While the CSFA cultivated its own, unique school of abstract art, it also exposed its students to New York abstract artists like Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt through summer sessions from 1947 to 1949. For students like Hultberg, Rothko's guest lectures about the New York art scene were inspiring enough to convince them to continue their studies on the East Coast. Briggs, Calcagno, and Schueler followed suit after 1950, a migration catalyzed by Still's decision to move to New York and the subsequent firing of MacAgy.