Open to adults of all ages, SI’s Contemporary Art Topics (CAT) program is a free, discussion-based course designed to investigate current themes and issues being explored by living artists today. Thematically based and artist-led, these two-hour synchronous virtual classes introduce concepts and ideas in contemporary art through lectures, guest artist talks, class discussions, “slow looking” at art, and individual and group activities, as well as opportunities to share student artwork.

CAT takes place three times a year: winter/spring, summer, and fall.

In addition to weekly Zoom sessions, each season of classes will include one or two trips in-person in NYC for local students.

Past program topics include: the four elements in contemporary art, contemporary artists creating urban space interventions, regenerative life cycles in artmaking, materials and processes, use of color in contemporary art practice, history of color materiality and symbolism, wandering as art, craft and folk arts, ritual in art, the intersection of art and ecology, art as food/food as art, and public and socially engaged art.

Course Theme

Preservation is a practice we all maintain, whether that applies to our bodies, the natural environment, or the objects we hold dear. Artists and conservators must contend with the question of preservation in their respective practices, whether in reference to the material preservation of physical artwork or the preservation of an artist’s legacy through education, documentation, and for the benefit of future generations. This season of SI’s CAT course, Art Making and Preservation: Ecologies, Legacies, and Conservation, broadly asks the questions: How much emphasis should we place on the permanence of an artwork throughout its lifetime and the ways it is shown? How do we preserve an artist’s legacy once they have passed? How do we maintain an artist’s wishes for how their work lives on, and how can practices of reciprocity and generosity support future generations of artists? Through art making, how do we explore what responsibilities we have in preserving and maintaining elements of the natural world, particularly in this era of climate change when material extraction is actively harming many communities domestically and abroad?

In line with the course’s theme, we will be visited by a guest art conservator. We will look at a number of artists, including: Sam Gilliam, Eva Hesse, On Kawara, Duane Linklater, Bagus Pandega, Khvay Samnang, and Kishio Suga, among many others. This course aims to center BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and multigenerational artists from various backgrounds and mediums.

Requirements

Open to students ages 18 and upward.

This course is free to attend, though we ask students to be able to commit to a majority of Zoom sessions for a given season.

Details and Registration

Classes will meet between October 16 and December 11, 2025 for 8 virtual sessions, plus 2 in-person trips in NYC for local students for a total of 10 classes.

This class is facilitated by SI Teaching Artist, Gabriela López Dena.

For questions, please email education@swissinstitute.net.

Access Statement

In this program we will take occasional trips around the city and may be seated or standing for a significant amount of time. Transportation to non-Swiss Institute trip sites is offered via car from and back to SI.

All Zoom meetings are enabled with automated captioning and transcription options.