[4][5][6] In the late 1970s, a group of realist New York artists including Jack Beal, Alfred Leslie, Rafael Soyer, and Milet Andrejevic, recognized a need for arts instruction grounded in the teaching of traditional skills.

Pivar assembled the early faculty and advisory committees which included Beal, Leslie, Soyer, Andrejevic, as well as Frank Mason and Nelson Shanks, and secured the lease at the Middle Collegiate Church in 1980.

[9] In 1984, the New York Academy of Art (NYAA) relocated to Lafayette Street in the East Village and expanded its administration, faculty, and curriculum, with additional support from Pivar.

[7] The arts curricula centered on building the classical skills of realism including training in perspective drawing and working from life models to sculpt the human form.

[12][14] The same firm continued to renovate and improve the school starting in 2010 (through at least 2020) and included the restoration of the facade in collaboration with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

[11][2] Prior to his leadership appointment at NYAA, Kratz had worked in public relations for two decades before he earned a graduate degree in painting from the academy in 2008.

Montgomery noted that the financial and educational committees were in violation of the school's bylaws, as was Smith for serving well beyond the four-year term limit for chairman.

The students described attending a bizarre, competitive dinner party where they were led to believe that Epstein was planning to grant one of them a major commission, which ultimately never materialized.

[19] In May 2020, a petition began circulating that called for Guggenheim's resignation from her position at NYAA as chair of the Board of Trustees due to her earlier involvement with Epstein in the 1990s.