During the 1920s Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, sculptor and arts patron, kept a small studio on MacDougal Alley directly across from the graceful mews and carriage houses of Washington Square. Over the years more studio space was added to these small dwellings as Mrs. Whitney began acquiring buildings and opening spaces for artists to exhibit and work. Thus began the Whitney Studio Club, which later became part of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

When the museum moved to the Upper East Side in the mid-1960s, the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture was founded, returning the space to studio use. The gallery here mounts five or six shows from October through June consisting largely of selections from the the work of faculty and students. The school offers classes, workshops and lectures, maintaining an atelier atmosphere where artists can learn and teach.

The summer session provides the opportunity for students enrolled in full-time programs elsewhere to take advantage of the school’s individual programs and marathons in drawing, painting and sculpture. For detailed course listings, please see http://www.nyss.org/programsummer-session.asp.