The 2005–06 academic year opened with the College posting a record number of admissions. The incoming class was the largest ever at SVA, with the Office of Admissions also reporting the highest-ever number of applications. In addition, the Office of Residence Life had a 10 percent increase in requests for spaces in its residence halls over the previous year.

As a result of the growing demand for on-campus living, the College is expanding its residence capacity to include two new residence halls. The St. George Residence in Brooklyn will house more than 60 students starting in fall 2006; St. George residents will have access to a 75,000-square-foot athletic facility, complete with swimming pool. In addition, a new 100-bed residence hall will open in August 2007 at 47 Third Avenue in Manhattan’s East Village.

The College also embarked on several major facilities upgrades. The entire ground floor of the 141 West 21st Street building underwent a renovation, resulting in improvements to the entrance lobby, the Westside Gallery and several classrooms. The Student Center at 217 East 23rd Street also got a new look, courtesy of the Visual Arts Student Association, SVA’s student government. VASA reimagined the existing space and the Monkey Bar Lounge was born. The lounge, with its jungle-themed decor, is the site of art exhibitions, film screenings, live music, poetry readings and other events.

One such Monkey Bar Lounge event, hosted by SVA and the organization Visual AIDS as part of the observance of World AIDS Day, was a poster competition. Several SVA students created posters for a new Visual AIDS awareness campaign; the winning design will become part of the nationwide 2006 AIDS Awareness Broadsides project.

Longtime SVA faculty and board member Milton Glaser was also involved in a poster project this year, creating We Are All African to raise awareness for the antipoverty group One.org. The poster features an image of a hand with a black palm and fingers the colors of multiple ethnicities. SVA coordinated and funded a month-long run for the poster at 250 telephone kiosks around New York City.

There were several notable events on campus this year, starting off with the inaugural Alumni Society Auction in September. Alumni, faculty and students donated more than 100 artworks for live and silent auctions, raising nearly $100,000 for student scholarships.

In October, the Office of Career Development held its annual Industry Fair at the Art Directors Club, during which employers from some of New York City’s top companies gathered to meet students, inspect portfolios and network with future employees and interns. More than 40 businesses participated this year, including Brant Publications, Creative Time, FUBU, Funny Garbage, MTV Networks, the NBA and Time Out New York.

Crowds gathered at SVA’s Visual Arts Museum in late October when designer and illustrator Heinz Edelmann received the College’s Masters Series Award. In conjunction with the award, the College presented a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work entitled “The Masters Series: Heinz Edelmann.“

In March, the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs hosted an event at the Whitney Museum of American Art to celebrate the work of Jutta Koether (BFA Fine Arts Department faculty), Marilyn Minter (MFA Fine Arts Department faculty) and Billy Sullivan (1968 Fine Arts; BFA Photography Department faculty), all three of whom were selected for the museum’s 2006 biennial exhibition, “Day for Night.” Members of the SVA community attended a reception at the museum and were treated to a private viewing of the show.

Alumni also contributed to two other campus events during the year. First, the 2005–06 Distinguished Alumni Lectures series featured animator Bill Plympton, photographer Michael Halsband and illustrator Paul Davis. Then, in July, the Visual Arts Gallery was the site of “Sóu-Lí/Sound,” an exhibition of works by South Korean SVA alumni.

Another venue showcasing the work of SVA students was the Affordable Art Fair. In June, the work of 11 recent SVA graduates was on display in the College’s booth at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. The College also organized two panel discussions (Smart Choices: Building Your Collection, and Developing a Collection: Buying and Owning Photography) at the event. SVA was the only college represented at this year’s fair, mixing with more than 75 professional galleries from around the world.

This year, the College unveiled its first-ever Strategic Plan. This document was created to guide the College over the next five years, setting clear goals to enhance and strengthen the institution. The plan was generated in conjunction with the ongoing accreditation process of the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

This year commencement exercises for the graduating class of 2006 were held in a new venue. After more than 25 years of handing out diplomas at Lincoln Center, the College moved the event to Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center. The relocated ceremony also featured an audiovisual redesign by Milton Glaser and 3D Design Chair Kevin O’Callaghan that included live music and an original video presentation. British writer Lynne Truss, author of the bestselling book Eats, Shoots & Leaves, delivered the commencement address.

Finally, the spring 2006 semester ended with good news for the 2007–08 academic year. The College received approval from the New York State Department of Education to launch two new degree-granting programs in fall 2007: A BFA in Visual and Critical Studies, which will be headed by Art History Department Chair Tom Huhn; and a MPS in Digital Photography, which will be chaired by current faculty member Katrin Eisman (MFA 2002 Design).