The Katz Guest Artist Series is named after and funded by Cooper Union alumni Alex Katz. This course introduces contemporary emerging and established artists in the fields of Painting & Drawing guided by a Cooper Union faculty. The course offers students opportunity for further growth within the context of advanced study through conversations around professional practices and individual development. Students interact with each guest in lectures, one-on-one studio visits and group critiques. Lectures introduce students to a wide range of practice and perspectives in Painting or Drawing within a classroom setting or field trips to guest artist studios. There is time for critical discussion about the material presented. Individual studio spaces become sites for creation, research, presentations and meetings with faculty and guest artists. In this way, the course reflects the professional space of the artist studio. Students develop a deeper connection to their personal language and practice through a rigorous studio visit and lecture schedule. Students experience the “real world” model of studio visits in which visitors not familiar with their work or immediate concerns engage them. In this way students develop the communication of their work and interests outside of the traditional classroom structure. Group critiques and media such as readings and film expand and clarify student development and course objectives.