result of a merger between the New York Drawing Association and the New Brooklyn School. Pivar acknowledges that in 1983 Hodes and Cunningham were brought in as senior faculty, and that several trustees of the New Brooklyn School were added to the NYAA's board, but that the union was acrimonious and that Hodes, Cunningham, and former New Brooklyn School board members Barbara Stanton and James Cox had left the school by 1985.

According to Pivar, the New York Academy of Art only held its lease at the Middle Collegiate Church for a year or two, and had moved to 419 Lafayette Street by 1982, if not 1981, as opposed to 1984, as listed in this section. It was a ten year lease that had to be extended due to construction delays at 111 Franklin, which was purchased in 1990, but not useable until several years later.

Additionally Warhol is listed as an early founder and funder in this section. Founder, maybe, but the cited source makes no mention of Warhol being an early financial supporter and it is my understanding that it was not until after his death that funds from his estate and foundation were made available for use by the Academy.

I hope this is clarifying, and I welcome any advice on making edits with regards to these topics.

Augieherzog (talk) 20:41, 30 September 2020 (UTC)Augieherzog


 * If we have two conflicting accounts that are otherwise high quality and reliable and we have no other substantive evidence, we cannot only include one account. Are there any sources that have attempted to reconcile these two conflicting stories? ElKevbo (talk) 20:57, 30 September 2020 (UTC)


 * It seems there are now at least three accounts of the school's formation if we add in the book from Pivar (originally published in 2008 and recently reprinted in July 2020). I haven't yet had a chance to look at Pivar's book. Considering all the legal drama, attributing each of the conflicting versions to their source is the best way to maintain NPOV. Secondary sources are preferable to primary sources and Pivar's book may be helpful with added content, but as a primary source engaged in litigation with the subject, it requires extra caution. Kind Regards, Cedar777 (talk) 21:34, 30 September 2020 (UTC)


 * That all makes sense and I appreciate your respective inputs on this. So maybe something along these lines: "In a recently published personal account of the early days of the school, Pivar describes..." along with a brief summation of his version of the events after the Barney Hodes paragraph and leave the rest as it is? I would leave the 1984 move date as is, it seems excessively nit-picky to include a differing account of that.Augieherzog (talk)Augieherzog  —Preceding undated comment added 19:24, 1 October 2020 (UTC)