Author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and recent Tony Winner The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? to Address Art College Graduates May 12, Avery Fisher Hall, Noon - 3pm
The School of Visual Arts has selected noted playwright Edward Albee as its keynote speaker for this year's graduation ceremony. The commencement will take place on May 12, in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, West 65th Street and Broadway, Noon - 3pm.
Edward Albee has defined modern American theater with four decades of provocative, controversial, and brilliant plays. Mr. Albee, one of the most heralded dramatists of the 20th century, is the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes (1966, 1975, and 1994) and two Tony Awards (1962 and 2002). He is a Kennedy Center Honoree and in 1997 President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts.
Mr. Albee has been lauded as "one of the eternal innovators" in American drama. He is perhaps best known for his first full-length drama, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), widely considered a classic of contemporary theater. It received a Tony Award, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. His most recent hit play, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, was awarded the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play.
Throughout his career, Mr. Albee has shown a fascination for a wide variety of theatrical styles and subjects. His first successful play, The Zoo Story (1959), effectively gave birth to American absurdist drama and he was hailed as the leader of a new theatrical movement.
In his lectures, Mr. Albee describes the power of the arts as a catalyst for change. He believes that art should be dangerous, that it should reveal all of our shortcomings and complacency, hopefully inspiring us to live our lives more fully. "The job of the arts," says Albee, "is to hold a mirror up to us and say: 'Look, this is how you really are. If you don't like it, change.'"
At this year's ceremony in Avery Fisher Hall, before an audience that will number more than 2,500, the School of Visual Arts will graduate 767 BFA and 172 MFA candidates. SVA offers the BFA degree in advertising, animation, cartooning, computer art, film and video, fine arts, graphic design, illustration, interior design, photography; and concentrations in art therapy and art education. The MFA degree is offered in computer art, design, fine arts, illustration as visual essay, and photography and related media. Also offered is the MPS degree in art therapy.
The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the College has pioneered numerous educational ideas, including the selection of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields as instructors. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enablin students to develop a strong sense of identity and aclear direction of purpose.
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