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Ward Sutton ’89 was drawn to St. Olaf College by the New York Art January Term program. 

Since the mid-1980s, this experiential learning course has taken a group of Oles to New York City for the month of January. Led by a St. Olaf professor, the students meet with countless professionals in the art world — from painters and printmakers, to graphic designers and museum curators, to animators and graffiti artists. 

As a St. Olaf student, Sutton had the chance to participate in the program that drew him to campus — and 35 years later, he is an award-winning editorial cartoonist. Sutton’s work has been published in The Boston Globe, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, MAD Magazine, and many other publications. In 2018 he won the prestigious Herblock Prize for excellence in editorial cartooning, and in 2022 the Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award from the National Press Foundation. He was a 2024 St. Olaf Alumni Award recipient, and you can read more about his work here. It all started, he says, with the power of the New York Art January Term program.

“I loved that program,” Sutton recalls. “Years later, St. Olaf contacted me and asked me to be one of the artists they visited in New York during the program. It was a really nice full-circle feeling. When I pulled out my final paper from that trip, I realized I had written at the time about doing exactly what I’m actually doing now.”

Behind the program’s packed schedule is a web of faculty, alumni, and professional contacts who make the visits possible. Peter Eide ’93, an artist and longtime program supporter, now helps coordinate the artist visits. 

“Throughout the year I have my ear to the ground for interesting people who may be open to meeting with the students, so by the beginning of October I usually have a list of potential visits worked out,” Eide says. “At that point I reach out to the faculty member who will be leading the group to consult with them and ask if they have any particular student wishes. Once I have an ‘ideal’ list, I start contacting potential visits and working out scheduling.”

Sometimes those visits create memories that last for decades. Eide recalls one moment when students visited Julian Schnabel at his studio in the West Village:

“The students were led up to a waiting room with a Tom Sachs grand piano artwork in the middle of the room. When Julian Schnabel walked in, he invited one of the students to play a duet with him, and they played something so amazing together that I think even he was in awe. Afterward, the group learned about his art practice, heard stories about the art world, and saw lots of amazing artwork as he walked them through his personal living space. It definitely made the art world feel more down-to-earth to the students, and I believe it inspired them in their own work.”

St. Olaf Professor of Art and Art History and Department Chair Peter Nelson ’04 led the program for the first time in 2024.

“This is one of those programs that can have a huge, life-changing impact on students,” he says.

“This is one of those programs that can have a huge, life-changing impact on students.”

— Associate Professor of Art and Art History Peter Nelson ’04

John Saurer, a professor in the art department for 29 years before retiring in 2024, led the program countless times between 1997 and 2023. 

“I think it’s one of the very best courses that we offer in the department, and it has been for a long, long time,” he says. “None of the other programs give students the same access to artists, museums, and professionals.”

Many alumni credit the program with shaping their professional paths. Maggie Matson Larson ’08 says she joined the New York Art January Term program to explore what it might mean to work as an artist in one of the world’s cultural capitals. 

“I wanted to experience New York and examine art — its forms, its makers, its locations, its impacts — in one of the biggest cities in the world,” she says. “Making art was, and continues to be, a passion of mine, but I thought it was important to explore the practicalities of being a working artist in this epicenter to see if this was a path I’d want to take after graduation. Our meetings with artists, curators, toy designers, fashion industry employees, art magazine editors, and architects helped me realize the value of creativity beyond just life as a studio artist.”

Fiko Insel ’24, who participated in the program his senior year and then participated in the college’s Emerging Artist Program, emphasizes that embarking on a career in the arts can be difficult in its undefined nature. 

“It’s not like becoming a doctor,” he says, “there are no steps outlined for you to take.” 

But participating in the New York Art January Term program helped Insel envision himself as an artist in the real world and understand how artists make a living in a variety of fields. This fall, Insel is pursuing an MFA at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. 

Enrico Tamayo ’25 went on the program the same year as Insel. He discovered his passion for photography growing up in Hong Kong, and he applied to the program because he wanted to explore what pursuing it professionally could look like.

“I appreciate that St. Olaf understands and values the idea that education comes from places outside of the classroom,” Tamayo says. “As a student with high financial need, I also really appreciate that they prioritize access for opportunities like this one.”

Many of the J-Term programs are the most expensive study abroad/away opportunities that the college offers, and without financial support it would have been impossible for Tamayo to participate in the New York Art January Term program. 

Brenda Berkman ’73 is one alum committed to making this opportunity more accessible to all students.

“It’s really an unparalleled opportunity for people who are looking to continue on in the arts after St. Olaf,” she says. “I want to try and make sure that any student who wants to come here to New York for January Term is not deterred by lack of money.”

“It’s really an unparalleled opportunity for people who are looking to continue on in the arts after St. Olaf. I want to try and make sure that any student who wants to come here to New York for January Term is not deterred by lack of money.”

— Brenda Berkman ’73

After graduating from St. Olaf, Berkman moved to New York City and pursued a JD at New York University. In the final year of her studies, she won a lawsuit against the city to become its first female firefighter. She was a first responder during the 9/11 attacks, and now volunteers to provide tours of the memorial site to groups, including the New York Art January Term students.

“It always stuck with me from my time at St. Olaf that there were things, primarily off-campus programs, that I couldn’t take part in due to my financial situation,” she says. So in 2019, she created an endowed fund to provide financial aid for students to pursue this opportunity. 

When Saurer, a longtime friend of Berkman’s, announced his retirement, she renamed the fund — now the Berkman Saurer Endowed Fund for the New York City Art January Term — in his honor. After establishing the fund with several gifts and including it in her estate plan, she hopes others may consider supporting the fund as well. 

“I think it’s important that people recognize John’s dedication to the students by supporting this endowment in his honor,” says Berkman.

Besides visiting the 9/11 memorial site, the group also visits Berkman at the Art Students League, where she is pursuing her passion for printmaking as a retiree.

“Knowing her history and her art,” says Saurer, “I often say Brenda is the epitome of ‘Oles Can, Oles Will.’ She’s a great friend and mentor to students on the program.”

When it comes to what makes the program so valuable, getting out of the abstract-classroom-headspace is key. Saurer believes putting students on the street and getting them behind closed doors in the creative hub that is NYC offers them inspiring and practical insights.

Over the years, the structure of the program has remained consistent: two artist visits per day and free weekends for students to explore the city and fulfill a requirement of 25 museum visits. 

At the same time, what it means to be an art major at St. Olaf has philosophically expanded to include creative fields beyond studio art. Nelson notes that the breadth of the program is important, as it exposes students to a broad range of creative career paths. The program also provides extensive networking opportunities. Insel notes that in each of the artist presentations, there was one common element mentioned: the importance of talking to other artists as an artist.

Students also attend a panel of young alumni, less than 10 years out from graduation, who work in the New York City art scene. Visiting artists in various parts of their careers adds another dimension of exposure for students, so they can understand the resourcefulness and time required to get where they eventually want to go. 

“Several students have moved here and launched successful careers,” Eide says. “In fact, we have enough alumni working in the arts in New York City that we have to be careful to not fill up our calendar with alumni only!”

Berkman says it’s great for the New York Oles to see what St. Olaf students are up to these days, which helps to reinforce connections to the college. 

“Whether they’re St. Olaf alums or not,” she says, “the artists we visit are impressed by the students and they welcome them back year after year.”

Nelson, who participated in the program in 2002 while a student at St. Olaf says, “It was a wild place to be — it was New York. Seeing people be creative and making things work creatively solidified for me that it was possible to make a career as an artist, to be creative, and to not have to pick a super ‘safe’ route. It had a huge impact on me.”