The works of three Brooklyn College M.F.A. art professors are part of Put Up or Shut Up, an exhibition at the New York Academy of Art in SoHo, while further uptown at Hunter College a dozen of the college’s M.F.A. students are included in a show for local M.F.A. art students entitled the College Art Association New York Area M.F.A. Exhibition. Conceived by Catherine Howe, a faculty member at the New York Academy of Art, the point of the concurrent faculty exhibit is to spark a dialogue about the relationship between student and mentor and the kinds of challenges and growth — for both parties — that result. Although this is the seventh year of the student show, the parallel exhibit for the professors is happening for the first time. “Presenting this show as a sister exhibition to the student show at Hunter was an inspired idea. I’m excited to participate. It’s this big secret that such esteemed artists actually teach in M.F.A. programs in New York City, the center of our creative universe,” says Patricia Cronin, a Brooklyn College art professor whose 2009–10 show at the Brooklyn Museum was widely acclaimed. She points out that a unique aspect of the shows is that it allows viewers “to compare and contrast, much like the art history classes our students take. Viewers will be trying to connect the dots between the students’ work and the faculty’s. It should be quite illuminating.” Distinguished Lecturer Vito Acconci, the renowned performance and visual artist, and Assistant Professor Keith Mayerson, whose work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art is Los Angeles, are also showing their work in the exhibit. The students’ pieces run the artistic gamut, from paintings to collages and sculptures made out of odd materials such as balloons and even Fiberglas installations. Adjunct Lecturer Adam Thompson, M.F.A., ’08, curated the student exhibit. “There’s work from every M.F.A. program in the area, and it’s a vast, vast show,” he says. “Each college has its own room in the museum. For our students to be able to exhibit in a prime midtown venue like this is a pretty cool thing.” The student exhibit is on view through April 9 at the Hunter College / Times Square Gallery, Tuesday–Sunday, 1–6 p.m. The faculty exhibit runs through Feb. 24, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–7 p.m.
