Skip to Main Content
  • About
  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • Campus Life
  • News & Media
  • Athletics
  • Support BC
  • Our Campus
  • Fast Facts
  • Administration
  • Initiatives, Plans and Policies
  • A Nationally Recognized Institution
  • International Education
  • Research
  • Our Past, Our Future
  • Offices and Services
  • Consumer Information
  • Contact Us
  • Schools
  • Academic Departments
  • Majors, Minors and Concentrations
  • Interdisciplinary Programs
  • Graduate Programs
  • Doctoral Programs
  • General Education
  • Honors Academy
  • Special Programs
  • International Programs and Study Abroad (IPSA)
  • Academic Resources
  • Library
  • Centers and Institutes
  • Academic Honor Societies
  • Technology
  • Research
  • Faculty
  • Course Schedules and Bulletins
  • Academic Calendar
  • Incoming Freshmen
  • Transfer Students
  • Graduate Students
  • International Students
  • Second-Degree Students
  • Other Students
  • Apply
  • Tuition, Fees and Payments
  • Financial Aid
  • Request Information
  • Visit Campus
  • Undergraduate Admissions Events
  • Graduate Admissions Events
  • BC News
  • BC In the Media
  • Research
  • Videos
  • Brooklyn College Magazine
  • Office of Communications and Marketing
  • Visit us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Email us a question
  • What the Campus Has to Offer
  • Vice President for Student Affairs
  • Division of Student Affairs
  • Student Clubs
  • Intramurals / Recreation
  • Health and Wellness
  • Orientation
  • Commencement
  • Veteran and Military Programs
  • Living in Brooklyn
  • Brooklyn College Foundation
  • Donate Now
  • Visit us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Email us a question
Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College logo
  • BC WebCentral
  • We Stand Against Hate
  • Calendar
  • Offices and Services
  • Library
  • Career Services
  • Honors Academy
  • Special Programs
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni & Friends
  • Admissions
  • Undergraduate Admissions
  • Graduate Admissions
  • Apply Online
  • Transfer Evaluations Office
  • Campus Life
  • Financial Aid
  • Honors and Special Programs
  • Library
  • News and Media
  • Public Safety
  • Annual Security Report
  • Registrar
  • Academic Advising
  • Annual Security Report
  • Bookstore
  • Bursar
  • Calendars
  • Campus Life
  • Career Development and Internships
  • Commencement
  • Course Schedules and Bulletins
  • CUNY Blackboard
  • Enrollment Services Center
  • Financial Aid
  • Graduate Studies
  • Initiatives, Plans and Policies
  • International Programs and Study Abroad (IPSA)
  • Library
  • News and Media
  • Offices and Services
  • Pathways
  • Public Safety
  • Registrar
  • Registration Information
  • Resources for Undocumented Students and DACA
  • Scholarships and Awards
  • Student Handbook
  • Sustainability
  • Technology
  • Transfer Evaluations Office
  • Log into CUNYfirst
  • BC WebCentral Login
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Forgot Your WebCentral ID?
  • New Users
  • College Directory
  • Academic Affairs / Office of the Provost
  • Annual Security Report
  • Senior VP for Finance and Administration
  • Bookstore
  • Calendars
  • Campus Directory
  • Campus Life
  • Center for Teaching
  • CUNY Blackboard
  • Faculty Council
  • Faculty and Staff Development Opportunities (CUNY)
  • Human Resources
  • ITS (Information Technology Services)
  • Library
  • News and Media
  • Offices and Services
  • Public Safety
  • Sustainability
  • Transfer Evaluations Office
  • Webmail
  • Writing Across the Curriculum
  • Log into CUNYfirst
  • BC WebCentral Login
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Forgot Your WebCentral ID?
  • New Users
  • College Directory
  • Annual Security Report
  • Benefits and Services
  • Brooklyn College Alumni Association
  • Brooklyn College Foundation
  • Brooklyn College Magazine
  • Calendar of Events
  • Chapters and Affiliates
  • Get Involved and Give Back
  • Office of Alumni Engagement
  • Stay in Touch
  • Transcripts
  • Public Safety
  • Contact Us
  • News & Media
  • BC News
  • Archive - 2012
  • Students Show Off Their Creative Side

Winners of the library’s annual art contest think outside the box.

/web/new_2012news/120718_LibraryArtAwardNicotineMan_94x84.jpg

Students Show Off Their Creative Side

July 18, 2012

A part of senior Andrew Baer's entry for the contest.

A part of senior Andrew Baer's entry for the contest.

A newfangled nicotine man and a student inspired by the rhythmic tap tap of that ancient relic the typewriter are the winners of the 2012 Brooklyn College Library Art Award.

Andrew Baer, a senior majoring in fine art, and Alex Renner, a graduate student working on a master's degree in music composition, were chosen as the best of this year's 81 entries. Each took home a $500 prize.

Every year, students are asked to select a piece of art from the library's collection and respond to it with a unique and original work in any medium. The platforms for this year's entries ranged from interactive computer programs to poems, videos, musical compositions and multimedia creations.
Baer's entry, in fact, was an exhaustive multi-layered, multimedia project that included a panoply of Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, a blog and some more traditional artistic creations that were featured on the sites.

In response to John Arruda's Nicotine Man, Baer made a cigarette box in which he placed rolled pieces of paper that invite viewers to check out his virtual creations, which were embedded with his original artwork, including blog entries, poetry, collections of cigarette-inspired art from the Internet and his own original drawings made from the ember of a burning cigarette.

"I had a lot of other things going on in my life and I didn't have time to devote several hours a day to this, so I came up with a project that I could work on just a little bit every day," says Baer, who is trying to quit smoking. "In the same way that cigarettes can be on your mind all the time, this project was on my mind all the time. Sometimes working on it was a replacement for smoking."

Renner composed and performed music for his entry, entitled "Press," which is nearly seven minutes long, using the marimba and piano. He was responding to William Kentridge's Typewriter.

"It just kind of clicked," explains Renner. "The instrumentation was instantaneous for me. Typing on an old typewriter creates its own little rhythmic motion that you don't get typing on a keyboard. What can I say? It was melodic to me."

Miriam B. Deutch, associate librarian for research and access services, says that this year the judge's panel was unanimous when choosing the winners.

"The winners were so inventive and so creative," she says. "That's what we were looking for. They also showed a strong link to the art they were inspired by. So the choices were clear. That hasn't always been true."

The competition was founded in 2008, in the wake of the renovation of the library. New York State had earmarked a percentage of the money used for the renovation to be spent on artwork as part of a law that attempts to make art accessible in venues outside of a typical museum or gallery.

"We purchased a lot of art and wanted to make sure that it would speak to the diversity of our student population," says Deutch. "Once we were able to catalog all of the art online, we were looking for a way to engage students in the collection. Rather than having an opening, we came up with the contest."

Undergraduates Emily Kenselaar and Christina Squitieri and graduate students Briggan Krauss and Sophia Remolde received honorable mentions. Their entries included a poem, a drawing and an interactive composition of computer sounds.

Back to BC News
  • Additional Content - Text and rightColumn: Tweet

News & Media

Back to News & Media

Image of a phone with social media icons.

Let’s Stay Connected

Our social media directory features all our accounts from across campus.

Fall 2022 COVID-19 Guidelines

Fall 2022 COVID-19 Guidelines

Prepare for a crucial transition for the fall 2022 semester.

Group of faculty members

Outstanding Professors

Our highly trained faculty are leaders in their fields. Come learn from them.

View of the upper portions of buildings from the residential neighborhoods around the Brooklyn College campus.

Housing Options

Learn about housing options that are available in Brooklyn. 

  • Home
  • Directory
  • Employment
  • IT Remote Support
  • Remote Technology Resources
  • Privacy Policy
  • Policies
  • Contact
  • Text Only Website
  • Site Map
The City University of New York

© 2025 All Rights Reserved Brooklyn College
2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210
718.951.5000 -10.1.1.11