This is a special all-day Alumni-focused event hosted by AANYAA at the Academy (111 Franklin Street, New York, NY) celebrating our alumni community, and strengthening our connections and careers.

SAVE THE DATE: May 10, 2025

The following events were from 2024's event schedule.

10:30a: Meet & Greet and Brunch Bites - 5th Floor

11:00a - 3:00p: Life Drawing - 5th Floor

Please bring your own favorite drawing, painting, or sculpting supplies. We will have two models, one in each drawing room.

12:00 - 2:00p: "Doctor's Hours" - 5th Floor

Sign up at the event for one individual appointment with a gallerist to review your artwork.

Sign Up for Doctor's Hours will begin at 10:30 on the day of the event in the Academy Lobby
There are a limited number of appointment slots: sign-ups are first-come, first-served on the day of the event for Academy Alumni only. We cannot guarantee a spot (but don't worry- there are more in-person and virtual crit events planned for the fall and throughout the year!)
Alumni will have 12 minutes for their conversation with a “Doctor.”
We recommend that you present your work in the most efficient way possible. The Alumni Association or The New York Academy will not provide any computers, tablets, or other electronic devices for displaying your art. Please bring your own device. We advise avoiding the use of your phone for displaying artwork because of its limited size. You may choose to bring your original work, but individual pieces should not exceed 18” x 24” inches in size. Any original art cannot be stored at the Academy; neither the Alumni Association nor the New York Academy of Art will be held liable for any loss or damage to electronic devices or physical works.

QUANG BAO - Founder and Owner, 1969 Gallery

Founded in September 2016, 1969 Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. Through solo / group / external exhibitions and art fair presentations, the Gallery has cultivated the careers of its represented artists and a broader community of artists primarily devoted to painting.

photo by Pau Atela

FRANCESCA CATERINA PESSARELLI - Associate Director, Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery

Francesca Pessarelli (she/her) is an independent curator, freelance editor, and gallery worker based in New York City. Her practice is rooted in sensitivity, observation, and a commitment to justice while advocating for young, emerging, and under-represented artists. Pessarelli graduated with her bachelors degree in Art History and French Language from University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2018. She has since participated in the Solomon R. Guggenheim curatorial internship, was a gallery assistant at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (NY), and now serves as the associate director at Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery (NY). All the while, Pessarelli has pursued personal curatorial projects as well as having served as an editor for The OG Magazine and a writer for the Shutterstock blog.

photo by Jessilee Shipman

BRENT AUXIER - Co-founder, Auxier Kline Gallery

Auxier Kline is a contemporary art gallery focusing on emerging and mid-career artists established by co-founders Brent Auxier and Kate Kline located in New York, NY. Auxier Kline curates individual artist and group exhibitions on a rotating basis in the gallery and offers an ongoing selection of works from their flat files.

photo courtesy Auxier Kline

ONYEDIKA CHUKE - Founder and Director, Storage Gallery

Onyedika Chuke is an artist, advisor, and gallerist, the founding director of Storage, an artist-run gallery and advisory offering collection management, strategy, and representation of artists. He studied Sculpture and Theory at The Cooper Union and has participated in numerous fellowships and residencies, including The Drawing Center (2016-18), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2017) and The American Academy in Rome (2015). In 2020, following his participation in various protests for equality, Chuke was motivated to create Storage as an artistic community based on mutual aid and progress. It's a gallery in form of a protest, aiming to put the artists first, provide mentorship programs, and build equity in marginalized communities.

CHARLOTTE KAHN - Director, George Adams Gallery

Charlotte Kahn recently served as an Account Manager specializing in Contemporary Art, Prints and Photographs, at Sotheby's New York's Buy Now Online Marketplace. She maintained a portfolio of 200+ client relationships with galleries, dealers, private clients and artists. She is currently Director at the George Adams Gallery in New York. George Adams Gallery works closely with the estates of Robert Arneson, Jack Beal, Elmer Bischoff, Joan Brown, and Gregory Gillespie, while regularly exhibiting the work of contemporary artists, and other emerging and under-recognized artists. The gallery also maintains an inventory of works on the secondary market by artists.

3:00p: Break and Tour of Studios and Thesis Exhibition
We will convene in the Cafe for Pizza. Or you may bring a snack to share. See the studios and Thesis Exhibition, and welcome the new graduates into our Alumni community.

3:30p: Remarks - Cast Hall
Meet the current Alumni Association Team
NYAA President, DAVID KRATZ
NYAA Provost, PETER DRAKE
Introduction to Career Services at NYAA, with CATHERINE McCORMICK

4:00-5:00p: Keynote Conversation between BIANCA BOSKER and JASON PATRICK VOEGELE - Cast Hall with Book Sale & Signing
For those who can't attend, this will be broadcast on Instagram LIVE at 4pm (16:00) EST, and saved for future viewing

Bianca Bosker is The New York Times Bestselling Author of "Get The Picture."

“[A] plucky and hilarious account of years working as a gallery girl, studio assistant, and guard at the Guggenheim museum . . . [Bosker] doesn’t sit with and sift through her material so much as plunge headlong into it, gatecrashing cloistered ecosystems that want nothing to do with her, and emerging as a foremost expert.” —The Guardian

Jason Patrick Voegele is the Executive Director of NY Art Consultant

Jason Patrick Voegele has been a trusted and familiar name in the art world for over 20 years. From Republic Worldwide to The Lodge Gallery and now NYArt Consultant, as an Art Dealer, a Gallerist, a Curator and a Master art Installer, his clients have ranged from first time collectors to museums, corporations, auction houses, celebrities, state institutions and exceptional private blue chip collections around the world.