APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM ARE NOW OPEN
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APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM ARE NOW OPEN |
Drawing Workshop
September-December 2025
Drawing Writing Making
David Gersten Teaches His Famous Drawing Class
Under the guidance of artist and educator David Gersten, participants will begin a new project and explore their ideas through an interplay of drawing, writing, and making.
Head professor: David Gersten
Where: On-site
When: September to December 2025
Language: English
Positions: 13 seats +1 scholarship
Dedication: 60+ Hours
Earlybird fee: €1,850
Full fee: €2,200
Contacts: If you have any questions you can reach us at info@artslettersandnumbers.com
APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM ARE NOW OPEN
|
APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM ARE NOW OPEN |
/program breakdown
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
Program Director
David Gersten
David Gersten is an internationally recognized artist, architect, writer, and educator based in New York City. He is Distinguished Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Learning at The Cooper Union, where he has taught since 1991 and served as Associate Dean and Acting Dean. He is the Founding Director and President of Arts Letters and Numbers, a nonprofit that supports creative exchange across architecture, design, fine arts, theater, film, music, crafts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
Gersten has taught at institutions worldwide, including the Aarhus School of Architecture, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. He collaborates with educational and cultural institutions, as well as international organizations including UNICEF, the United Nations Academic Impact division, Education Reimagined and serves on the Board of Directors of Big Picture Learning.
FULL BIO →
/additional material
/past work
/lectures & conversations
David Gersten presents New York City, a 5000 Year History
David Gersten
David Gersten presents New York City, a 5000 Year History
TEDxCooper Union
David Gersten presents New York City, a 5000 Year History
The Cooper Union
/FAQ
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A: Absolutely. The program is designed to support participants from a wide range of backgrounds. What matters most is your willingness to explore the intersection of disciplines and commit to a rigorous, immersive process.
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A: While the program meets twice weekly, it’s intensive. You should anticipate dedicating substantial independent time to your practice between sessions, especially as ideas develop and evolve.
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A: That’s perfectly fine—and in fact, welcomed. This program invites you to arrive with questions, fragments, or even uncertainty. The goal isn’t to finish a polished product, but to engage in a generative process of discovery, where new ideas, connections, and forms may emerge organically.
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A: The structure offers rhythm and support—through studio visits, seminars, and group dialogue—but the content of your work is self-directed. You will be guided through conversation and encouraged to listen to your own curiosities, not handed assignments to complete.
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A: Here, listening is a core method of working. It’s about receiving—others, space, materials, and yourself—with care and attention. The program reimagines critique as listening non-critiques: spaces where participants reflect, share, and hear each other, rather than judge or rank.
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A: Not expected—but encouraged to explore. Whether you’re a writer, architect, painter, or performer, the program invites you to stretch your practice through drawing, writing, making, or combinations thereof. It’s about expanding the boundaries of your medium, not abandoning it.
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A: That’s part of the ethos. This program values seeing over showing, meaning that the process of inquiry—what you come to understand, question, or feel—is just as vital as any outward expression. Your studio is a space of perception, not performance.
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A: It’s not about poetry as genre—it’s about cultivating attentiveness, empathy, and the ability to engage with complexity. It’s a way of thinking that resists easy answers and embraces layered, open-ended inquiry across mediums.
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A: If you’re seeking a space to explore rather than prove, to ask rather than resolve, and to work within a thoughtful, interdisciplinary community—then this program is likely a good fit. It’s for people looking not just to make something, but to inhabit a way of making.
/in a nutshell
Cost
$1,850 – $2,200
Language
English
Positions
13 seats & 1 scholarship