Skip to main content

Main Sub Nav

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Alumni
  • Employers
Home
  • About
    • About The School of Art
      • About
      • History
      • Mission
      • Solidarity & Justice
      • Contact Us
      • Visit the School
    • People
      • Directory
      • Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair
      • Visiting Artist & Scholar Lectures
      • Board of Advisors
      • Careers at Dodd
    • Facilities
      • Studios & Facilities
      • Art Library
      • Reserve A Space
      • The CAVE
      • Maps & Floor Plans
  • Programs
    • Undergraduate Programs
      • Overview
      • Undergraduate Admissions
      • Degree Options
      • Minors in Art & Art History
      • Studio Art Core
      • Courses
    • Graduate Programs
      • Overview
      • MA
      • MFA
      • MAEd
      • Admissions
      • PhD in Art with Emphasis in Art Education
      • PhD in Art with Emphasis in Art History
      • EdS in Art Education
      • Art Education Certificate Only Program
      • Funding & Research Support
      • Courses
    • Study Abroad & Field Study
      • Overview
      • Cortona
      • NYC Maymester Program
    • Community Programs
      • UGA Community Art School
      • UGA Summer Art Camp
      • Athens Art Book Fair
  • Events & Exhibitions
    • Speaker Series
      • Lecture Series
    • Calendars
      • Upcoming Events
      • Calendar View
      • Submit Events
      • Events Archive
    • Galleries
      • Dodd Galleries
      • Athenaeum
      • Online Exhibitions
      • Current Exhibitions
      • Upcoming Exhibitions
      • Past Exhibitions
      • Performances & Talks
      • Propose an Exhibition
  • Research
    • Programs
      • Art & Education for Social Justice Symposium
      • The Willson Center for Humanities & Arts
      • a2ru
      • Social Ecology Lab
      • UGA Arts Collaborative
      • Margie E West Award
    • Events & Galleries
      • Visiting Artist & Scholar Lectures
      • Research Days
      • Dodd Galleries
      • The Athenaeum
    • Research & People
      • Lamar Dodd Professional Chair
      • Dodd Interdisciplinary Fellows
      • Graduate Research
  • News
    • All News
    • Student News
    • Graduate News
    • Faculty & Staff News
    • Alumni News
    • Submit News
  • Give
  • Mobile Menu Extras
    • News
    • Events
    • Give

    Search form

    social_media

School of Art Maymester Course in New York Immerses Students in an Epicenter of Contemporary Art

Students viewing Warhol piece in museum
Log in to post comments
Cover image: UGA students in the 2022 Lamar Dodd School of Art Maymester in New York exploring Andy Warhol: Revelation at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Photo Courtesy of Katie Geha.

 

How does environment and design affect your experience of modern and contemporary art? New York City is undoubtedly an ideal playground for navigating this question. Twenty-one students at the University of Georgia enjoyed the opportunity to become immersed in this line of inquiry, spending a month in early summer 2022 engaged in discussion and visual analysis at encyclopedic museums, alternative gallery spaces, and intimate studios in and around the Big Apple. 

The school’s New York Maymester course introduces a cohort of emerging artists, art historians, and art educators to celebrated contemporary artworks through a critical curatorial lens. 

The crop of students in the summer 2022 course were led by Katie Geha, director and curator of the Dodd Galleries, Mary Hallam Pearse, associate professor of jewelry and metalwork, Eileen Wallace, senior lecturer in printmaking and book arts, and two graduate assistants, Shaunia Grant and Katie Ford. Geha, Wallace, and Pearse orchestrated lectures, readings, and an itinerary that spanned the Whitney Biennial, the Dia Beacon museum, the Guggenheim, the New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and MoMA PS1, along with private collections and artist studios.

 Dia Beacon museum

Dia:Beacon in Beacon, NY. Photo Courtesy of Katie Geha.

 

School of Art Board Member Blair Clarke Opens the Doors of Voltz Clarke Gallery for a New York Welcome

University of Georgia alumna and School of Art board member Blair Clarke (ABJ ‘94), seeking to jumpstart the students' Maymester experience with a familial welcome, invited alumni of the Lamar Dodd School of Art residing in or visiting New York City to join her at a reception at the Voltz Clarke Gallery in the Lower East Side on May 18, 2022. “I had no idea about the Maymester! It was amazing to learn that Dr. Geha and the students covered all the boroughs,” Clarke exclaimed. This well-attended social offered students a preview of the network of artists and culture bearers in the city connected to UGA. 

Crowd in a gallery

Faculty, students, and alumni gathering at the Voltz-Clarke Gallery for an Alumni and Maymester Welcome Reception on May 18, 2022. Photo courtesy of Blair Clarke.

 

A year ago, Clarke re-engaged her alma mater with a cocktail meet-up for alumni and guests at her apartment in Manhattan. “It was electric to connect with Athens, with Georgia, in New York. We need not feel so separated by miles, by distance.” On the opportunity to support study away students at the School of Art, she added “the Maymester was sharpening that pencil again and again, and using my resources—a gallery in the Lower East Side—to welcome the [students] on their first day of their program was…I remember my first day arriving in New York City; there’s nothing like it!”

Blair and students

Visitors and gallerist Blair Clarke (far right) at the Voltz Clarke Gallery for an Alumni and Maymester Welcome Reception on May 18, 2022. Photo courtesy of Blair Clarke.
 
Student Perspective: Minnie Black

The Maymester course holds a variety of transformational cultural encounters and educational opportunities for students. Minnie Black, a senior from Atlanta pursuing a concentration in drawing and painting, shared that she signed up for the Maymester the last day before registration closed after spotting the course on the School of Art’s website. “Among my favorite experiences in the course was a class reading and discussion on the American painter and mixed media artist Faith Ringgold,” Black said. “The retrospective on her work at the New Museum allowed me to observe the way her pieces hold weight in a way that you wouldn’t necessarily realize from looking at pictures.” 

Aside from class conversations delving into curatorial decision-making, Black cherished moments bonding with her classmates. “On one of our last days of the trip, the whole group took the train up the Hudson River to Dia Beacon. It gave us a couple hours to hang out and just enjoy the view out the windows of the train,” she said. “That day was great because we all got to spend time together and talk about how everything we had seen over the past month was informing the ways we were looking at pieces now.”

Students at the Dia Beacon Museum

UGA students participating in the 2022 Lamar Dodd School of Art Maymester in New York at Dia: Beacon in Beacon, NY. Photo Courtesy of Katie Geha.

 

For Black, the benefits of the Maymester course reached beyond memorable discussions on space, composition, and installation in contemporary art. 

“After the Maymester, I feel like I have a much better grip on the history of art in New York City, as well as an idea of what an arts practice in the city can look like,” Black said. “I was also connected to an internship with an artist through professor Pearse, whose help I’m so grateful for—so the course prepared me in that regard, as well.”

 

Upcoming Maymester 2023 Interest Session

Students interested in registering for the 2023 Maymester Course in New York City are encouraged to attend an upcoming interest session with professor and curator Katie Geha on Friday October 21 at 1:30 PM at the Lamar Dodd School of Art in room N100.

 

Flyer for Maymester Info Session

  • NYC Maymester
  • alumni
  • Board of Visitors
  • galleries
Categories
Faculty News
Student News
Alumni News
Academic Area
Art History
Art Education
Printmaking and Book Arts
Jewelry and Metalwork
Studio Art Core

More Dodd News

May 02, 2025
UGA Community Art School, Drawing Other Humans, Spring 2025 session. Photograph courtesy of Sidney Chansamone.

UGA Community Art School summer courses open

Apr 29, 2025
 Ally Smith speaking at the Atlanta pop-up exhibition 'Exit Ahead' at Whitespace gallery last week. Photo by Sidney Chansamone.

UGA student thrives in Layton Design Studio

Apr 25, 2025
2025 UGA Summer Art Camp banner

UGA Summer Art Camp grows, partners with Summer Academy at the University of Georgia for 2025 session

Apr 07, 2025
MAEd program ad banner Athenaeum

UGA Master of Art Education degree transitions to online program

Footer Menu 1

  • Academics
  • UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
  • Degree Options
  • Studio Art Core
  • GRADUATE PROGRAMS
    • MA
    • MFA
    • MAEd
    • PhD Art Education
    • PhD Art History
    • Funding & Research Support
  • Admissions
  • Studies Abroad & Field Study

Footer Menu 2

  • Galleries
    • Current Exhibitons
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Performances & Talks
    • Propose an Exhibitions
    • BFA Exhibition Guidelines

Footer Meun 4

  • Faculty & Staff
    • Faculty & Staff Resources
    • Curriculum Policies
    • Forms & Links
    • Dodd Studio Support
  • Graduate Students
  • Alumni
    • Create an Alumni Profile
    • Alumni Opportunities

Footer 3

  • Dodd Resources
  • Equipment Checkout
    • Open Access Fabrication Labs
    • Dodd Studio Support
  • Student Resources
    • Scholarships
  • Academic Advising
    • Degree Requirements
    • Minor Requirements
    • Area Portfolio Review
    • Internship Policy & Course
  • Student Opportunities
    • Submit an Opportunity for Students

Footer Menu 5

  • Facilities
    • Request a Meeting Space
  • Studio & Classroom Spaces
    • Thomas Street Art Complex
    • Art Library
    • Open Access Fabrication Labs
    • Maps & Floor Plans
  • Research
    • Visit the School
    • Board of Visitors
    • Visiting Artists & Scholars
    • Work at the Dodd
  • View Calendar

Footer Submit Menu

  • ALL FORMS AND LINKS
  • Event/Calendar Submission
  • Instructor Override Request Form
  • Multi-Student Override Request Form
  • Website Update

Franklin_A&S-FS-CW-(1)-websize.png

Lamar Dodd School of Art
University of Georgia
270 River Road
Athens, GA 30602

706.542.1511
 

CONTACT US

Privacy Policy | © 2020 Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia. All rights reserved.

Login  |  UGA Master Calendar  |  www.uga.edu                          website feedback