Ithaca NY 14853
USA
Following more than a decade of support from late collector, museum patron, and Cornell alumnus David Teiger (1929–2014), the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) has received a 500,000 USD gift from Teiger Foundation to support the Teiger Mentor in the Arts program. This gift enables the college to continue welcoming a prominent artist to the Department of Art each semester for the next five years to teach classes and guide students in the development of their studio practice.
The Teiger Mentor in the Arts program at AAP was founded in 2012 with an initial gift from David Teiger, who graduated from the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration in 1951. In his lifetime, Teiger was an avid art collector and champion of curators working in contemporary visual art—a legacy the foundation established in his name continues to honor through its grantmaking programs, which primarily support curatorial work in museums and smaller art organizations in the US.
“The college is incredibly fortunate to continue welcoming leading artists who bring a breadth of creative modes of inquiry around making, expression, society, and life in and outside of our studios,” said AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon. “Connecting our students to mentors whose work advances contemporary artistic practice and critical discourse is central to our educational mission, and we are very grateful to be able to extend this invaluable program thanks to Teiger Foundation’s support.”
Teiger mentors teach the Art Department’s graduate seminar, conduct studio visits, and give a public lecture at Cornell. The program has brought 25 practicing artists to AAP to date, including Erika Ranee, Fall 2025 Teiger Mentor in the Arts, and prior mentors Tamar Ettun, Pamela Sneed, Catherine Haggarty, EJ Hauser, Wells Chandler, Emilio Rojas, Emily Jacir, Miatta Kawinzi, Candice Lin, Jessi Reaves, Josh Tonsfeldt, Wendy White, Chitra Ganesh, Paul Pfeiffer, Sam Lewitt, Dana Hoey, Sean Landers, Craig Kalpakjian, Sam Durant, Sharon Hayes, Leslie Hewitt, Alejandro Cesarco, Shannon Ebner, and Josiah McElheny.
“David Teiger approached Cornell to establish a program that would bring internationally acclaimed artists to his alma mater, creating an opportunity for direct engagement that fosters creative mentorship and growth,” said Larissa Harris, Executive Director of Teiger Foundation. “While Teiger Foundation primarily supports contemporary art curators, this gift reflects our founder’s belief in the power of artists to transform our understanding of the world, the responsibility of institutions to nurture their voices, and the unique opportunities offered by this program. It embodies the vision and innovation that defined all of David Teiger’s endeavors, and we are proud to ensure its lasting impact.”
Artist Mary Mattingly will begin as the Spring 2026 Teiger Mentor in the Arts next semester. Mattingly’s interdisciplinary work spans from large-scale public sculpture to collage-based photography, imagining adaptive futures shaped by ecological interdependence. She is known for her sculptural ecosystems that inhabit civic spaces—from floating food forests to tidal water clocks—bringing attention to different conditions surrounding water, food, and shelter. In parallel, her photographic collages offer intimate, symbolic reflections that transform documentation into speculative diagrams and visual poems.
“As the Teiger Mentor in the Arts Program demonstrates, mentorship is one of the most profound and effective ways to transmit knowledge—from the inner workings of artistic practice to what it means to be an artist in the world,” said Art Department Chair Paul Ramírez Jonas. “The program is about students drawing connections and learning how to process complexity, find their voice, intervene in real space and time, and meaningfully engage the people around them with the work they make.”
Cornell AAP’s MFA in Creative Visual Arts is a supportive, studio-intensive program that encourages both interdisciplinary and medium-specific practices, complemented by access to a broad range of fields of study across the university. Please visit the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Visual Arts website for information about the program and how to apply for Fall 2026.
