"In the Art Department Senior Exit Survey, graduating students most often mention the quality of their relationships with the professors and their one-on-one mentoring as one of the greatest strengths of our program. " Cristina de Gennaro                                       Associate Professor of Art School of Arts & Sciences The College of New Rochelle

What is your educational background, Professor De Gennaro?

I received my MFA degree in Art from Stanford University in 1995.  Preceding that, I received an MA in Aesthetic Studies in 1990 and a BA in Art and Performance in 1987, both from the University of Texas, Dallas. 

Upon graduating from Stanford, I was offered the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Painting at Syracuse University from 1995-96, and in the summer of 1996, I taught painting for their Division of International Programs Abroad in Florence, Italy. 

 
How long have you been at The College of New Rochelle?

 
What do you teach in the School of Arts & Sciences?

My present responsibilities include teaching all levels of undergraduate painting, drawing, and figure drawing, as well as the freshman art colloquium.  Also, in fall 2005 I co-developed a new course for our curriculum, collaboratively taught with Professor Margie Neuhaus, called Integrated Media.  The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to media and process, introducing students to a variety of formats including site-specific installation, environmental art, audio and video components, collaboration, and performance. 

In addition to studio art classes, I teach an interdisciplinary course for the liberal arts core curriculum called Art and Science Parallels, collaboratively designed and taught with Professor Lynn Petrullo from the Biology Department.  This course is an SAS Viewpoints capstone that introduces juniors and seniors to interdisciplinary thinking through comparing and contrasting the methodologies and skills from the two disciplines. 

 
Besides teaching, how are you involved in the College Community?

I believe that to teach is to be involved in the College Community in the deepest sense -- as an educator, teaching is primary to me and in the Art Department teaching often extends well beyond the classroom and into the broader College Community.  This happens in a myriad of ways: I have served as mentor for many student junior showcases and senior exhibitions that are presented to the broader community in the Bridge Gallery and the Mooney Center Exhibition Hall.  And sometimes the art works created in my courses find their way out of the galleries altogether and into unexpected places on campus.  For example, in Integrated Media the students are encouraged to design art works to be installed both indoors and out, across the campus.  Our students learn that art is about ideas and that their ideas can play a role in shaping their communities. 

I’ve also enjoyed presenting my own art works at CNR on occasion and, most recently, I have exhibited my installation, Improbable Spring, at the Mooney Center Exhibit Hall in spring 2006. The installation combined gouache paintings, archival inkjet prints and collaged elements to present a landscape of robins.  (You can view images of this and other recent art works on my web site at www.cristinadegennaro.com.)  The installation was inspired by a game I used to play with my father as to who would spot the first bird of spring and the installation expressed aspects of my loss and grief at his death.  That semester I also presented a slide lecture in Romita Auditorium highlighting the development of my art work over the past 25 years. 

Like most faculty, over the course of my tenure at CNR I have participated in a large number of committees – in the Art Department, SAS, and College wide – these have included RTS, the Faculty Fund Committee, the Council of the Faculty, the College Senate, the SAS Faculty Development Committee, and the SAS Honors Board, to mention a few.  I am especially delighted to presently be a member of the Castle Gallery Board of Directors and look forward to working on a new subcommittee to review exhibition applications and to revise the exhibition application process. 

 
Are you currently working on any new projects?

Yes, I was asked to create a new site-specific installation at Wave Hill (Bronx) in the foyer of the Wave Hill House to be installed from November 2007 through January 2008.  The piece will be part of an exhibition called Ornamental Instincts, which will include 10 other artists from the NY metropolitan area. 

My installation will focus on aspects of the Roman god Janus, his namesake January, and New Year traditions. Janus was the precursor to Western imagery of “father time” and was usually depicted with two faces, back to back, and looking in opposite directions: one – an old man – looked “back” to the past while the other-- a young man, looked “forward” to the future. He was the god of beginnings and endings and also the god of gates and doorways. The foyer is the perfect location for my installation, which will encourage visitors to become more aware of their movement through the space and of the symbolic references of “entering” and “exiting” to aspects of temporality and transition.   

What do you think makes The College of New Rochelle a special College?

The strength of our programs, the commitment and dedication of our professors, our location, and our small class size.  In the Art Department Senior Exit Survey, graduating students most often mention the quality of their relationships with the professors and their one-on-one mentoring as one of the greatest strengths of our program. 

What sort of student is successful at CNR?

The same kind of student who would be successful anywhere: the student who is intelligent, focused, honest, self-motivated, and creative. She is resourceful and diligent, and understands that the more time and effort she puts into her work, the more she will achieve from her education.   

Where do your students go after leaving The College of New Rochelle?

The Art Department offers four majors: Studio Art, Art Education, Art Therapy, and Art History – and there are different career trajectories for each of these disciplines.  Many of our majors pursue graduate degrees after leaving CNR and we’ve had alumnae who have graduated from some of the finest graduate art, art education, art therapy, and art history programs in the country including, of course, The College of New Rochelle, The Art Institute of Chicago, NYU, Pratt University, UC Berkeley, the School of Visual Arts, Columbia Teachers College, and Hunter College, among others. Most of our students continue to pursue their careers after graduating from CNR: they are working as graphic designers, professional artists, art therapists, high school and elementary school teachers, art historians, web site designers, gallery directors, museum curators, and that’s only the beginning of the list!

RELATED LINKS Artist web site at www.cristinadegennaro.com For more about Art Programs at The College of New Rochelle's School of Arts & Sciences, click here.