Ethan Tate

Artistic Focus

Ethan Tate ’24, a Printmaking major from Brooklyn, New York, knew Purchase was different from the moment he first visited.

In high school, Ethan became interested in photography and found his voice creating abstract work. While visiting a friend here at Purchase, Ethan toured the Visual Arts building during senior shows, when all graduating seniors have their artwork on display.

The art on display was just what Ethan wanted to do: he was excited to see tons of abstract work, as he found that other Visual Arts programs weren’t too accepting of the kind of art he was interested in.

Although he started as a Photography major, he fell in love with printmaking:

“I was a photography major for about a month,” he says.

Now, he spends most of his day in the printmaking studio. He admittedly gets some flak from his friends for spending so much time working, but he wants to utilize the shop as much as possible.

Experimenting with new materials and working in such a huge shop is rewarding, Ethan says. Once when he was monitoring the printmaking shop, he caught two students trying to sneak in after hours to do their homework. They’d even hid their supplies in the back of the room. He understood completely and even stayed an extra hour to help them out.

Outside the Classroom

When Ethan isn’t in the printmaking shop, he hangs out at the creek behind Alumni Village (an apartment complex for seniors) and the nearby Westchester County Airport. It’s a short walk from campus, and there’s a sitting area with benches and a telescope.

Ethan and his friends have spent plenty of time watching planes take off and land right above them. They’ve even had a couple of birthdays spent plane-watching by the tarmac.

Ethan has advice to incoming Purchase students.

“Purchase is a really good school to dedicate a lot of time to whatever you want to do, and then get really good at it.”

Success at Purchase, to Ethan, is helped by a “really motivated work ethic” and a really good idea of what you want to improve.

“Purchase allows you to find your niche and lets you go deeper into your studies,” says Ethan, “and gives you the time and resources to do a little bit of everything.”

*Quotes edited for grammar and clarity.