| New York School of Applied Design for Women | |
|---|---|
 Facade of the 160 Lexington Avenue building | |
 | |
, United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Art and design school |
| Established | 1892 |
| Founder | Ellen Dunlap Hopkins |
| Organizational changes | Co-educational since 1944 |
| New York Phoenix School of Design (1944–1974) | Merged withPhoenix Art Institute |
| Pratt-New York Phoenix School of Design (1974–1979) | Merged withPratt Institute |
| Pratt Manhattan Center (1979–1986) | Renamed |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | |
TheNew York School of Applied Design for Women, established in 1892 by Ellen Dunlap Hopkins, was an early design school for women inNew York City. The 1908New York School of Applied Design building was designed byHarvey Wiley Corbett and is now landmarked.
The school became the New York Phoenix School of Design in 1944 when it merged with thePhoenix Art Institute, and in 1974, it merged with thePratt Institute to form the Pratt-Phoenix School of Design. The building is now the site ofDover Street Market.
The school, originally located at 200West 23rd Street, was established in 1892.[2][6] The founder and driving force of the school, Ellen Dunlap Hopkins, was involved in the academic program, fund-raising among wealthy individuals, management, and administration.[2]
Unique at its time for providing advanced education to working-class women, its purpose was that "of affording to women inspiration which may enable them to earn a livelihood by the employment of their taste and manual dexterity in the application of ornamental design to manufacture and the arts."[2]
The school provided courses in illustration, book cover design, interior design, wallpaper and textile design, architecture, and a wide range of other art and design courses.[2][7] The school, with an extensive art library, taught historic art and design classes for the students' first two years at the school. It employed Henry L. Parkhurst ofTiffany Glass and Decorating Company to teach book cover design;Paul de Longpré taught watercolor flower painting;Daniel Carter Beard taught animal drawing.[1] The school arranged for the sale of artworks by graduates and students.[2]
Its original directors wereJames Carroll Beckwith of theArt Students League of New York and theMetropolitan Museum of Art, Reverend Dr.John Wesley Brown ofSaint Thomas Church, lawyer and statesmanElihu Root, and Ellen Dunlap Hopkins. Its later supporters includedJohn D. Rockefeller,J. P. Morgan, andAdolph Lewisohn.[2]
Within two years of operation, two of its students were the first women to join the New York Sketch Club, and a student was the first woman to have her work presented with male architects at theArchitectural League.[7]
The school outgrew its rented quarters and rented additional space an adjacent building.[2]Harvey Wiley Corbett, an architect and instructor at the school, ran the Atelier Corbett and the school's architectural department, based upon the principles that he learned at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts in France. When it was clear that a new building was needed, he engaged his students to work on the plans for the building, some paid at scale wages.[2]
New York School of Applied Design | |
 New York School of Applied Design for Women at160 Lexington Avenue, 1910 | |
| Location | 160 Lexington Avenue Manhattan,New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°44′38″N73°58′56″W / 40.74389°N 73.98222°W /40.74389; -73.98222 |
| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | Harvey Wiley Corbett |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical architecture |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001202[8] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 16, 1982 |
| Designated NYCL | May 10, 1977 |
TheNew York School of Applied Design building, located at 160Lexington Avenue on the northwest corner ofEast 30th Street, is a neoclassical building of terra cotta, brick, and stone. The five-story building, built in 1908 and 1909, was designed by architect Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Pell & Corbett, and funded byJ. P. Morgan andJohn D. Rockefeller. The front entry on 30th Street has a double-paneled doorway and paneledspandrel, above which is acornice and then a five-panedtransom. Alongside the doorway arepilasters. The highashlar base includes abas-relieffrieze made from casts of theParthenon frieze held in theElgin Marbles collection of theBritish Museum. Architectural features includeionic columns, a terra cotta entablature with classical moldings, and a terra cotta cornice with ornateacanthus scrolls andpalmettes. On the fifth floor is a skylit studio. The steep gabled roof is made of tin and galvanized iron. By 1977, there had been no major changes to the original building design.[2][6] When constructed in 1909, it was criticized in anArchitecture magazine article as "drastically modern".[9]
The building was designated aNew York City Landmark in 1977 for its "special character, special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City."[2][9][10] The building was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on December 16, 1982.[8][11]
In 1986, the building no longer housed an art school. The building, purchased by Altro Health and Rehabilitation Services, was used as vocational training center.[3][5]Touro College purchased the building in 1990[3] or 1991.[9] In 1992, the building underwent a $750,000 renovation, led by the architectural firm Lemberger Brody Associates,[3] and became the school's Lexington Avenue campus,[12] It had ten classrooms, a library, two reading rooms, and a laboratory. The building retained its oversized windows and skylights. Classes began in September 1992.[3] Touro sold it in 2006 to Lexington Landmark Properties.[9] It is now the site ofDover Street Market, having undergone an architectural project that reflected the design aesthetics of founderRei Kawakubo, which was implemented by architect Richard H. Lewis. The interior of the building includes a glass elevator, three 60-foot pillars, and art installations.[13]
By 1910, 4,000 women had attended the school.[9] Beginning that year, an affiliation withColumbia University allowed the design school's students to take courses at Columbia for two years, and then enroll in Columbia. The affiliation continued until 1912 when the Atelier Columbia was established; Atelier Corbett was a forerunner of this organization.[2]Austin W. Lord was also an instructor of architecture courses.[7] In 1915, architect James Monroe Hewlett and Anne Dornin were architecture instructors.[9]
For her role with the school, Dunlap Hopkins was awarded the Michael Friedsam Gold Medal. The citation stated, "Courageous leader in the education of women, student of the arts and friend of the artists, sympathetic teacher of young designers destined to improve by their work and their ideas the standards of art in industry, founder of the New York School of Applied Design and for 45 years its guide and counselor, devout adherent of the belief that the might of the fine design will make the right of successful industrial art."[2] She died in 1939.[9]
Architect Corbett became President of the school in 1938, a position he held until his death in 1954.
The school reincorporated as the co-educational New York Phoenix School of Design in 1944, after merging with thePhoenix Art Institute that was founded in 1925.[2]
In 1974, the New York Phoenix School of Design merged with thePratt Institute to form the Pratt-Phoenix School of Design, which offered three-year certificate programs in art and design.[2] In 1979, it was renamed the Pratt Manhattan Center.[4] In 1986, the building was sold and was no longer used as an art school.[3][5] Records are archived at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.[14]
On the CBS television showPerson of Interest, the building at 160 Lexington Avenue was used in the 2011 pilot episode for exterior shots of the "Library" which was the base of operations for Harold Finch and his team.[15]
Media related toNew York School of Applied Design for Women at Wikimedia Commons
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