CCS was honored to showcase 50 individuals and activities during our 50th Anniversary in 2017-2018 to share our rich history. Take a look at the amazing people responsible for making our unconventional College possible!   

Adam de Boer (Art ‘06) is an artist. From the onset, he was dead-set on being a painter and heading to Art school following high school, yet his parents encouraged him to study at a ‘proper’ university. He applied to various UC schools as an Art major and remembers receiving a CCS informational packet in the mail. For Adam “It [CCS] looked wonderful, and a great compromise between what my parents and I wanted out of my time at a university.”

Asked about what he recalls most from his days at CCS: “I really appreciated being taken seriously as an artist from the onset. The College gave me studio space right away and encouraged me to be ambitious.” For Adam, there was “…no time for semesters of monochromatic still life painting, my tutors at CCS knew I’d be more engaged with my studio practice and would learn those mechanical and formal skills along the way anyway if I was excited about making my own work and figuring out my voice.”  He recalls that many of his concepts were ‘horribly naïve’ (his graduation show featured a 13 foot painting of himself in the role of the prodigal son partying in Isla Vista!) but he is very proud that he attempted to make ‘real’ painting at such a young age, and that was only because of the unique support at CCS.

All the Art students were expected to be artists. “As students, we were expected to be curious about something and go on and research it, whether that was something material, formal, or conceptual (usually all three),” said Adam.  The mid-residency review at CCS gave him a sense of urgency and also a sense of real consequence if he slacked off.  After CCS, Adam attended Chelsea College of Art and Design in London where he received an MA in Fine Arts in 2012. His graduate school experience was similar to CCS (“though far less cordial amongst the students”) and gives credit to CCS for preparing him to excel in his graduate work.  

As students we were expected to be curious about something and go on and research it, whether that was something material, formal, or conceptual (usually all three).

As an artist, the work habits he formed in the CCS studios have stuck with him to this day.  “I paint every day, and I use things I learned at CCS all the time in the studio. I thank Hank Pitcher, Dan Connally, Linda Ekstrom, and Harry Reese for expecting a lot out of me.”  Many of his best friends today are also CCS graduates from the Math and Physics programs “…so even my social life benefitted greatly by attending the College.” He has stayed in touch with many of his professors and credits their examples to help him along the path of his early career.

“I love this College and miss my time at UCSB dearly,” reflected Adam. While he has many memorable moments at UCSB, “I often think fondly of late nights painting in my CCS studio and afterward, exhausted, riding my rusty beach cruiser home along Del Playa to the sounds of Bob Marley and keg parties playing out in the fantastic, filthy houses along the street.”

Adam’s advice to CCS Art students is to get a part-time job at the UCSB Art Library. “Shelving in those stacks for hours each week, I feel like I got another degree in Art History, and even received a small paycheck for it at that!” That experience made him much more informed about painting history “…than most of [his] peers out in the ‘real’ art world.”

I paint everyday, and I use things I learned at CCS all the time in the studio. I thank Hank Pitcher, Dan Connally, Linda Ekstrom, and Harry Reese for expecting a lot out of me.

Adam will share his journey as an artist on the CCS Alumni Career Panel this Spring, part of the CCS 50^th Anniversary celebration festivities during 2017-2018.