Race to 100 Alumni

Walter Weissman

KCC Class of 1967
Major: Art
Current Title/Profession: Independent Photography Professional

Nominated by: Brian Hack

Walter Weissman was part of Kingsborough Community College’s first class, enrolling in 1967 when the campus was still a collection of converted military barracks on the edge of Southern Brooklyn. The infrastructure was modest, and the departments were a far cry to what they are now, but what KCC offered was a formative education with lasting impact. Along with fellow students, Walter helped found the college’s first literary arts magazine, Antheon, marking one of the earliest signs of his creative life to come in future years.

As a student, Walter worked closely with art instructor Gregory Babcock, organizing catalogs and assisting with exhibitions. Babcock became a mentor, taking him into the city to visit museums and introducing him to the currents of contemporary art, including museums featuring Andy Warhol, and leading to an encounter with artist Jasper Johns. Those early experiences set a trajectory for Walter. After graduating from Kingsborough, he earned a B.A. with honors in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College in 1970, followed by an M.A. in Fine Arts from Hunter College in 1975. He went on to study at the Yale Summer School of Art in 1968 alongside prominent figures in the American art world.

Walter’s art practices have ranged widely across various media over the decades. He is known for work that merges both sculpture and architecture. Walter often creates pieces that blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces. His art and photography have been exhibited at PS1 (prior to its affiliation with MoMA), Arcadia University, and Guild Hall in East Hampton, where portraits of artists including Ross Bleckner and Calvin Klein were displayed. His photographs have been syndicated internationally through agencies including Globe Photos and Zuma Press. Most recently, curators from the Brooklyn Museum selected 15 to 20 of his photographs for permanent inclusion in their library collection.

His interest in photography began in childhood with him borrowing his brother’s Kodak bellows camera to document Brighton Beach and Coney Island. Those early images now form part of a body of work that spans six decades. Walter is also recognized in his community as both an activist and advocate, a role that has remained parallel to his artistic identity throughout his career.

Walter describes Kingsborough’s physical environment as being inseparable from its educational value. The campus’s location on a peninsula, bordered by both beach and bay, created conditions for what he describes as calm and introspection. “The environment seeps into you,” he explains. On education more broadly, he sees it as a way in which those in society remain open to ideas, people, and oneself. Walter continues, “Education allows you to be open…It fosters an educated society and culture.”