Campus Memories
Ann Marie Sclafani Restoration ’95
We asked alumni to share their recollections of their time at FIT. Here are some of our favorites.
“As a Fine Arts major they would encourage students to take survey classes to explore more profitable outlets, as very few students became full-time working painters. This picture was taken by a classmate during our photography survey in the Pomerantz Center in 1992. (Maintaining that hair was a full-time job.) To my knowledge, none of us went on to painting careers so I guess they were right. I’m a jewelry designer today.”
See more and send us your own memories on the 75th anniversary website, 75.fitnyc.edu. We will continue to post them throughout 2020.
Jacqueline Clay Chester Apparel Design ’60 “This was a promotional photograph taken on FIT’s roof in the spring of 1959, a few months before I went to Russia to model in the American National Exhibition in Moscow. Shirley Goodman invited me. The gown was encrusted with pearls and embroidery and all that good stuff. It was to be worn in the ball scene of the fashion show. I was blown away because the gown cost $500. I thought that was a million dollars—it was the most expensive garment I’d ever worn.”
Chris “Robots Will Kill” Chillemi Fine Arts ’98 “This painting is actually the reason I stayed with painting. I grew up using markers, spray paint, etc., so when I learned about brushes I wasn’t too into it. Mainly because a lot of the teachers I had made me feel like it wasn’t art if it wasn’t made with brushes and on a canvas. So I was feeling negative about a lot of art stuff. Then I had a professor named Jeffrey Russell. He had us do paintings without brushes. This painting was a part of that project. I used water bottles filled with paint, sandpaper, even spitting paint on the canvas (I do not recommend this). That part was actually me being a wise ass and trying to make fun of modern art. Ahhhh, youth. The black markings are actually material sewn to the canvas.
Joyce H. Cheng Fashion Design ’88 “As a foreign student, those years in FIT brought some of my greatest memories and best experiences. I won the Critic Award and was honored by Betsey Johnson.” Cheng’s art book will be published in China in 2020.
Johann Soto Toy Design ’00 “Hanging fun with my girls, they were awesome, miss them.”
20 Winter 2020
“This painting made me realize that I did not have to use a brush to make art and I could use spray paint, markers, and whatever. About the canvas, he said, ‘You paid just as much for the corners as you did for the middle. Don’t neglect them.’ Also yes, dyed blond hair, huge shirt and pants, beads, bracelets etc. ... ’90s overload.”
