A first-of-its-kind two-year graduate program that combines the study of art business and connoisseurship with hands-on training in interior design will debut Fall 2011.

The collaborative 2-year graduate program leads to both a Master’s Degree from Sotheby’s Institute of Art and an interior design Certificate from the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID). It offers the opportunity for students to supplement their course work at Sotheby’s, which offers professionally focused MA degrees in art business, contemporary art and American fine and decorative arts, with a year of hands-on studio training in interior design at NYSID. 

“For many years we have sought a way to serve our student’s career interest in interior design,” said Dr. David C. Levy, President of Sotheby’s Institute of Art. “This program’s integration of art history, art business and hands-on design provides a unique opportunity for our students to combine the professional knowledge of the international art world and its markets, taught in the Institute’s MA programs, with the in-depth, studio-based interior design training at NYSID.”

Graduates will receive both an MA in their chosen field at Sotheby's Institute, and a Certificate in Basic Interior Design from NYSID, one of this country’s leading educational institutions for interior design. Students may substitute a dynamic interior design project in place of the traditional research-based master’s thesis.

“This partnership with Sotheby’s Institute of Art is a logical marriage of our respective strengths, and something about which we are very excited,” said Dr. Christopher J. Cyphers, President of NYSID. “Students from Sotheby’s Institute who opt to pursue the NYSID Certificate will enjoy an opportunity to add another dimension to their graduate education, and most certainly expand their range of career options.  For our part, having students from the Sotheby’s Master’s program in our design studios with our students will make for a far richer and textured academic experience."