The School That Became a Refuge for Artists From Georgia O’Keeffe to Tony Smith

The Art Students League of New York, founded in 1875, is celebrating its 150th anniversary with an exhibition titled "Shaping American Art: A Celebration of the Art Students League of New York at 150." The show features 87 works by famous alumni and instructors, including Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Norman Rockwell, Tony Smith, and Robert Rauschenberg, drawn from the school's collection and supplemented by loans. Curated by Esther V. Moerdler and Ksenia Nouril, the exhibition spans the school's main gallery, lobby, registration office, and café, highlighting the League's unique open-enrollment, non-degree atelier model that has instructed some 200,000 students since its founding.