-Maura Walsh, class of 2011

• Andi Crist, BFA 2011

James Ross, Class of 2023

Thank you Adam, for everything. Truly.

Warm regards,

Randy Russell Brown

All the best and enjoy every moment of your retirement!

English Prevo, BFA 2011

One of the first classes I ever taught at Columbia was Body/Space/Image (I believe while you were on sabbatical). It's been great getting to know you since then, and hope you have a blast getting back into the studio full time!

Taylor

Thank you for your wit and guidance during my time at Columbia. Your depth of knowledge, open-mindedness, and hard assed-ness made your class one of my most valuable.

And thank you for some of the best stories of my twenties. You are both the master of mischief and the guy who shows up the next morning to clean up the mess. A talent that I will always admire and an excellent measure of your friendship.

Congratulations!

Lauren Humphries, delinquent

With much appreciation,

Amy

One of my favorite times was the day Maggie Thatcher died and I tried to get a stamp on Ira Glass.

I'm pretty sure you still owe Jesus a limo ride.

I am also forever grateful for you seeing the artist in me and encouraging me to keep going. I wouldn't be the artist I am today without you.

Honk if you love Adam Brooks!

xx,

Caitlin Ryan

Karen Bovinich

Thank you for being one of the best parts of my Columbia experience and for being one of the artists who showed up in the classroom in the same way you showed up for your practice—ready to challenge everything, add some humor, and make sure we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. But at the same time you made sure we were fully aware of our responsibilities as artists, curators, co-conspirators, etc.

Thank you for IOTO and showing how important friendship and collaboration is to anyone who is just derailed enough to want to commit their life to this art thing. I appreciate you endlessly. —tempestt, class of 2010

Congratulations! I could not imagine my time at Columbia without you as a teacher. You expected me to be truly and unabashedly myself. Creating work which lead to how I present myself in spirit and in my life. From your expertise, I was able to bring the philosophies that you taught to make me a better person, and a better artist. And you let me bring in scotch for a project! So cheers to you! I hope your retirement brings you a sense of accomplishment of how many lives you have molded into being the best artists they can be, but most importantly, the best people that they should be!

Sincerely,

Courtney Wheaton Hostetler, class of 2010

Looking forward to seeing how you go about subverting retirement.

You've done enough Adam!

big hugs,

Kristina Felix

Class of 2004

Wishing you the best now and always,

Mary Gring, MFA Class of 2020

Congrats on retiring! It's about damn time, though I feel sorry for all the future students who won't get the privilege of having you as a teacher. When I think back to my time at Columbia, so many of the best things I got from that experience come from you; you have been not just a teacher to me, but a mentor in life. From the many times you've helped me with grant writing or recommendation letters, to hiring me for one of my first preparator gigs, and always encouraging me to advocate for myself better; I wouldn't be where I am in life without your guidance and support. You've taught me not only how to have an artistic practice, but how to live and thrive as an artist in an industry that is not always supportive of young creatives. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything; I hope this next stage of life is full of mischief, good humor, and more than a few very ordinary days.

See you soon, and with much love,

Killian

You will be sorely missed. Thank you so much for your humor, great spirit, and forthrightness and for sharing them with students and teachers alike.

As well, I want to thank you for including me in IOTO projects, an honor I certainly did not deserve but is deeply appreciated nonetheless.

Columbia should officially declare you a National Treasure.

Very best wishes,

Your fiend/friend,

Ivan

Although my class schedule didn’t me many opportunities to know you better, I greatly appreciate your dedication to the Fine Art Department. As a former student of your New Genres class, I can honestly say your teachings gave me the stepping stones to become the artist I am today. Your words, guidance, and advice will be remembered by me and so many of your former students. May life be good to you as you were to us!

With gratitude,

Kenise Gaston (BA class of 2023)

It is always a boost to intersect with your thoughtful way of understanding, and exploring the world.

Embrace this horizon with abandon. Explore the unknown. Embrace a serif!

Your typographic fan,

Matt

Heather

Nate C

Really glad we were able to connect at Columbia. Congratulations on your retirement from academia and looking forward to seeing what's new in the studio! To future chats.

Best,

H

with best wishes,

kumiko　

アダム様　

ご定年おめでとうございます！これからのますますのご活躍を祈ります。　

久美子

I had heard about you and your teachings from peers long before I met you. And then one fateful morning, after Karen Bovinich and I had stayed awake all night to help Michelle Ishikawa prepare for a performance work for your class—a work in which her arms were encased elbow-deep in a solid block of plaster to be dragged down Wabash Ave—I witnessed firsthand your inimitable guidance as you allowed enough room for her to carry out the work, and then the utmost care as you ran back into the building to the 10th floor shop to grab the hammer that would eventually help break her free. I often cite this work and your involvement with it as the catalyst for my own artistic and pedagogical pursuits. I have been chasing this day ever since.

"Thank you" will never be enough as my gratitude for you and your continued influence in my life/work extends far beyond language. Your example is unmatched.

Congratulations and cheers to the (extra)ordinary,

EJ Hill

I am so happy for you, but will definitely miss our conversations. I always loved when we danced around something during a meeting, you would just call the B.S. and question the whole thing dead on. You have been such a kind mentor, colleague, and friend. Super thankful for everything you did for our programs and students. Hope you enjoy your retirement and ManU gets its stuff together.

Adam Brooks rocks!!!!

Onur

Eliana Pinkert '26

Since then over the years nothing has changed except you just moved down the street to influence a couple of generations of fresh artists while continuing to do what you do: make us do a double take at our world.

Enjoy your “retirement” and see you around just as often,

Larry Lee

It was a pleasure watching you in action and learning from you.  You were a big part of my amazing experience at Columbia; thank you!  And, thank you for all your instruction, guidance, and expert in the field, feedback. It was all wonderful and fun!

Wishing you the very best on your next journey! 

Megon Class of 2010

Congrats! But honestly, what does it mean you’re “retiring?” It just doesn’t seem in your nature to retire from art, politics, and education across your many diverse communities. Maybe it just means that you won’t be required to “clock in and clock out” at ordinary times. If anything, retirement will probably allow you greater opportunities to impact the world.

I started at Columbia College studying graphic design, then I accidentally enrolled in Performance Art with Mat Wilson thinking it fulfilled a performing arts credit. I was introduced to you and IOTO, and later enrolled in a New Media course where, amongst many other valuable things, you taught video editing. After graduation, I used those editing skills for jobs with Discovery, Clear-Com and Google. Those jobs lead to others where I designed and fabricated sets for film, theater and big corporate events, and later still, led to the career I have now in manufacturing and energy delivery. It’s crazy to think how a misinterpreted art college course description can change the entire trajectory of a person’s life, and I would say, “Adam Brooks is Responsible/Adam Brooks is Not Responsible.”

There are too many good memories from my five years at CCC to enumerate here, but some impactful moments for me were when you first invited me for beers at the Cloak of Invisibility, when you commissioned a set of “Dogs with Dicks,” and when you told me that during my educational career I had been “if anything, prolific,” because that is something I have been striving to embody since that moment.

Thank you sincerely for everything, and I wish you the absolute best in your retirement…though I doubt there will be anything “retired” about it!

Cheers,

Tannar Veatch

Class of 2010

🎉🥳👏🏼 Biddy

Although our working relationship was short, your presence and influence on my practice and outlook on art will forever be impactful. It was honor to be invited to critiques with you and be included in exhibition.

With appreciation,

Dave Pabellon

Enjoy your retirement. Enjoy your travels. I hope you get loads of time to go on walks (careful with the keg there) with Jess. I wish you all the best martinis, the best art, and all the fun life has to offer!

All my best forever.

Cara

-John C Moreno

Many congratulations and lots of gratitude to you for choosing to spend your time sharing not only your knowledge, but your drive to find novel ways of looking at – and asking questions about – the ordinary world around us… for better or worse. You appear in many of my stories about my time at Columbia, and it was truly a pleasure to be a student in your class as well as participate in a summer residency.

I hope you find that all upcoming adventures scratch every itch and fill you to the brim with joy! 🍾

- Cassandra Meek (class of 2017)

-Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos

-Abena (BFA 2016) !

I hope you have plenty of time to enjoy playing foosball!

-andrew shoemaker