Spring 2016 by SVA Visual Arts Journal

journal VISUAL ARTS

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE SPRING 

SP R ING 2016 FROM THE PRESIDENT | 3 CLOSE UP | 4

News and events from around the College WHAT’S IN STORE | 10

New products created by SVA entrepreneurs CREATIVE LIFE: Double Lives | 16

Alumni who are managing two— or more—careers

CLOSE UP Tasteful designs by Louise Fili, the 2016 Masters Series honoree

Jason Bard Yarmosky | 20 Yarmosky’s loving, unflinching portraits of his grandparents

PORTFOLIO:

Fast Forward | 29 Thomas Shim and Tal Shub on the future of advertising

SUBJECT MATTER:

COLOR COMMENTARY: Book Cover Design | 30

SPOTLIGHT: Miami | 40 A look at four graduates who live and work in the “Magic City”

WHAT’S IN STORE Bug juice, a TV series, a waffle iron, and more

Sima Ajlyakin

Designers and authors talk about their book covers

CREATIVE LIFE “It’s okay to do multiple things.”

Q+A: Peter Hristoff | 46 The BFA Fine Arts graduate and SVA faculty member on his Metropolitan Museum of Art residency

PORTFOLIO A cross-generational collaboration

VISITING ARTISTS | 50

The allures—and benefits—of the studio visit PICTURE OF HEALTH | 58

An MFA Design for Social Innovation initiative to “map” public health in East Harlem ALUMNI AFFAIRS | 66

SVA student housing history

SUBJECT MATTER “The less it looks like typical advertising, the better.”

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL School of Visual Arts Magazine Spring 2016 Volume 24, Number 1

EDITORIAL STAFF

COLOR COMMENTARY “Each cover is a chance to show what you can do as a designer.”

S. A. Modenstein, senior editor Greg Herbowy, editor James S. Harrison, copy editor Dan Halm, visuals coordinator

VISUAL ARTS PRESS, LTD. Anthony P. Rhodes, creative director Gail Anderson, director of design and digital media Brian Smith, art director Gina Roi, design intern

ADVERTISING SALES

SPOTLIGHT Alumni who are making their mark in Miami

212.592.2207

CONTRIBUTORS Blessy Augustine Alexander Gelfand Dan Halm Jane Nuzzo Derek Parsons Jeffrey Perkins Miranda Pierce Hugh Ryan Charles Snyder Kate Styer Ken Switzer Zak Tebbal Carla Torres Danielle Whalen

Carolyn Mara Borlenghi

COVER

FRONT Brandon Davey, untitled, 2012, from the “Party” series, resin and auto paint. BACK Sketches by BFA Visual & Critical Studies student Chaerin Ahn, from one of Peter Hristoff’s drawing classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Q+A “When people draw without being self-conscious, wonderful things happen.”

Milton Glaser Acting Chairman David Rhodes President

facebook.com/schoolofvisualarts twitter.com/SVA_News schoolofvisualarts.tumblr.com vimeo.com/svaedu youtube.com/user/SVANewYorkCity instagram.com/svanyc

VISITING ARTISTS “The studio is an extension of an artist’s inner world.”

Sarah Trigg

Anthony P. Rhodes Executive Vice President

50 Aubrey Hays

School of Visual Arts 209 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010-3994

PICTURE OF HEALTH Putting East Harlem’s health on the map

Harry Zernike

FROM THE PR ESIDENT

am pleased to introduce you to the redesigned Visual Arts Journal. Late last year, SVA appointed alumnus and faculty member Gail Anderson (BFA 1984 Media Arts) to be director of design and digital media at the Visual Arts Press, the College’s in-house design studio. Given Ms. Anderson’s distinguished career in print and type design—spanning everything from Broadway posters to magazines to postage stamps—it was only natural that she would have some ideas for refreshing our publication, which was last re-envisioned in 2008. Throughout this issue, you can read about many other updates at SVA: our new co-chair for MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism (page 6); the launch of a collaboration, led by MFA Design for Social Innovation, to improve public health in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City (page 58); the imminent debut of our soon-to-be-completed 24th Street Residence (page 80); and the latest group of Alumni Scholarship Award recipients (page 68), whose work is made possible through your contributions to the SVA Alumni Society’s Support the Talent campaign. Then there is our latest Masters Series honoree (page 4), our new Instagram account (page 6), and so on. In this issue’s Subject Matter (page 29), we asked two BFA Advertising faculty members—

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both SVA alumni—to forecast the direction of their industry, given consumers’ continued migration to digital media and away from traditional advertising platforms like network television and print periodicals. It should be noted, though, that even in 2016 there are still some holdouts from the “analog” world. For example, books. Earlier this year, The New York Times reported on the resurgence of independent bookstores in the U.S., with 30 percent more stores open now than there were seven years ago and a 10 percent increase in overall sales, and Publishers Weekly reported that sales of e-books have not substantially reduced demand for their printed forebears, as publishers once feared they would. Surely some of this can be credited to the appeal of books as physical objects, which—in defiance of the old cliché—often depends on the quality of their covers. And many notable books of recent years have sported eye-catching covers created by SVA alumni. For this issue of the Journal, we asked some of these alumni—and the authors they’ve designed for—to talk about these works. Their stories can be found in Color Commentary, which begins on page 30. I hope you enjoy the magazine’s new look.

I am pleased to introduce you to the redesigned Visual Arts Journal . . . I hope you enjoy the magazine’s new look.

David Rhodes pr esi de n t

CLOSE UP

t h i s page : 2016 Masters Series honoree Louise Fili • page 6 : Introducing MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism co-chair Molly Heintz, SVA’s Makers Market and SVA on Instagram • page 7: New opportunities for BFA Fine Arts, BFA Animation and BFA Film students • page 8 : A BFA Fine Arts team’s award-winning soil-testing prototype • page 9 : Carrie Mae Weems headlines SVA’s 2016 Commencement

Arts and Letters

his fall, SVA will honor designer and faculty member Louise Fili with its 28th Masters Series Award and exhibition. “The Masters Series: Louise Fili” will be a comprehensive retrospective of Fili’s career and the latest in a long series of honors. Among other distinctions, she has won an AIGA medal for lifetime achievement and is an Art Directors Club Hall of Fame laureate, and her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Fili is probably best known for the food and hospitality branding and packaging work she has done through her eponymous design studio, founded in 1989. Her wine bottle and jam jar labels, cookie and cracker boxes and coffee bean bags can be found in countless pantries and shops, and her visual identity work has defined the look of dozens of popular bakeries, cafés and restaurants. But her design career, which began in the 1970s, encompasses much more. For 11 years, Fili was art director at Pantheon Books, where she designed more than 2,000 book jackets. Logos that she has created include redesigned marks for the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval and Paperless Post. Her past and present clients include Hyperion Books, Tiffany & Co. and the U.S. Postal Service. And she has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on design and typography, several of them with her husband, Steven Heller, co-chair of SVA’s MFA Design program and the 2007 Masters Series honoree. 4

Fili’s work is deeply influenced by her love of Italian culture and design. A child of Italian immigrants, she was raised in New Jersey but traveled often to Italy, and she has led a number of educational trips to that country through the SVA Destinations program, formerly known as SVA Arts Abroad. The Masters Series, an annual award and exhibition honoring the great visual communicators of our time, was established in 1988 by SVA founder Silas H. Rhodes. The series brings greater exposure to those whose influence has been felt strongly and by many, but whose names often go unrecognized by the public. “The Masters Series: Louise Fili” will be on view at the SVA Gramercy Gallery October 10 through December 10. A public reception will be held Thursday, October 13, 6:00 – 8:00pm. [Greg Herbowy] V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

For up-to-date news and events, visit

SVA.EDU

OPPOSITE Louise Fili, Ambessa

tea canisters for chef Marcus Samuelsson, 2013; Elegantissima (Princeton Architectural Press), a 2012 monograph on Filiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career to date. CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Louise Fili, photographed by Henry Leutwyler; Polaner Selections wine labels, 2008; Claudette restaurant logo, 2014; Perfetto two-tone pencils, created for Princeton Architectural Press, 2014.

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Fili is probably best known for the food and hospitality branding and packaging work she has done through her eponymous design studio, founded in 1989.

To submit an item to Close Up, send information to

CLOSE UP

NEWS@SVA.EDU

Back to School L

which will facilitate networking among the program’s graduates, and an annual forum on issues related to design curation, arranged in collaboration with the College’s MA Curatorial Practice Department. The departments’ inaugural forum, Objects (Still) Matter, held in January, focused on the ethics and politics of product design. Heintz is also acting as a thesis advisor and co-teaching a course on how to develop exhibitions and presentations from written thesis works. Heintz says her return to SVA has been “very gratifying. . . . I can empathize with the demands and challenges that the program places on its students, and I can have a student-oriented perspective while still fulfilling my leadership role.” For more information on MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism, visit designresearch.sva.edu. [Blessy Augustine]

Meet Your Makers

In June, SVA will host its first Makers Market, an event celebrating and supporting the entrepreneurial, DIY spirit of many of the College’s alumni. Selected graduates will be on hand to sell their products— apparel and accessories, books

and zines, furniture, housewares, jewelry, stationery, and more. Join them on Saturday, June 11, 11:00am – 6:00pm, at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, 2nd floor. Admission is free and all sales proceeds go to participating alumni. For more information about taking part in a future Makers Market, contact Dan Halm, project manager, SVA External Relations, dhalm@sva.edu.

Nir Arieli

ast fall, SVA’s MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism Department welcomed its new co-chair, Molly Heintz (MFA 2011 Design Criticism). Heintz is managing director and co-founder of Superscript, an editorial consultancy that offers editing, research, strategy and writing services to such design-world clients as The Museum of Modern Art and Pentagram. She also writes about design for a range of publications and is contributing editor to The Architect’s Newspaper. In addition to her SVA degree, she has BA degrees in history and archaeology from Duke University and an MA in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University. In her new position, Heintz joins Alice Twemlow, the department’s founding chair, in directing the MA program’s curriculum, operations and events. She is also helping develop new initiatives, such as an “alumni incubator,”

A Need for Feeds Are you on Instagram? SVA established its official account in time for the start of the 2015 – 2016 academic year, using the photo- and video-based platform to share the latest in news and events, snapshots of campus life, notable finds in the College’s archives, even the occasional weather update. To follow the account or see the latest updates, visit instagram.com/svanyc. V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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H E A R D AT SVA

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“As an artist my job is to see spaces of friction, enter them, and show what’s behind the spectacle.” –TANIA BRUGUERA , artist. From a conversation with artist Shirin Neshat, hosted by MA Curatorial Practice.

After Life SVA’s BFA Fine Arts now offers a selected number of students a four-session taxidermy residency at Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum, a 4,200-square-foot nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and study of artifacts and practices relating to death and the afterlife. The residency gives students the opportunity to study with professional taxidermists Divya Anatharaman and Katie Innamorato, who teach them the intricacies and evolution of the centuries-old craft. Each session presents a new lesson. Students first learn the basics of entomology and insect preparation. They then move on to small mammal construction, in which they study an animal’s anatomy in order to better replicate the dynamics of its living form, and so-called “gaff” taxidermy, or the creation of a mythical or monstrous animal. Last, they create a taxidermied European starling or fancy pigeon, using wire, straw and string to help reconstitute the body and give it the illusion of life. Students also learn the history and ethics of taxidermy, as well as laws concerning wildlife preservation. “I thought adding taxidermy to the curriculum could be a great way to create a connection between sculpture, ‘bio art’ and even the notion of the museological experience,” says Andres Janacua, BFA Fine Arts’ director of operations, who initiated the collaboration with the museum. “I’m hoping this will further round out the education in our department, and show just how inclusive an approach to fine arts can be.” The Morbid Anatomy Museum residency is offered each semester to six selected fourth-year students. Janacua says the goal is for participating students to incorporate the skills and knowledge gained from the experience into their thesis projects. [Dan Halm]

Vincent Chen

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Courtesy of Morbid Anatomy Museum

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Supporting Roles

ast January, the SVA Theatre hosted SVA Women Strong, an event to kick off a partnership between the College’s BFA Animation and BFA Film departments and the Women in the Arts & Media Coalition, a nonprofit organization that boasts some 80,000 U.S.-based media professionals as members. The partnership was formed to provide greater internship, mentoring and employment opportunities for female BFA Animation and BFA Film students and graduates. SVA is the coalition’s first academic affiliate. Women Strong was produced by documentarian, writer and SVA faculty member Joan Brooker-Marks. The evening began with screenings of five short films, including works by BFA Film and Video alumni Ana Maria Hermida (2009), Java Jacobs (2013) and Jacqueline Lobel (2011) and BFA Animation students Lisa Labracio and Claire Van Ryzin. A panel discussion followed, moderated by media consultant Caitlin Burns. Lawyer and producer Laverne Berry, cinematographer Rachael Levine, director Jenna Ricker and director and producer Katharina Rohrer discussed their experiences with gender discrimination in the industry, took questions from the audience and offered advice to aspirants in the field. “One of the major things we plan to do with the partnership is have monthly meetings where our members can speak with the students and offer them guidance,” says Shellen Lubin, co-president of the coalition and a director and writer herself. “We want young women to grab the reins, understand the issues, get to know their peers and know that we’re here to support them.” [GH] 7

CLOSE UP

Dirty Work Each year, the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation, an organization dedicated to the advancement of biological engineering, holds a competition for student teams to develop a project in “synthetic biology.” In 2015, a team of 14 SVA students and graduates, led by artist and BFA Fine Arts Chair Suzanne Anker, entered the contest. When the results were announced at iGEM’s Giant Jamboree event last September in Boston, the College’s entry, Soiled, a prototype for a kit to test for nutrient levels in soil, won for best art and design project. The SVA team developed Soiled by using the resources in the College’s Nature and Technology Lab, founded in 2012 to explore the intersection of art, design and science. The goal? To find a way to test soil in a less harmful, more ecologically friendly way, as current testing methods employed by the agricultural industry require the handling of several toxic chemicals. The solution? A small, microchip-like device known as a microfluidic chip, through which small amounts of liquid—in this case, liquid containing soil sample extracts—could be channeled. All the reagents, or testing chemicals, are contained within the chip, which, when connected to a smart phone, communicates the results via a companion app, using an easy-to-read spectrum of colors. Having won the iGEM award, Anker is now leading another SVA student team in the Biodesign Challenge, a biotech-design competition between six colleges and universities that concludes in June with a summit and presentation at The Museum of Modern Art’s Celeste Bartos Theater; for more information, visit biodesignchallenge.org/sva. For more information on Soiled, visit bioart.sva.edu/igem-2015. [BA]

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ABOVE Sample screens for the

Andrew Cziraki

Soiled app, which would use a color spectrum to display soil nutrient levels. BELOW A Soiled team member prepares part of the project’s display for iGEM’s Giant Jamboree.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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H E A R D AT SVA

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“One of the things I love about what I do is talking to people and listening to people. And sometimes I’m very nosy. But you have to relate to people. . . . It’s more than just taking a picture.” –YUNGHI KIM , photojournalist. From a talk hosted by

MPS Digital Photography.

The Soiled team collected soil samples from locations throughout New York City (top left) and developed their testing protocol in SVA’s Nature and Technology Laboratory. Photos by Andrew Cziraki.

Departure Time T

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is known for her support and promotion of fellow and up-and-coming artists. In conjunction with her 2014 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, “Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video”—the institution’s first retrospective for an African American woman artist—she presented Carrie Mae Weems LIVE, a threeday program of events and performances featuring a large roster of artists, musicians and writers that was broadcast on the museum’s website. “Making work is absolutely essential to me,” Weems said in a 2014 talk at SVA. “But it’s equally important for me to see to what extent I might be able to widen the path, and assist other artists in the construction of their work. . . . Because none of us are going to get anything done by ourselves.” For those unable to attend the 2016 commencement exercises, the event will stream live online, and thereafter be archived, at sva.edu/commencement. [GH] 9

Jerry Klineberg, 2012

his year, SVA will return to the Radio City Music Hall, the landmark Art Deco venue in midtown Manhattan, for its 40th annual commencement exercises, to be held Wednesday, May 18, at 10:00am. Some 1,200 bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates will be honored for their achievements, and noted artist Carrie Mae Weems will deliver the address to the class of 2016. Over the course of her 30-plus-year career, Weems has worked with a wide range of media and subjects, with the overarching goals of examining and celebrating life’s complexity and confronting injustices—“to beautify the mess of a messy world,” as she says. Her art includes audio, fabric, installation, photographic and text works, and investigates such topics as family and gender roles, political systems, classism, racism and sexism. Weems has received numerous honors, among them a MacArthur “Genius” grant, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and a Lucie Award for Fine Art Photography. Her work is in the permanent collections of such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Weems is a faculty member in SVA’s MFA Art Practice program and, in keeping with the socially minded nature of her art,

WHAT’S IN STORE LUC

Y KNOPS

JUL

IA PLEVIN

The latest from SVA entrepreneurs: books, movies, products and more

GIRDLE Support for the Arts

JUDY MANNARINO girdlesupportforthearts.com $20 per chance to win artwork

Critter Bitters

new web platform created by SVA faculty member Judy Mannarino (BFA 1981 Fine Arts), called GIRDLE Support for the Arts, offers an alternative to the traditional buy-sell exchange for both patrons and artists. Artists looking for funding—whether for a personal, philanthropic or professional project—submit an original work to raffle off; an image of it is posted to the site, along with a description of the project to be funded. Each raffle lasts one month, during which time would-be owners pay $20 per chance to win the featured artwork and, in doing so, contribute to the fund-raiser. (Each $20 spent also buys entrants a token GIRDLE-branded pencil.) Proceeds are split between the artist and GIRDLE. Since its founding last year, artists whose works have been raffled off on the site include SVA alumni Kayla Gibbons (BFA 2011 Fine Arts), Steve DeFrank (MFA 1990 Fine Arts)—whose 2014 pastel and ink drawing Lucha Dance appears below—and Kylie Lefkowitz (BFA 2014 Visual & Critical Studies). [GH]

LUCY KNOPS and JULIA PLEVIN critter-bitters.com $30 per 4-oz. bottle After a successful Kickstarter fund-raiser and coverage everywhere from Food & Wine to Popular Science, Lucy Knops and Julia Plevin (both MFA 2015 Products of Design) are accepting pre-orders for Critter Bitters, a cricket-andalcohol-based flavoring they created while at SVA. Inspired by United Nations reports that recommend insects as part of a more sustainable diet, the two found a cricket-farming operation in Austin, researched bitters preparations and perfected their recipe in the kitchen of Knops’ apartment. They are now working with a San Francisco distillery on largescale production. So what do Critter Bitters taste like? “Crickets have a rich, nutty flavor,” Plevin says. “When infused in alcohol, the taste is something of a deep honey.” She recommends adding a few dashes in punches, coffee and brown-liquor drinks—and even on broiled grapefruit. [Greg Herbowy]

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V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Keyboard Waffle Iron

CHRIS DIMINO thekeyboardwaffleiron.com $85

Less tech-savvy than tech-inspired, the Keyboard Waffle Iron melds practicality with tongue-incheek humor. A wireless, nonstick appliance with heat-resistant handles, its cast-iron press can be used on stovetops and grills to cook up crispy, computer keyboard-shaped waffles and pressed sandwiches. Conceived in 2001 by Chris Dimino (BFA 2002 Graphic Design) as part of a 3D Design course project, the product was originally envisioned as the (more anachronistic) Corona-Matic Typewriter SPR ING 20 16

Waffle Iron. A few years after graduating, Dimino posted the concept art on his website and it eventually went viral, with some 7 million views and countless emails from interested buyers. “I took the hint,” he says, “and realized that the demand was really there.” But as a full-time art director at The Late Show with David Letterman, Dimino’s attention was focused elsewhere. It wasn’t until 2014 that he finally decided to produce a fully functional prototype of the iron, and he began seeking manufacturing partners and testing designs. A fund-raiser on Kickstarter drew the attention of producers at CNBC’s Squawk Box and ABC’s Good Morning America, and their coverage of the project propelled the campaign past its $50,000 goal. After fulfilling his Kickstarter backers’ orders, Dimino created a dedicated e-commerce site for the iron in time for last year’s holiday season and its influx of orders, which was driven in part through additional press coverage in outlets like BuzzFeed, Eater and The New York Times. He is now working to strengthen relationships with retailers where the product is sold, such as AHAlife, Kohls.com, Sky Mall and UncommonGoods, and to expand internationally, with particular focus on the European market. (The iron has been shipped to 35 countries.) He is also developing a new product design, though he is reluctant to give away too much information, describing it only as a “functional take on a common and mundane household electronic device.” [Derek Parsons]

WHAT’S IN STORE

The Water Table

KELLI FARWELL and SUE WALSH thewatertablenyc.com 2⅟₂-hour dinner cruise, $65

hortly after NY Waterway began its East River ferry service in 2011, Kelli Farwell (BFA 2006 Fine Arts) and Sue Walsh (MFA 2006 Design) found themselves on board one of the company’s vessels, wondering why New Yorkers didn’t spend more time on the water. To address the situation, the couple decided to launch (literally) their own sightseeing shipslash-restaurant. Farwell, who had previously waited tables and served as a sommelier at such noted New York City eateries as the Gramercy Tavern and Rye, earned her United States Coast Guard master captain’s license. Walsh, who is the lead designer at Milton Glaser, Inc. (and has lectured at SVA), designed the logo for an Indiegogo fund-raising campaign that brought in $26,000. Armed with those proceeds (and a loan), they purchased a 62-foot-long, WWII-era training boat they renamed The Water Table, and since 2013—the same year they were married aboard a boat anchored beneath the Williamsburg Bridge— the two have offered tours of New York Harbor accompanied by dinner and drinks. From spring through fall, cruises depart from the India Street Pier in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Friday and Saturday nights, and private charters can be booked for any day of the week. Passengers dine on such New England specialties as lobster corn chowder and Portuguese fisherman’s stew and slake their thirst with nautically

Photos by Mark Abramson (above) and Sue Walsh (left).

themed cocktails like The Captain’s Widow (gin and tonic with lavender bitters) and Periscope Down (bourbon, dark sugar, cinnamon stick) while gliding past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge and other landmarks. Each passenger also gets a map and a guidebook packed with facts about the harbor. And fear not, landlubbers: a supply of Dramamine is always kept on board. “Sometimes,” Walsh says, “it can get choppy.” [Alexander Gelfand]

SHORTS

THE FINEST HOURS

#FASHION VOL. 1

Directed by Craig Gillespie (BFA 1989 Media Arts) Disney DVD/Blu-Ray | $29.99/$39.99

Matin Zad (MPS 2013 Fashion Photography) Crosspoint NYC Softcover, 48 pages | $20

AYA KAKEDA WATCH FACE COLLECTION

SCIENCE COMICS—DINOSAURS: FOSSILS AND FEATHERS

MILE O’ MUD: THE CULTURE OF SWAMP BUGGY RACING

Aya Kakeda (MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay) Modify Watches Four designs | $35 each

MK Reed (author), Joe Flood (BFA 2002 Illustration) (illustrator) First Second Hardcover, 128 pages | $19.99

Malcolm Lightner (faculty, BFA Photography and Video) PowerHouse Books Hardcover, 144 pages | $50

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Deadbeat Club Press

To submit a product for What’s in Store, send information to

CLINT WOODSIDE Limited-edition zines, $10-$25

NEWS@SVA.EDU

It’s somewhat of a paradox that in the age of Instagram and rapid-fire image sharing, Clint Woodside (BFA 2001 Graphic Design) is finding success by publishing limitededition print zines featuring photos shot exclusively on film. But since teaming up with professional skateboarder, photographer and good friend Ed Templeton a few years ago, Woodside’s Deadbeat Club (which started out as his personal zine) has grown into an indie powerhouse whose publications regularly sell out. “Nothing beats holding a physical product in your hands,” says Woodside. “This is a way to sit with a concept, work it out and digest it a little better. It just has a better feel to it than clicking and scrolling.” Many of the photographers Woodside publishes have ties to the worlds of skateboarding and punk rock, and Deadbeat publications tend to feature those living on the fringes of American culture. Which makes sense, since Woodside’s love of zines and DIY approach grew out of his involvement in the punk community. “The reason I even thought about doing this is because Dischord”—an influential punk record label—“happened, and there was a huge zine culture around that,” he says. “To me, these are like 7-inch records. They’re like singles for photographers.” Although Woodside has a degree in graphic design, he considers himself first and foremost a photographer. But because of Deadbeat Club, he’s been getting offered a lot of book design work lately, especially photo books. “I’m glad I have that design sense, but I’m using it to push the photography,” he says. “And not just for me but for other people too, so it feels really good.” [Ken Switzer]

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Dinx! Charms

JAMES L. BARRY etsy.com/people/jameslbarry Plastic charms, $18 for any three figures or $75 per series Using Shrinky Dinks—plastic sheets that shrink and harden when heated in an oven—as his medium, illustrator James L. Barry (MFA 2004 Illustration as Visual Essay) has created three series of collectible, cartoony charms: one featuring pop music icons; another depicting the drag queens of Logo TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race; and the third, “Boylesque,” featuring male burlesque performers. The items can be used as ornaments or standing figurines. Barry first made the charms for his table at Flame Con, New York City’s LGBT comics convention. He plans to continue adding characters to each of the series, all of which can be bought through his Etsy page. [Dan Halm]

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WHAT’S IN STORE

When filmmaker Iván Cortázar (MFA 2005 Photography and Related Media) first imagined creating a series of children’s e-books, he didn’t expect the project to become the family business that it has. “The original plan was to collaborate with illustration students,” he says. But then he sent his preliminary sketches to his mother, Sol Frías, a Spanish fine artist. “She immediately sent me a bunch of drawings,” Cortázar says. “She’s never done cartoon illustration, but she was instantly hooked.” Yuri and the Flying Squid on Turtle Island, the first of four digital picture books for iPads and iPhones, debuted in Apple’s App Store last October. Frías drew all the book’s illustrations in pencil and charcoal in her studio in Bilbao, and then sent them to Cortázar, who digitized and colored them at his home in New York City. The finished product, which tells the tale of a young pirate on a quest to clear trash from his favorite beach, boasts simple animation reminiscent of a pop-up book. It features original music by Dutch musician Martijn de Man (who has scored Cortázar’s films), real-world sounds (the whoosh of waves, the clattering of crabs), an educational game and a parents’ guide that includes discussion topics and tips about recycling, saving energy, and the like. It’s also fully customizable. Kids can change the name of the protagonist and choose the character’s hairstyle, skin tone, clothes and accessories. And while the app includes audio narration in both English and Spanish, young readers can also record their own voice-overs. Cortázar’s 5-year-old son, Yuri, whose name Cortázar borrowed for the book’s hero, served as the principal tester. “He was my only guinea pig,” Cortázar says. The end result combines the visual texture of hand-drawn artwork with the interactive, multimedia capabilities of digital storytelling. Cortázar plans to launch the series’ remaining titles in the coming months and, if all goes well, to eventually develop an animated television series based on the books. [AG]

Yuri and the Flying Squid on Turtle Island

IVÁN CORTÁZAR and SOL FRÍAS theflyingsquid.com Customizable children’s e-book, $3.99

SHORTS

BUNJITSU BUNNY’S BEST MOVE John Himmelman (BFA 1981 Media Arts) Henry Holt and Co. Hardcover, 128 pages | $13.99

THE DOMAIN OF SILENCE/THE DOMAIN OF ABSENCE: NEW & SELECTED POEMS 1963 - 2015 Louis Phillips (faculty, Humanities and Sciences) Pleasure Boat Studio Softcover, 232 pages | $17.95

BARMAID John Arsenault (BFA 1999 Photography) Daylight Books Hardcover, 104 pages | $50

ARTE CONTEMPORÂNEA NO BRASIL: DO FINAL DO SÉCULO XX AO INÍCIO DO SÉCULO XXI Nereide Schilaro Santa Rosa and Tatiane Schilaro Santa Rosa (MFA 2015 Art Criticism and Writing) Ediçóes Pinakotheke Softcover, 80 pages | $10

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Difficult People

Created by and starring JULIE KLAUSNER Hulu (subscription required)

fter several years of steadily building a reputation as a merciless and versatile comic—through onstage performances; her podcast, How Was Your Week?; her memoir, I Don’t Care About Your Band (Avery, 2010); and more—Julie Klausner (MFA 2007 Illustration as Visual Essay) broke big in 2015 with the debut of Difficult People, her sitcom for Hulu, the online TV network. Produced by Amy Poehler, the series stars Klausner and Billy Eichner (truTV’s Billy on the Street) as two struggling, pop culture-obsessed comics who rail bitterly (and impotently) against their anonymity, their dreary day jobs, their families . . . the list goes on. The show is shot on location in New York City, with a supporting cast that includes Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and James Urbaniak (American Splendor). A murderers’ row of well-known comedians (including Rachel Dratch and Amy Sedaris) and New York-centric celebrities (such as Debbie Harry and local newscaster Rosanna Scotto) fill out the guest roles. Filming for the second season wrapped up earlier this spring and new episodes are scheduled to stream later this year. Meanwhile, Klausner continues to pursue new ventures. She is developing a pilot for a series starring rising comic Shannon DeVido, and she has optioned I Don’t Care About Your Band for a movie, which will, she hopes, feature herself playing the lead (i.e., herself). And though none of her projects have yet to involve her visual art skills, she doesn’t rule out something of the sort in the future. “Lately I’ve been doing stuff with clay, working with it in the writers’ room while we break story,” she says. “I feel like, if you’re creative, you’re creative. You don’t have to be limited to any one medium.” [GH]

Courtesy of Hulu

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Minna

SARA BERKS minna-goods.com Blankets from $105, pillows from $125, rugs from $279 When Sara Berks (BFA 2010 Graphic Design) first taught herself to make tapestries on a loom fashioned from an old picture frame, she was working as a designer for digital advertising agencies and had no intention of creating a home-goods brand. “I started weaving as a side project,” says Berks, who now freelances as a digital art director while producing her own line of hand-woven textiles under the name MINNA. “And it kind of spiraled into an actual business.” Initially, Berks focused on one-of-a-kind wall hangings, which she made from alpaca, wool and silk in her Brooklyn studio. A collaboration with lifestyle brand Hawkins New York, however, led her to design a series of pillows manufactured by artisanal weavers in India. That, in turn, led Berks to seek opportunities for even closer collaboration with craftspeople from around the globe. Today, Berks works with weavers in Guatemala and Mexico to produce MINNA’s blankets, pillows and rugs with traditional methods and natural dyes. In keeping with the principle of fair trade, Berks guarantees that all the people she works with are paid a living wage, and while the designs are her own, they are often based on her partners’ local cultures. MINNA’s “Maize” rugs, for example, made by weavers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, feature a corn motif associated with the region’s indigenous Zapotec people. And its “Dash” pillows are produced by women in villages near Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán, where Mayans have for centuries woven cotton textiles on handmade looms. “They’ve been weaving this way forever,” Berks says, “and the work they do is amazing.” Though MINNA only started offering its home goods last August, the brand has already won admiring press from outlets like Dwell, New York and Vogue. The products can be purchased at minna-goods.com, other online vendors like Beklina and Need Supply, and in stores throughout the country. [AG]

✒

CREATIVE LIFE

Navigating the great wide world of work

JSP Art Photography

In today’s “gig economy,” more people—and creative types in particular—are taking on two, three, even four jobs, whether for love, for money or just because the opportunity is there. But how can it be done successfully? Can one job feed another? Visual Arts Journal spoke with some busy SVA grads to find out. by hugh ryan

Double Lives

itting inside The Topaz, a cocktail bar opened last summer by Brandon Davey (MFA 2009 Fine Arts) in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, it’s easy to see the influence of Davey’s background in sculpture. Every detail, from the bowtie inlays in the wooden tabletops to the curved six-foot-long transom atop the doorway between the establishment’s first two rooms, was thought up and, often, made by Davey, whose conceptual art— which has been shown in solo and group shows in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and New York—has incorporated everything from balloons to bricks to beaver skulls. Even the marble-topped bar is his work. “I got a quote for a contractor to build it,” he says. “It would have been $55,000”—nearly his entire budget to renovate the space, a former bike shop. 16

For Davey, his MFA degree gave him more than just the skills he needed to realize his plans for The Topaz. “SVA taught me to compartmentalize and to chip away at a project step by step,” he says. He approached the bar’s design “like a composition,” and attributes his ability to run a small business to having tried (and, sometimes, failed) ambitious projects in grad school. But the relationship between his “art job” and his “day job” is far from one-way. Working at The Topaz has given him the opportunity to observe what he calls “4am world,” a time when people are “outside the sturdy center they usually rest on.” This has “pushed the surrealist aspect” of his art, he says, and with the lease to his studio now reclaimed (he had sublet the space during the final months of the bar’s construction), he is preparing a number of new works for exhibition at The Shirey, a Brooklyn exhibition space he co-founded with fellow MFA Fine Arts alumni (and named after David Shirey, the former department chair), later this year. “There was a time I thought integrating my ‘work’ with my ‘art’ would adulterate it, and I needed it to be just V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

JSP Art Photography

OPPOSITE A view of the bar at The Topaz, a Brooklyn cocktail

bar opened last summer by artist Brandon Davey. ABOVE Brandon Davey, untitled, 2014, reassembled raccoon skulls with bone dust and resin. RIGHT Images by photographer Laura Wilson from a 2015 campaign for Levi’s Commuter brand, for which Wilson also served as a brand ambassador.

‘art-making,’” he says. “Then I realized that was impossible for me. The way my brain works, everything is mixed.” Like Davey, Laura Wilson (MPS 2015 Digital Photography) can’t imagine having just one job. “Everyone here is struggling,” says the Brooklynbased photographer, photo assistant and fashion model. “That’s the nature of the city. And if you’re not doing that . . . what are you doing?” Wilson has worked—both in front of the camera and behind it—for brands from Miller High Life to Levi’s. She’s also photographed album artwork and promotional materials for singer-songwriter Josh Ritter and assisted such fine-art and editorial photographers as Will Mebane, Richard Tuschman and Chris Verene, all while pursuing her own personal projects. She attributes her success partly to mind-set. “I don’t feel pulled in one direction or the other,” she says. “Don’t think you’re a failure because one career isn’t sufficient. SPR ING 20 16

Embrace both.” This means her camera is always with her, even when she’s on set as a model. Each job allows her access to different people in different ways; by being open and proud about her different pursuits, she’s been able to use one to make connections for the other. For instance, at Levi’s, she started off as a model for the company’s Commuter jeans, which later led to a shooting assignment for the line. It’s not all synchronicity, however. Wilson’s mantra is, “Be organized, be organized, be organized.” Her most important recommendation, which Davey echoes, is “have a great space where you can work”—a dedicated area that, even if it’s just a corner of your bedroom, makes you feel creative and gives you a place to do what you need to do. It might be easy to see the relationship between sculpting and building a bar, or modeling and photography, but what about more disparate lines of work? Lyz Olko (BFA 2002 Fine Arts) is

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H E A R D AT SVA

✶

“Art critics cannot make or break an artist. Believe me, I have tried.” —JERRY SALTZ , senior art critic at New York.

From a talk hosted by MFA Fine Arts.

the director of nightlife and VIP services and operations for the The Jane, a hip hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. She has also run clothing lines—first Obesity + Speed, now Lyz Olko—for the last decade. If you read Paper magazine, you might have seen actor Kristen Stewart sporting Olko’s clothes in last September’s issue. Her latest eco-conscious collection, for fall/winter 2016, debuted in February. Both jobs “connect for me,” Olko says, “because I meet a lot of people who are creative or work on events that are fashion-related.” Time management can be difficult, but, “being busy kicks me in the

butt to stay busy, and keeps my energy up to work harder in both fields.” One key to Olko’s success has been finding bosses she connects with, working closely with them, and learning from their successes and failures. Since success in any business requires having basic financial, interpersonal and organizational skills, lessons she picks up at her “day job” are often relevant in her design career. Having strong relationships with coworkers has also led to new opportunities. Olko’s first nightlife job, working the door at The Jane, came via a tip from a creative director she worked under while

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H E A R D AT SVA

✶

“The difference between a professional and an amateur is the amateur is happy with everything they do, and the professional is dissatisfied.” –BOB MANKOFF , cartoon editor for The New Yorker. From a talk and screening of Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists (2015), hosted by BFA Cartooning and BFA Illustration.

designing women’s wear for Earnest Sewn. Alternatively, you can choose to work closely with your friends. When done right, a group moonlighting endeavor can make for divvied labor and shared success. Angela Fan (BFA

2010 Visual and Critical Studies), Olivia Obin (BFA 2010 Graphic Design) and Michelle Yun (BFA 2011 Visual and Critical Studies) met as students at SVA. They now work individually as a UX designer (Fan), an art director at the digital

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ABOVE Fashion designer Lyz Olko

in her studio. Photo by Mary Altaffer. OPPOSITE Angela Fan (left) and Michelle Yun at ZODIACK’s 2016 Aquarius event. Photo by Olivia Obin BELOW A still from a video created for ZODIACK’s 2015 Virgo event, starring Olivia Obin, art directed by Angela Fan and shot by Michelle Yun.

“Being busy kicks me in the butt to stay busy, and keeps my energy up to work harder in both fields,” says Lyz Olko, fashion designer and director of nightlife and VIP services and operations for The Jane. advertising firm Space150 (Obin) and a project manager for the World Maker Faire, a traveling festival by and for creative people of all types (Yun). But together they comprise the visual effects team for Zodiack, a collective that organizes monthly, astrologically themed happenings at nightlife venues and art spaces in New York City. (The collective also includes

fellow alumni Kim Tran, a BFA 2010 Graphic Design graduate, and Pablo Velez, a BFA 2010 Advertising graduate. BFA 2010 Illustration graduate Giancarlo Corbacho pitches in as the wardrobe consultant.) The three agree that honesty with one another is paramount to their happy working relationship. By being upfront about their other

commitments, “One of us can help someone who is drowning, and vice versa,” Obin says. Fan agrees. “We can speak freely to each other,” she says, “and that is key to how we realize our vision”— namely, to help make Zodiack a profitable enterprise, and one that involves more artists that they met at SVA. Regardless of the particulars of their multiple careers, these graduates all agree: Despite the stresses, the schedule-juggling and the long hours, the rewards— whether creative, emotional or financial—make the extra effort worth it. “It’s okay to be multiple things,” Wilson says. “Just own it.” ✸ has written about politics, culture and history for The New York Times, Smithsonian and Vice. HUGH RYAN

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PORTFOLIO

Jason Bard Yarmosky

Jason Bard Yarmosky, A Shadow’s Kiss, 2013, oil on canvas (left); drawing study for Waiting, 2015, pencil on paper (right).

by dan halm

he wrinkled skin on the canvas is beautiful—supple and realistic, as if you could feel how soft it would be to the touch. Mesmerizing and luscious in their execution, the works seem to pulsate with vitality, grace and gentle humor— the latter evidenced by the superhero costumes, the bunny ears, the sailor’s cap. For six years, Jason Bard Yarmosky (BFA 2010 Illustration) has been creating affectionate, offbeat portraits of his 88-year-old grandparents, Len and Elaine Bard. Working variously with oils and graphite, Yarmosky’s project examines the complexities of aging and attempts to capture the wisdom and experience accrued over a long, well-lived life. “With my work I’m able to explore questions of memory and time,” he says, “to reveal the tension between the physical and psychological transformations that my grandparents are going through.” “The art that speaks to me the most is personal,” Yarmosky says. “For me, it’s not about conventional beauty.” Rather, he seeks to find beauty in struggle, and in ambiguity. “In our society, we don’t celebrate getting older. We celebrate youth, but it’s inevitable that we all age. So why can’t we celebrate the full life cycle?” Some of Yarmosky’s portraits, like Trick or Treaters (2013), portray his grandparents wearing Halloween costumes—a metaphor for the fact that we never lose a youthful part of ourselves, and the notion that people revert to childish ways in their twilight years. His subjects were more than game for dressing up, despite the risk of ridicule—a reflection of the trust and sense of humor Yarmosky and his grandparents share. “I’m really impressed with how open they are,” he says. Of course, aging comes with its share of problems—health and otherwise—and neither the artist nor his subjects shy 20

away from confronting them. After his grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, Yarmosky and his grandparents decided to continue with their collaboration, and his latest series of paintings and drawings allude to her condition. “I realized how important it was for her to stay involved in this, for all of us,” he says. “To be able to continue the relationship I have with her is so special.” As his grandmother copes with her disease, music has become an important part of her modeling work, engaging and focusing her attention. “While she may not remember this or that,” he says, “she’ll remember every word of a Frank Sinatra song, or the dance moves to a Glenn Miller number.” Recent works have his grandmother appearing larger than life, scalewise, in a Wonder Woman costume—a tribute to her fighter’s spirit. She stands before minimal backgrounds that, in their depiction of changing seasons and vast blank spaces, reference her illness and her battle against it. Working together has not just brought Yarmosky and his grandparents closer together; it has also turned the elderly couple into minor art-world celebrities. “When they come to my openings they’re treated like stars. People even ask for their autographs,” he says proudly. “They’ve even become a little jaded.” Spending so much time with his grandparents has given Yarmosky a rare and intimate view of the aging process. “Aging obviously is more evident when you’re looking at an elderly person, but we’re all getting older,” he says. “It’s amazing to me that I’m using my art as a tool to explore things that I think about in life—things that interest me the most—and that I can do it with the people I’m the closest with. That’s special.” Yarmosky’s work has been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently represented by Aeroplastics Contemporary in Brussels. To watch a video interview with Yarmosky in his studio, visit sva.edu. ✸ V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

JASON BARD YARMOSKY, Trick or Treaters, 2013, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, Whispering Grass, 2015, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, Old Salt, 2012, pencil on paper.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, Sleep Walking, 2013, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, The Boxer, 2012, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, The Wanderer (triptych), 2015, oil on canvas.

Jason Bard Yarmosky, Wintered Fields (triptych), 2015, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, Senior Prom, 2012, oil on canvas.

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Jason Bard Yarmosky, The Bat and Bunny, 2011, pencil on paper.

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SUBJECT MATTER Fast Forward

With people increasingly getting their news and watching television and movies through online platforms, and with ad-blocking software and apps on the rise, it’s become easier than ever to avoid commercials and print ads. Visual Arts Journal asked two BFA Advertising faculty members, both of them also SVA alumni, for their thoughts on the future of advertising.

Tal Shub

Thomas Shim

BFA 2013 Advertising, senior art director, R/GA.

BFA 2011 Graphic Design, global creative director, Young & Rubicam.

Every time there’s a new medium, there’s a new way

➧➧of doing advertising. And as time progresses and that

medium becomes more established, the advertising that lives on it becomes less interesting and more annoying. But people will always embrace advertising that’s good, that’s funny and moving. They’re bothered by advertising that’s crappy, and most advertising isn’t good. This is actually a very good thing for the industry—you’re always on the hook. It’s a reminder for advertisers that they can’t just buy media and put out whatever they want. On the other hand, new mediums and opportunities are emerging. VR—virtual reality—is going to be massive. It’s going to redefine storytelling and be a huge advertising platform. Companies will be able to create immersive experiences that integrate with or connect to their products and services. With VR, a food-delivery app like Seamless would allow you to virtually touch (and one day smell) the food before you order it. Mercedes will be able to offer a VR app that makes it feel as if you’re in any of their cars, driving anywhere in the world. The interactivity of VR is going to open up a bunch of possibilities for these types of integrated platforms. SPR ING 20 16

I think the future of advertising is in smart, well-thought-

➧➧out branded content. Something, whether it’s educational

or pure entertainment, that people will talk about and actually seek out and get excited about. The less it looks like typical advertising, the better. For example, a few years ago Chipotle released an animated online video about factory farming, with Fiona Apple on the soundtrack and a related app game that created a beautiful, cohesive story. The campaign wasn’t about deals or “food porn.” It was all about Chipotle’s values, what they believe in as a brand—using organic ingredients, being against animal cruelty, that kind of thing. They were focused on establishing a positive perception for the company through an emotion-based campaign. (I’m curious to see what they have planned to fix their more recent issues.) Clients want something that will change or reinforce the perception of their brand on a deeper level. Good ol’ jokes with no thinking behind them just won’t cut it. The world’s saturated with advertising and people are sick of it. They’d rather pay more money than to watch another commercial. You need to create something that removes the bitter taste of advertising from people’s mouths. 29

COLOR COMMENTARY

Book Cover Design

Among the many possible reasons for why printed books have survived in the age of digital media, the appeal of a well-crafted cover must rank high on the list. And in the past few decades, some of the most memorable covers, for some of the most memorable books, have been created by SVA graduates. Visual Arts Journal has collected a small sampling of them here, presented with comments from the designers and the books’ authors. Broken Monsters MULHOLL AND, 2014

A Detroit police detective tries to solve a string of grisly murders AUTHOR Lauren Beukes DESIGNER Keith Hayes (BFA 2002 Graphic Design), senior art director, Little, Brown and Company FIC TION

The book starts with the discovery of a fused-together corpse that’s half-boy, half-deer. I wanted to do something with that, but the powers that be thought that was grotesque. Since the main characters are a female police detective and her daughter, they wanted a woman on the cover. So I thought, How can I do that in a way that’s a little unexpected, giving them the girl but not giving them the girl? I don’t like to see faces on covers, unless they’re obscured in some way. The reader will formulate what a character looks like on their own. Graffiti is found on the walls surrounding the first murder victim, and since I wanted to obscure the face of the girl, I thought that spray paint would be the perfect device. I also liked that it indicated violence. It worked really well, especially since it’s the only thing on the cover that indicates that the book is a thriller. I had designed the cover for Lauren’s Shining Girls [2013] and that book had done well. Even though this wasn’t a sequel, the publisher wanted me to keep the frame from that earlier cover as a way to tie the two books together. HAYES

Keith creates the kind of covers I’d cross a bookstore to buy: striking, graphic and intriguing. I already loved his work on Warren Ellis’ Machine Gun [Mulholland, 2013], but his cover for Broken Monsters, with its menace in potentia, spooked the hell out of me. There’s a dark whimsy to his designs, paired with crisp restraint, and it’s exactly that chemistry that makes his work outstanding. BEUKES

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I loved it—how it managed, in a very compact, visual way, to invoke a long, winding, complicated narrative, and how the jungle sort of swallowed the letters. There’s this sense of intrigue and luring and menace. Book covers have to do so much in such a small space. What made me happy was that the cover felt natural to the book, but it would also jump out on a shelf and be alluring to readers. Sometimes you see a cover selling a book in a way that’s not necessarily organic to the book. GR ANN

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing PENGUIN, 1999

Snapshots of a young woman’s life as she comes of age AUTHOR Melissa Bank DESIGNER Alex Knowlton (BFA 1987 Media Arts), creative director, ACNE Design LLC FIC TION

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon DOUBLEDAY, 2009

An account of an early-20thcentury expedition to find a mythic lost city in the Amazon rain forest AUTHOR David Grann DESIGNER John Fontana (BFA 1984 Media Arts), senior vice president, creative director, Doubleday NONFIC TION

I wanted to give the reader a sense of trudging through a dense forest that was wet and kind of enveloping and claustrophobic, and for the elements of that landscape to be taking over the title. For me, the most fun I have when designing is finding a typeface that evokes something about the book, like its time frame or subject matter. Since this was somewhat of a commercial book, the type solution needed to have some weight to it and be legible from a distance. Plus, it needed to be solid and chunky to stand up to the busy forest image. FONTANA

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I found the image for this at Photonica, a stock photo agency. It perfectly fit the story and title, while aligning with the best practices of the day for a fiction cover: don’t show the protagonist’s face or over-explain. I also want my covers to be compelling and loaded with meaning. This was a story of an urbane young woman navigating the rules of dating. My design contrasted embossed, silver foil words against the blurry, matte image. Amazon was in its infancy then, and readers were literally judging books by their printed covers in stores. The reflective typography really popped and created visual depth and sophistication. But then they changed the title lettering to be black against the white background and yellow when it was atop the figure. I was so disappointed that I asked to have my design credit removed. Then it went on to become a huge success. KNOWLTON

BANK

Alex’s cover really captured the spirit of the book—it was kind of quirky and had a lot of energy. There’s just something about that solitary figure: even from behind, you can tell she’s happy—joyful and maybe goofy. Plus, I would definitely wear what she’s wearing. When the book came out it felt like everything lined up. Everyone at Penguin came out and helped the book succeed. But I don’t think anything helped it more than the cover. I know at Penguin, the word they used was “iconic.” You can never, ever hope for a cover that good.

ELLENBERG

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity

PENGUIN, 2014

SCRIBNER, 2012

NONFIC TION

Accounts of the ways math is practiced and advanced through “real-world” applications AUTHOR Jordan Ellenberg DESIGNER Adly Elewa (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), freelance designer What appeals to me about designing book covers is that you work on every single piece of them. Execution-wise, it’s all your hand. Each cover is a chance to show what you can do as a designer. I came up with a few options for this one. One of the alternates I liked had more of a bulls-eye target, with a chalkboard covered with equations showing through the rings of the target. It was like a Jasper Johns type of thing. I got the image of the dart from a stock-image website. ELEWA

It’s hard to convince people to buy a 450-page book about math. It’s not going to sell as easily as a book that has, say, Abraham Lincoln on the cover. I liked that this got across the idea of uncertainty or imprecision. There’s this very perfect, Euclidean circle and then you have this random cloud of dart holes. A popular misconception about mathematics is that its discoveries are made in this methodical, step-by-step way, when, in reality, it involves a lot of best guesses and going back and trying again.

Stories of families whose children are deeply different from their parents AUTHOR Andrew Solomon DESIGNER Rex Bonomelli (BFA 1998 Graphic Design), freelance designer The cover was really Andrew’s idea. It’s a photograph of his son. This was a big book for Scribner, so I wanted to give it something special. My idea was to have the jacket printed on foil, to give the water a glimmery quality. But you have to be careful with foil—done the wrong way, it can make a cover look gaudy and overly commercial. When you’re designing for a big, serious nonfiction book, for the typeface you try to think about things its audience would read, like smart newspapers and smart magazines. The typography for those kinds of publications has a certain look, and I wanted this typeface to be in the same BONOMELLI

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Imperium FARR AR, STR AUS AND GIROUX , 2015

An early-20th-century German attempts to establish a vegetarian and nudist society in New Guinea AUTHOR Christian Kracht DESIGNER Adalis Martinez (BFA 2013 Design), freelance designer FIC TION

This was my very first cover. I came up with five options and this was the one they chose. The images are old engravings I found on Getty’s website. The dotted line is mapping out the main character’s journey, and what it led to. I didn’t mean to give away the book’s ending, but I kind of did. I created the font for the title. I wanted something that had a sort of wave in it, to imply islands and ocean waves, but couldn’t find anything that worked. The color choices were inspired by the tropical setting of the story. MARTINEZ

There are more than a dozen international editions of Imperium, and several more are in preparation. All have used spooky, tropical-island and coconut motifs in one way or another, except for the Turkish publisher, who suggested a bright pink cover with a painting of a pyramid and a camel, which does not have anything at all to do with the novel. I always ask to be shown the covers, but only look for integrity and intelligence in the design. Sometimes, as is the case with Turkey, I cannot fathom the design motives but usually let it go, for reasons of comedy. The Czech publisher, for instance, insisted that a swastika be added—even though the book is set in 1902—as it “would sell more copies.” I believe Adalis’ cover is marvelous. I think it all comes down to the slightly unhinged, wavy, brightred M’s and A’s, which make the jacket appear very disturbing, without one quite knowing why. KR ACHT

vernacular. It’s in all caps because if it weren’t, it would feel like a smaller book. The photograph is by Adam Fuss. Adam places the baby in a tray with a piece of positive photographic paper and about an inch of water. He extinguishes all the lights, dons infrared goggles, watches until he “sees” the photo, and then flashes a colored strobe. The baby’s shadow and the ripples of the water come out in black and the rest of the paper takes on the color of the light. I suggested the image, then Rex worked out the type, the layout and the spine. Then he suggested, rather shyly, that we do it on foil. My first reaction was, “Foil? Won’t that look like Christmas gift wrap?” But he was absolutely right; the image shimmers transfixingly. SOLOMON

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Columbine T WELVE , 2009

An examination of the 1999 mass murder at a Colorado high school AUTHOR Dave Cullen DESIGNER Henry Sene Yee (BFA 1988 Media Arts), creative director at Picador and freelance designer NONFIC TION

I thought of this as like the establishing shot in cinema. The image is an exterior photo of Columbine High School. It was just sort of intriguingly bland, like it could be any high school anywhere. I tried some interior photos of the school first—nothing that showed anything from the murders, just things like lockers and hallways—but everything had a 90210, teenmovie feel to it. I extended the sky and moved the building as low as possible, so there’s a disconnect between the word “Columbine” and the image, or the reality. YEE

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anyone who could name one. But I’m so glad I agreed to it. That one word packs a wallop, and yet there’s also something so quiet and respectful about the cover. Unfortunately, Columbine has lost none of its relevance, so the book is still very much a part of my life. It’s on a lot of high school and college reading lists, I travel to schools to talk about it, and a new edition, with a new afterword, came out in February. When we were first putting the book together, my editor, Jon Karp, told me, “I want you to have a cover you can be proud of,” and I could not be prouder of this one.

Witches of America SAR AH CRICHTON, 2015

An immersive journey through the world of contemporary American witchcraft AUTHOR Alex Mar DESIGNER Rachel Willey (BFA 2012 Graphic Design), in-house designer at Penguin Random House and freelance designer NONFIC TION

I missed the mark on my first couple of rounds for this. My kneejerk reaction was to include “typical” witchcraft imagery, things like pentagrams, but that was too on-the-nose. Crows and ravens play a big part in the Wiccan religion, but I thought they were ambiguous enough image that the association wouldn’t be immediate. This particular photo was taken by a photographer named Norman Rich. I can’t remember exactly how I came across it. It has been heavily edited. The original is in color, with a blue sky, and has two birds that look like they are diving toward each other. I took out one of the birds and replaced it with a graphic element, the dark circle, to make the composition unusual. I did have moons in mind when choosing it, as they’re another important Wiccan symbol, but I didn’t want to be too literal. I kept the type treatment simple and bold. I wanted the cover to be as clean as possible. WILLEY

I wanted a cover that avoided any clichés, and that conveyed that this is a book that deals with witchcraft in the present day, and in a fresh way. The publisher sent me two options, and this one struck me right away. I went for a walk around the block and then looked again: this was definitely the cover. Everyone I’ve spoken to is mesmerized by the cover. The font is super-clean and neutral and contemporary, but the gold circles remind me of the striking simplicity of centuries-old occult symbols. And there’s the raven, which is a recurring motif in the book, but it’s in this strange, rotated position. It really grabs people. MAR

Henry’s cover captured exactly the mood I was going for and what we wanted to convey: that this was a somber and reflective account, not a rush job or a headline-grabber or sensationalistic. By the time Columbine came out, we’d had almost 10 years’ distance from the event. It wasn’t breaking news, where it feels like your face is pressed against the glass and you can’t see things clearly. There had been time to look at it with some perspective. I initially had mixed feelings about my name not being included. I had spent 10 years reporting and writing this. Publishing a book was my lifelong dream. I’ve never come across another book without the author’s name on the cover, or found CULLEN

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Voices in the Night KNOPF, 2015

A collection of fantastical short stories Steven Millhauser DESIGNER Janet Hansen (BFA 2007 Graphic Design), in-house designer at Alfred A. Knopf and freelance designer FIC TION

AUTHOR

I loved these stories so much I read them twice. I felt immense pressure to do them justice. To prepare, I highlighted specific details that I found unique to the stories and noted recurring themes, then I researched those details and themes for visual inspiration. I wanted to try to create something that embodied the book as a whole, rather than call out specifics. A common theme in the stories was a divide between ordinary logic and magical realism. The characters all seem to be grasping for something unattainable, or for some form of fantastical fulfillment. That led me to researching op art, which uses graphics to create optical effects. I went to the Guggenheim Museum while all of this was fresh in my mind, and coincidentally happened to see the perfect optical illusion in the lines of the building. I sketched it out and it luckily fell into place. HANSEN

MILLHAUSER I think it’s brilliant. It’s striking and

seductive in itself, as sheer design. But for me it holds another meaning, which may be invisible to anyone else. For me, those straight lines represent the rational, logical, intellectual structures of my stories; the ripples are the forces underneath, that feed the structures and threaten at every moment to overwhelm them. The struggle between these two kinds of energy is what a story is, and to see it expressed so vividly is astonishing.

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges KNOPF, 1999

A collection of short stories set in various Jewish communities AUTHOR Nathan Englander DESIGNER Barbara deWilde (MFA 2013 Interaction Design), creative director and user experience strategist at The New York Times, longtime SVA faculty member and former book cover designer FIC TION

This may be my favorite cover design. Like most successful designs, it came to be through an indirect path. I had ordered inkjet printouts on uncoated paper stock for another book jacket design. Accidentally, water dripped on one of them, which was pretty tragic and expensive. Still, the inks bled beautifully, like a watercolor, and I saved the printout in my file hoping this idea could be useful in the future. Then I read Nathan’s extraordinary book. In the title story, the main character seeks a special dispensation to find “relief” outside his marriage. While in my mind, the liquid that makes the title run is human tears, it is open to interpretation. D e WILDE

For the typeface I chose Mrs. Eaves, a reinterpretation of Baskerville. Mrs. Eaves has a sensuality—and these beautiful, tear-shaped terminals—that I thought appropriate to Nathan’s writing. Add eyedropper and water and “Voila!” The jacket was printed on uncoated paper and we actually de-bossed the water drops, so the paper looked puckered. You can run your fingers over the stains and feel them. I’ll never forget first seeing Barbara’s mock-up for Unbearable Urges. It couldn’t have been any more of a perfect fit. There’s something really mysterious about the water spots, which some people think of as teardrops and others, well, assume they’re something else. I’ve had couples tell me they got into fights thinking their partner had spilled something on their book, and other conversations with readers about how they interacted with those touches of running color. Together with the parchment-like paper and that simple, classic font, I was just ENGL ANDER

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wife works in the garment industry, so she was our prop stylist. As for the typeface, when the author is the biggest selling point, you need the name to be prominent. I tried a bunch of fonts but it mostly came down to the fact that I loved the way his name looked in Aviano Flare. This was my first collaboration with Jackie. We’ve since collaborated a second time, on the cover of my 14th novel, Avenue of Mysteries. I love the work that Jackie does and look forward to working with her again. For the cover of In One Person I gave Jackie a few suggestions: a boy reading in bed was one, another was a strong-looking boy with a wrestler’s body but a woman’s face. The third suggestion, which we both liked best, was that of a girl or a boy—a sexually ambiguous person—fastening or unfastening a bra. It was important not to see breasts—just the person’s upper back, perhaps a little of an upper arm, and his or her hands. No head, no hair, nothing below the waist. Jackie sent me some shots and I chose one of a perfectly androgynous model; I remember my wife and I argued about whether the model was a girl or a boy—we couldn’t be sure. For some reason, I long believed that the model was a female rower—with a big back and broad shoulders, but delicate wrists and hands. But Jackie has assured me that the actual model was a teenage boy. I think the image is so successful that people seeing it for the first time imagine who they want the person putting on—or taking off— the bra to be. Hence I imagined a female rower, which is a reflection of one of the novel’s opening lines: “We are formed by what we desire.” ✸ IRVING

head over heels, and feel the same about it today. I’ve published three books now, and have been fortunate enough to have Barbara design covers for them all.

In One Person SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2012

A bisexual man narrates his life and sexual awakening AUTHOR John Irving DESIGNER Jackie Seow (BFA 1984 Media Arts), executive art director, Simon & Schuster FIC TION

At this point in my career I mostly work on the high-profile books. Part of my job is to figure out how much the author wants to be involved. John Irving is very clear in his vision and it’s important for him to be involved. I embrace that and I think it’s worked out well for us. Mr. Irving had three very specific ideas for the cover. All were from scenes in the book and stuff that you just can’t find in stock photography. I knew I needed a photographer who was flexible and nimble enough to work out all three directions and could also capture the literary sensibility. I had worked with Mark Dye before and knew he would do a great job. Mark did the initial casting call through Craigslist—a whole other story, but Mark did make sure his wife was there at all times—and took test shots and we narrowed it down to one teenage boy. The scene from the cover takes place in the ’50s, and the industrial, no-nonsense look of bras from that time are nothing like what we see in Victoria’s Secret today. Fortunately, Mark’s SEOW

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TO GET AN IDEA OF THE RANGE OF SUBJECTS THEY WORK WITH, VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL ASKED THE FEATURED ALUMNI TO SHARE SOME MORE OF THEIR COVER DESIGNS. Rex Bonomelli, Bad Teeth (2014), From Square One (2009), Half Broke Horses (2008), Palo Alto (2010), Under the Dome (2009); Barbara deWilde, A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010); Adly Elewa, The Lamentations of Zeno (2016); John Fontana, American Housewife (2016); Janet Hansen, Act of God (2015), The Bed Moved (2016), The Lost Time Accidents (2016), Version Control (2016); Keith Hayes, The Betrayers (2014), The Kingdom of Speech (2016), To the Bright Edge of the World (2016); Alex Knowlton, Modern Times, Modern Places (1999); Adalis Martinez, Back to Moscow (2016); Jackie Seow, O (2011); Rachel Willey, Barbara the Slut (2015), Boy Erased (2016); Henry Sene Yee, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000), Havisham (2013), Middlesex (2003), A Wall in Palestine (2010).

SPOTLIGHT MIAMI

by carla torres

With each year, SVA’s alumni community expands its national and international reach—a growth that speaks to the increasingly global nature of the College’s student body, the decentralization of the creative industries and graduates’ success. Starting with this issue, Visual Arts Journal plans to spotlight cities and countries where alumni live, work and contribute to the local art and design scene. First up: Miami, home to many SVA graduates, including the following four.

Gonzalo Fuenmayor, The Surface of a Song, 2015 (above); God Bless Latin America, 2014 (opposite, top); Tropical Elegance, 2015 (opposite, bottom). All works charcoal on paper.

PAINTING THE TOWN Gonzalo Fuenmayor (BFA 2000 Fine Arts)

alk into Miami Beach’s swank Faena Hotel, which just opened its doors last December, and it’s only a matter of time before you see the work of Colombian-born artist Gonzalo Fuenmayor. Fuenmayor was commissioned by the hotel’s owner, Argentine designer and businessman Alan Faena (who has personally collected Fuenmayor’s work for six years), to create monochrome murals for the property’s lobby and its restaurant, Pao. Faena has also seen to it that each of the 169 guest rooms features limited-edition photographs and drawings by Fuenmayor. Fuenmayor has lived in Miami for a decade now, and much of his work seeks to embody the city’s culture. “It’s a paradise of excess leisure, and a crossroads between Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S.,” he says. “For me, it’s about reconciling the idea of Miami with the real Miami.” That means

merging elements that evoke decadence, opulence and the seductive lull of the tropics: a baroque amphitheater encircling a lone palm tree, an empty swimming pool with ornate coffered walls. These and other recent pieces hang in Fuenmayor’s Miami Arts District studio, which he’s been working out of for the past six years—long before the neighborhood, also known as Wynwood, became a destination for the international art, design and fashion set. “Rent was affordable, spaces were big, and there were a lot of artists in the building. Still are,” Fuenmayor says. Come September, he’ll truck the works to San Francisco for a show at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery, then on to Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, for an October exhibition at the Galería El Museo. After that, some of it may make its way back to Dot Fiftyone, Fuenmayor’s Miami gallery, where he will have another solo show, in 2017. To watch a video interview with Fuenmayor in his studio, visit sva.edu. V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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COMICS MARVEL John Paul Leon (BFA 1994 Illustration)

ohn Paul Leon’s sliver of a studio, nestled in the back of his home in Miami’s Coral Way neighborhood, is every comics fan’s dream. Shelf upon shelf bursts with tales of every superhero from Ant-Man to Batman, from the Avengers to Captain America. Yet Leon—the man who helped redefine the Marvel Comics universe with the 1999 – 2000 series Earth X, and whose illustrations grace the current covers of DC’s Sheriff of Babylon and Dark Horse’s The Massive: Ninth Wave—doesn’t spend much time reading them himself. “I did as a kid,” he says. “I was always partial to Superman.” His high school education at Miami’s New World School of the Arts, however, 42

was fine-arts focused, and his interest in the medium waned. His years at SVA reawakened his inner child—and superhero. “When I was a kid I liked the idea of telling a story with pictures,” he says. “That’s what attracted me to illustration.” After graduating, Leon worked in New York for five years, at a time when comics production was still largely pre-digital. “You used to have to FedEx your work, and actually go to the library to do research for scenes or get visuals of cityscapes.” Leon moved back to South Florida in 1999 and today, with the efficiencies of the Internet age, working remotely has never been easier, or more comfortable. When he’s not in his studio reviewing scripts, sketching, coloring covers or working on Batman:

Creatures of the Night, a forthcoming DC miniseries, he’s spending time with his wife and daughter, or losing himself in movies, particularly those of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. “A lot of the same rules that apply in film apply to comics,” he says. “It’s important for readers to know where everything is in space in relation to each other, no matter the amount of action happening.”

John Paul Leon, panels for DC’s Detective Comics #35, 2014 (above, left) and cover art for Dark Horse’s The Massive: Ninth Wave #01, 2015 (above) and The Massive #13, 2013 (opposite).

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Carolyn Mara Borlenghi, untitled, 2015, from “Silenced” (top); Jamie, 2016, from “Day Dream” (above).

PICTURE PERFECT Carolyn Mara Borlenghi (MFA 2006 Photography, Video and Related Media)

hough photographers are often thought of as observers, documenting life through their lenses, Carolyn Mara Borlenghi tries to live in the moments she captures with her camera. “The image ends up being a reminder, but sharing that experience with other people is what counts,” says the Houston native, who

has made her home in Miami since 2007. After receiving her psychology degree—with a minor in photography—from Southern Methodist University, Borlenghi moved to New York City, where she landed a job at Pace MacGill Gallery, which has represented such legendary photographers as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank and Irving Penn. The experience inspired her to continue her own practice in the field, and she enrolled at SVA. “I guess you could say love brought me to Miami,” Borlenghi says. She met her husband, a born-and-bred Floridian, in New York; not long after marrying, family ties—and a longing for more sun—drew them south. Now a mother of two boys, Borlenghi is pursuing her photo career both on- and offline. She teaches classes through Define, an online photography school; contributes to Childhood Unplugged, a collaborative photo/parent-

ing blog; and has built a large audience (21,000 followers and counting) for her work on Instagram, having won the site’s weekly Weekend Hashtag Project four times to date. She’s also pursuing several series of conceptual works, with prints available through her website. One comprises portraits of mothers, photographed in the morning after their children have left for the day. Another is the surreal and intimate “Women + Masks,” in which Borlenghi photographs women alone in secluded spots of the Everglades, wearing the animal mask of their choice. “Everyone is hiding from something, and putting on a mask is the first step in allowing you to take it off,” she says. “It’s a liberating experience, for them and for me.”

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IDEAS MAN Bill Wosar (BFA 1990 Media Arts)

oday’s “mad men” are faced with the challenge of not only making an impact in a digital era—one in which multiple screens compete for our attention—but with reaching a new generation of consumers, a.k.a. “the Millenials,” which, as Forbes has reported, is proving to be a particularly tough sell. But according to advertising veteran Bill Wosar, who has helped craft award-winning campaigns for everything from Diet Coke to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to Sporting News over the course of a threedecade career, while the platforms may have changed, the basic tenets of the field are the same. “It comes down to taking the benefit of a product or brand and creating stories to communicate that through emotions,” he says. “That’s how people fall in love.”

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Wosar, a Miami native, had a long love affair with New York—first attending SVA and then spending 17 years moving up Madison Avenue’s ladder. He moved back to his hometown just last year and now leads a bifurcated life as a freelance art and creative director and an entrepreneur. When not conceiving multimedia ad campaigns for such brands and corporations as Bacardi Limited and Citibank, he is developing his nascent digital venture MagnetRooms, a series of social-media apps that enable millennials to engage with, and advocate for, brands for which they are a target audience. And though he’s working just as much if not more than he did before, “I do get to work from my balcony overlooking Biscayne Bay,” he says. “That’s the difference between Miami and New York.” ✸

is an assistant editor at Ocean Drive and the local Miami expert for Travel + Leisure. She has also written for Complex, the Miami Herald and Miami New Times. CARLA TORRES

Bill Wosar, ads from campaigns for Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate (below) and Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.

Q+A PETER HRISTOFF

Jonathas Nazareth

by danielle whalen uring 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two works—a painting and a collection of works on paper—by artist Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts). This led to his being considered, and ultimately chosen, for the institution’s new 15-month artist-in-residence program, which he began last September. This position at the museum, the first of its kind for a visual artist, allows Hristoff access to the Met’s entire collection and archives as both a source of personal inspiration and as a jumping-off point to develop educational programs involving the general public, young adults and college students. Born in Istanbul to Bulgarian parents in 1958, Hristoff was raised in a family of artists. In 1963, he and his family immigrated to New York, where he still lives today. His heritage, as well as near-Eastern history, have long influenced his art, which mixes classical, contemporary and personal iconography and includes not only painting and drawing, but also the ancient 46

craft of rug-making. His combinations of original and traditional motifs are brought to life by Turkish weavers, all of whom are women. With the goal of providing an economic reward to the weavers and to nurture an endangered craft, Hristoff founded the Priene Hali Project, a workshop in rural Turkey. Hristoff’s commitment to the arts of his native region and his passion for teaching, which he has done for a number of years in SVA’s BFA Fine Arts and BFA Visual & Critical Studies programs, is what led the Met’s Islamic Art and Education departments to choose him for the residency—the purpose of which, as the museum describes it, is to “use the Met’s historic collection as a touchstone to celebrate the robust living traditions of the Islamic world.” Hristoff took some time not long ago to talk with me, a former student of his, about the residency, the impact it has had on his teaching and art and the role of the Met in his life.

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Peter Hristoff, My Metropolitan, 2016, monoprint silk

screen studies, ink on paper and chip board; Met High School Interns work on a Hristoff-led project at the museum; Hristoff’s SVA students sketch a statue in the Met. Photos by Peter Hristoff.

When the museum chose you for this residency, did they tell you how they wanted you to spend the 15 months, or was that left up to you?

It was pretty much left up to me. Once I was selected, they were incredibly generous. The residency, which is sponsored by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, had a planning phase built into it, so from January until June of 2015, I got to know the museum and its galleries in greater detail, to decide what kind of projects I wanted to do. Since then, I have given talks at the museum on prayer rugs and on the influence of Islamic art in my work. I am also developing projects and classes connected to the exhibition “Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs,” which opens on April 27. I’ve been given a lot of liberty to do different types of programs that revolve around my teaching philosophies and my studio practice. I think one of the reasons why the Met selected me is that I represent a kind of thinking that it’s not one thing or the other. You can be a teacher, an artist, and there can even be an overlap between those two. You don’t have to give one up for the other.

They’re really not two separate things, and that’s always been my philosophy in terms of trying to bring as much of my work into my teaching, and then bringing what I get from the students back into my studio. Can you tell me about some of your teaching activities at the Met, and what teaching in the museum is like?

The Met has, very graciously, given me the opportunity to teach some of my SVA classes there. For many years, I’ve been doing drawing marathons at the College, and I’m now SPR ING 20 16

doing them at the museum as well. I also recently did a program for the museum for teenagers who are interested in careers in the arts. We had a drawing session in the Greek and Roman galleries where I brought in live models in masks and period costumes to pose with the objects—with the statuary—and the students drew them. What I want in these classes is to create an environment where no one is intimidated by what they’re drawing. The museum houses these great, timeless works of art, so to make students comfortable and not self-conscious about their own work is a challenge. Using live models is a way to loosen them up. Students are encouraged to focus on gesture and movement, rather than detail, and then that kind of looseness carries over into their studies of the statuary. I’ve been doing this for so long that I’ve acquired a certain knack at getting students to relax and draw unselfconsciously. That’s really my goal. I remember having that feeling of looseness when I took your class.

When people draw without being self-conscious, wonderful things happen. Everyone can draw. We all have the ability to make marks and for them to be beautiful and interesting. Another part of your residency is maintaining a blog on the Met’s website. Has writing always been a part of what you do?

I believe that writing is very important and that when one is a creative individual, with discipline you can challenge your creative thinking and channel it into different practices. I don’t think that it is so difficult for us to be Renaissance people. I see that with my students. When you have a certain visual 47

Sketches by BFA Visual & Critical Studies student Chaerin Ahn, from one of Peter Hristoff’s drawing classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

sensitivity it’s not all that difficult to then translate that into a literary or critical sensitivity to put your ideas out there. Do you have a personal project that you are working on during the residency?

Yes, I decided that I would try to re-create as many of the pieces in the museum that interest me. So I spend one day a week at the museum drawing and I try to complete one small sketchbook on each of those days. From that book, I pick out the works that I want to reproduce as paintings. I’m creating my own Metropolitan Museum of Art, with my reproductions. I started during the planning phase of the residency and I’ll stop—or I think I’ll stop—when the residency is over. Otherwise, I could spend the rest of my life doing this. I feel like I’ve completely reconnected to a study of art history, because when you focus on the various collections you inevitably make connections between the different cultures. I’ll think, “Wait a minute, where did I see something that looked just like this?” And I’ll remember it was another piece, made 200 years ago on the other side of the world, and start realizing how certain things are of abiding interest to humans and will reappear in art, sometimes with variations, sometimes in a way that’s almost identical. For example, when you walk through the American wing and visit its visible storage gallery you see Pennsylvania Dutch wooden trunks, and the floral motifs—the tulips—that decorate them are basically of Islamic origin. That makes you think of the way these images have traveled from one place to another, and continue to do so.

It’s like being back in school. I’ve always enjoyed being in school, obviously, or I wouldn’t be teaching. But it’s one thing to enjoy being in school as a teacher and it’s another to enjoy being a student. I like being in the other position again. Going there every day with the purpose of studying the collection and making art from it must be something special.

It’s very special. As you become more and more familiar with some of these objects you start to truly understand their cultural significance and you start to understand why certain works really resonate with a kind of—I know this is going to sound a little bit corny—but with a universal message. One day I came to the museum to work and the newspaper that morning had been absolutely frightening. Every article was about negation and destruction and fear. And I walked through that incredible hallway with these ancient artworks from Greece and from Rome and was reminded of the beauty that we are capable of. It gave me a peace of mind. I was able to suppress my anxiety, or at least balance it. Yes, as humankind, we’re capable of the most horrific atrocities, but we’re also capable of creating incredible beauty. I think that’s a great gift that art, and institutions that support the arts and make them available to view, give us. ✸ (BFA 2013 Visual & Critical Studies) is an MA Curatorial Practice student and editorial assistant for Art+Auction. She has also written for Modern Painters and Blouinartinfo.com. DANIELLE WHALEN

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Peter Hristoff, Heroes, 2015, mixed media on canvas. Photo by Justin Elm.

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Joe Fig, Alois Kronschlaeger: February 6, 2013, 2014, mixed media, courtesy of Cristin Tierney Gallery.

The artist’s studio has long been a source of fascination and inspiration for artists and the general public alike. Visual Arts Journal takes a closer look at the studio visit and how it can transform an artist’s education.

art visiting BY JEFFREY PERKINS

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ists

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OPPOSITE TOP Joe Fig, Janaina Tschäpe: September 24, 2013,

2013, mixed media, courtesy Cristin Tierney Gallery. BOTTOM Artist Adam Helms talks to students from Sarah Trigg’s Field Work course, taught as part of the MFA Fine Arts curriculum at SVA. Over the course of the fall 2015 semester, Trigg’s students visited more than 30 artists in their workplace. Photo by Sarah Trigg.

ou could easily miss it. What first looks like an empty storefront on busy Graham Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is actually the entrance to the studio of artist Chris Martin (BFA 1992 Fine Arts). The place is a former flower shop, still sporting its original ornate stone floor, but the floral arrangements are long gone, replaced by art books in every available nook. On this November day, Martin is hosting Sarah Trigg’s MFA Fine Arts Field Work workshop; his is one of 30 studios— large and small, established and emerging—that the class will visit in the fall 2015 semester. Trigg’s course began after she guest-taught a couple of classes at SVA a few years ago. An artist and writer, she had recently finished her book Studio Life: Rituals, Collections, Tools, and Observations on the Artistic Process (Princeton Architectural Press, 2013), a study of working artists’ spaces and methods, and had come to consider studio visits essential to any artist’s education and development. “They force you to look at things with a fresh eye and through a perspective that you may not have considered,” she says. “It’s like a surgeon talking to another surgeon.” In 2014, Trigg began teaching Field Work, which is wholly dedicated to studio visits, in collaboration with sculptor and faculty member James Clark. The course soon became so popular that the department began offering two sections, one taught by Clark and the other by Trigg. “We live in a city that’s incredible for art,” says MFA Fine Arts Chair Mark Tribe, “and Field Work classes are all about getting out, visiting artists in their studios, going to exhibitions and galleries and museums and alternative spaces and taking advantage of the city.”

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LEFT Sarah Trigg’s students at SVA faculty member Miguel Luciano’s studio. Photo by Sarah Trigg. OPPOSITE Joe Fig, Kate Gilmore: June 25, 2013, 2013, mixed media, private collection.

Martin and his two assistants meet Trigg’s dozen or so students near the studio’s entrance and walk them down a narrow, book-filled hallway into a main work area. Collage-and-paint works are stacked along the walls. Martin is preparing for a late spring show at the Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles and a scale model of the gallery is set up on the floor with small reproductions of his work arranged on its walls. After looking around for a while the students sit down on any available surface, and Martin begins talking about his career and his creative process, answering questions about everything from his art therapy background (he worked as an art therapist with AIDS patients for 15 years) to how he is able to get his extra-large canvases out of the studio (by cutting the wooden frames). An artist with a neighboring studio stops by partway through and stays to listen. Occasionally Martin’s assistants chime in, and the conversation’s ebb and flow gradually reveals the thinking and methods behind his work. “The studio is an extension of an artist’s inner world, their psyche, and you get to see it in visits like these,” Trigg says later. “It’s incredibly intimate. You’re climbing into a very personal space.” On another day Trigg’s class visits the studio of her fellow MFA Fine Arts faculty member Miguel Luciano, whose work often engages the public outside of the gallery. Luciano’s space is filled with pieces from throughout his career. At the end of the visit, the students gather around Pimp My Piragua (above), a public art project that was commissioned by 54

the Queens Museum in 2008: a functioning shaved-ice cart in gleaming chrome and orange, tricked out with a built-in stereo and video screens. Luciano explains to the class how Pimp My Piragua, originally conceived as a celebration of Latino culture and entrepreneurship in New York City, was later repurposed for a 2015 protest in Central Park against Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling. The event was arranged by the Yes Men, a prank-pulling team of activists, and Luciano, wearing a

Artist and writer Joe Fig (MFA 2002 Fine Arts, BFA 1990 Fine Arts) has also made the studio a subject of his work. His books Inside the Painter’s Studio (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009) and Inside the Artist’s Studio (Princeton Architectural Press, 2015) feature interviews and visits with such prominent artists as Tara Donovan, Tony Oursler and Laurie Simmons, and he’s recreated studios—and the art found inside of them—through his paintings, sculptures and drawings. “I’ve always been interested in people and people at work and people contemplating,” Fig says. “And in graduate school I would visit other students’ studios, and each space would be unique. I began to look at the work people were making and how they set up those spaces and I started looking at them for creative possibilities. What I found was a form of portraiture, which is something I’ve been interested in for a long time. How do you make a contemporary portrait, or an ‘indirect portrait’? Through depicting people’s space, their tools, their environment.” One of the artists profiled in Inside the Artist’s Studio is Fig’s former class-

“The studio is an extension of an artist’s inner world, their psyche, and you get to see it in visits like these. . . . It’s incredibly intimate. You’re climbing into a very personal space.” Shell-branded uniform, served “last-iceberg” snow cones to passersby as his cart’s screens showed climate changethemed images. The conversation illustrates a key lesson of Trigg’s course, and of Studio Life: that studio visits allow artists to share objects, tools and back stories that are often obscured from public view but, once revealed, illuminate the artistic process. “When you don’t have a personal connection to the artist, you can see the work and you can read about it and you can also have a dialogue with others about it,” says Scarlett Lingwood, an MFA Fine Artas student enrolled in Trigg’s course. “Having first-person knowledge about how the artist is working, and what their concepts are, makes it possible for you to perceive the work another way.”

mate Kate Gilmore (MFA 2002 Fine Arts). (A detail of Fig’s reproduction of her studio, opposite, graces the book’s cover.) According to Gilmore, the appeal of Fig’s (and Trigg’s) investigations is clear. “People are always interested in process,” she says. “They want to know how something comes about. Not just the evolution of the idea, but how is the work made, where is it made and what is the process? Process is 95 percent of it. So people want to know what that looks like.” This curiosity is evident, and widespread. In the summer of 2015, artist Annette Wehrhahn, an assistant to the chair of SVA’s MFA Art Writing Department and cofounder of the Soloway Gallery in Williamsburg, introduced her Secrets of the Studio: Artists’ Visits course, offered through SVA’s Division V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Artist Janaina Tschäpe in her studio, photographed by Joe Fig for Inside the Artist’s Studio (Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).

of Continuing Education. The initial session drew a diverse group of students, many of whom were not artists themselves but were curious about how artists work. “I had a PhD candidate in engineering, fashion designers, all kinds of folks,” she says. One of Wehrhahn’s goals in creating the course was to inspire more active engagement with artists’ work. “The experience of seeing the operations of a studio and works in progress is much different from visiting an exhibition in a gallery,” she says. “You get to ask questions, learn about an artist’s process and see the environment they create for themselves.” Of course, as art forms evolve so do artists’ needs. Though plenty of artists continue to paint, draw and sculpt, there are many who are creating through nontraditional means and media, and their work spaces reflect that. “I know artists, very successful artists—some of whom teach at SVA—who don’t even have studios,” Mark Tribe says. “Their laptop is their studio. Their apartment is their studio. Their life is their studio.” As artists continue to explore more ephemeral, performatory or digital media works, the idea of the studio visit will evolve as well. “There’s a ridiculous romanticism of the artist in the studio,” Gilmore says. “Sexy and dirty, toiling away. Artists are sexy to people who aren’t artists. In reality, it’s not a sexy business.” Sexy or not, an inside look can make a difference for those who are learning not only how to make art but also how to make an artist’s life. “The biggest thing I get out of studio visits is an appreciation of the artist’s persistence—the amount of work and the time that goes into making something,” Fig says. “Even the most successful artists can be as insecure as students. They come out with a show and then they think, ‘What am I going to do next?’ They’re just like everyone else and they all have struggles. I don’t think that ever goes away.” ✸ is director of communication at SVA. JEFFREY PERKINS

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Pi h

TOP Poster for the exhibition “Harlem First:

Mapping the Health of a Community,” created by MFA Design for Social Innovation student Manolo Ampudia. BOTTOM An installation view of “Harlem First,” shown at the SVA Gramercy Gallery in January 2016. Photo by Aubrey Hays.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

by B L E S S Y AUGUST I N E & GR E G H E R BOW Y

cture of

ealth IN

January, SVA’s MFA Design for Social Innovation department unveiled its latest initiative, Harlem First: Mapping the Health of a Community, with an exhibition of the same name at SVA Gramercy Gallery. Comprising student-created maps, interactive installations, photography, audio recordings and health statistics, the show presented the environment of a neighborhood—in this case, a four-block section of East Harlem, in Manhattan—as seen through the lens of how it affects the mental and physical well being of its residents. What sounds do they encounter on a typical day, and at what volume? Where can they find something healthy to eat, and is that food affordable? If people are hurt or in danger, where can they go for help?

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BELOW Relief and pinned maps of East Harlem. From the “Harlem First” exhibition. Photo by Aubrey Hays.

conceived by the mfa program’s chair, Cheryl Heller, as a “living demonstration” of social design, Harlem First is a collaborative project, one in which the goal is “to engage Harlem residents in the conversation and solutions,” she says. The exhibition was the first step in an ongoing effort to create a comprehensive portrait of, and wider discussion about, public health in East Harlem. To that end, Design for Social Innovation faculty and students are working with East Harlem residents, the medical professionals of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, which is part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital, and cartographers and data-visualization experts affiliated with the PopTech Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to socially minded, cross-disciplinary collaborations. Together, they will accrue and evaluate as much data as possible—and, by doing so, identify ways to improve health outcomes for a historically underserved neighborhood. Should the process result in measurable improvements, it could then be replicated in communities all over the world. “Social innovation design is largely invisible,” Heller says. “We work with systems to affect human relationships and human capacity. Harlem First is an example of how we can make abstract concepts visible and actionable, in this case, through the maps and other media shown in the exhibition.” To put together the exhibition, Heller turned to the faculty and students in her program’s fall 2015 Mapping and Visualization course, and to Kevin O’Callaghan (BFA 1980 Media Arts), chair of the College’s 3D Design program. The students were split into groups and sent to observe and record the elements of

daily life in East Harlem that they perceived as influencers of health. Among other things, the groups documented the neighborhood’s sound pollution levels and sources, food choices (whether restaurants or grocery stores), healthand safety-related signage (everything from security-system signs to cigarette ads) and health-related services (from exercise classes to doctors’ offices to 12-step group meetings). Meanwhile, a group of Harlem residents was also engaged in mapping the neighborhood, to contribute their own insiders’ view of its health determinants. With the help of a cartographer, Gabe Schuster, these data sets were then combined with publicly available data—such as crime statistics and property ownership information— and mapped. All maps were drawn using the same template, so that the different data sets could be layered—or, for the exhibition’s purposes, projected over one another—to make it simpler to look for possible connections and solutions. The exhibition kicked off a series of workshops and talks at which the Harlem First partners met with East Harlem residents and community leaders to discuss the initiative thus far and plot its future. These events included two health-mapping “master classes,” one held at SVA and the other in Harlem, conducted by PopTech fellow Primoz Kovacic, co-founder and director of Spatial Collective, a Nairobi-based data-visualization enterprise. Harlem First also hosted a symposium at the SVA Theatre, with Robert Carmona, co-founder of STRIVE, a Harlem-based job-training nonprofit; public-housing residents’ association president Carmen Quinones; Prabhjot Singh, director of the Arnhold Institute and a global health expert; Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.; and 2016 U.S. congressional candidate Clyde Williams, whose district would include Harlem. The participants discussed the questions that emerged from the East Harlem residents’ mapping and master class work, touching on everything from concerns over policing and safety to the links between financial stability and good health. “One of the issues that emerged from our discussions, both from residents as well as those who work in the local organizations, is the detrimental effect of constantly listing only what’s wrong in places like East Harlem,” Heller says. “Seeing nothing but crime and violence adds to the stigma, and doesn’t reflect these neighborhoods’ richness and potential.” V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

“Social innovation design is largely invisible,” Heller says. “We work with systems to affect human relationships and human capacity.” BELOW Cartographer Gabe Schuster worked with MFA Design for Social Innovation students enrolled in the department’s Mapping and Visualization course to create maps detailing various demographics and influencers of public health.

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ABOVE An interactive installation for

“Harlem First” that demonstrated the wealth of health-service providers and resources available to East Harlem residents, while showing how inadequate signage could lead to underutilization or lack of public knowledge of these services. NEXT SPREAD Photos of East Harlem residents’ hands are paired with various health-relevant statistics about the neighborhood. From “Harlem First.” Photos by Aubrey Hays.

Prabhjot Singh warns that if local medical professionals don’t engage in community-building efforts like Harlem First, and instead strictly focus on an area’s physical health issues, they will have little success in improving public health. “It’s about building a common language,” he says. “If people don’t feel like they’re being heard, our collective ability to build an effective health care system is compromised.”

In the months ahead, the Harlem First partners will further solicit residents’ feedback and data and incorporate it into their growing body of research. Heller and her department’s faculty are developing mapping and research classes that they will offer to the public at STRIVE’s Harlem space. They also plan to mount the “Harlem First” exhibition at a venue in the neighborhood, to better publicize the initiative in the community. V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

“If people don’t feel like they’re being heard, our collective ability to build an effective health care system is compromised.”

“Harlem First is simply the foundation for a much larger commitment,” Leetha Filderman, president of PopTech, says. “Ideally, it will come to involve even more citizen groups, individuals, public and private enterprises. . . . The ultimate goal is to bring different factions together—all these groups that don’t normally talk to one another—to create models of care that have long-term positive impacts.” SPR ING 20 16

For more information on Harlem First, visit dsi.sva.edu. ✸ is an MFA Art Writing student at SVA. GREG HERBOWY is the College’s assistant director of communication. BLESSY AUGUSTINE

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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ALUMNI AFFAIRS

SVA Alumni: A Global Presence A message from JANE NUZZO, director of alumni affairs and development at SVA

t h is page : A message from the director • page 6 8 : Alumni Scholarship Awards 2016 • page 70: Donors • pag e 72 : Alumni Notes & Exhibitions • pag e 79 : In Memoriam

❤

New York City is a cultural haven and a leader in today’s global economy. It’s no wonder, then, that SVA, located in the heart of Manhattan, has become a multinational art and design hub and one of the most influential creative communities in the world. In recent years, the College’s national and international outreach initiatives have grown exponentially. Today, in addition to living and working in each of America’s 50 states, SVA graduates hail from—or have settled in—more than 70 countries. Or, if you prefer to think “big picture,” six continents, as illustrated in the above graphic by Zak Tebbal (BFA 2015 Design), an alumnus who was born in Algeria, raised in Qatar and now lives and works in Canada. In future issues of the Visual Arts Journal, and in our continuing outreach efforts, we hope to fully celebrate the work of this ever-expanding community, from Brazil to Germany, France to Japan, Taiwan to Turkey. For more information about staying current and connected, and for a complete list of alumni benefits, visit sva.edu/alumni. Questions? Call 212.592.2300 or email alumni@sva.edu. V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

ALUMNI NEWS & NETWORKS

ALUMNI ADVANTAGES & BENEFITS

PERKS

sva.edu/alumni

• Invitations to exclusive networking receptions and events • Subscriptions to the alumni e-newsletter and the Visual Arts Journal • Invitations to career development workshops and access to the online job board • Professional website listing on sva.edu/alumni • Weekly model drawing sessions in NYC • Lifetime access to SVA email • Access to the SVA Library • Access to the SVA-curated Kickstarter and Indiegogo pages

Join us for mixers and networking events

sva.edu/alumni-events Showcase your work on SVA Portfolios

portfolios.sva.edu Tell us about your projects, exhibitions and accomplishments

alumni@sva.edu

DISCOUNTS

facebook.com/schoolofvisualartsalumni

@SVAalumni

Alumni of the School of Visual Arts

• $50 off SVA Continuing Education courses • 10% discount on SVA-branded products at the SVA Campus Store • 10% discount at DaVinci Artist Supply (with current alumni ID; restrictions apply)

INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES • Opportunities to apply for affordable insurance plans • Student loan and financial management resources

For complete details visit sva.edu/alumni Questions? Contact SVA Alumni Affairs at 212.592.2300 or alumni@sva.edu

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ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS 2016 Thanks to generous contributions from alumni and supporters, the SVA Alumni Society was able to grant more than $80,000 in awards to these students in support of their thesis projects.

ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

Milly Jooyeon Seung, BFA Interior Design

Ooldouz Alaei Novin, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media

Tayler Smith, BFA Photography and Video

Aurora Alänge, BFA Film

Benjamin Lee Sperry, BFA Visual and Critical Studies

Minhyul Bae, MFA Computer Art

Josh Sucher, MFA Interaction Design

Ivan Boscariol, MFA Design for Social Innovation

Dillon Utter, BFA Fine Arts

Elaina Brillantes and thesis partner Yana Pan, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects

Der Yann Wang and project partner Donghyun Kim, BFA Photography and Video

Alexander Bustamante, BFA Fine Arts

Hannah Whang, BFA Fine Arts

Anqi Cai, MFA Social Documentary Film

Ange Wong, MPS Digital Photography

James Cao, MFA Computer Art

Elizabeth R. Yang, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects

Yu-Yen Chang, MPS Directing Max Colson, BFA Animation Andrew Cziraki, BFA Fine Arts Nico Gao, MFA Computer Art Lauren Gardner and thesis partner Caroline McAndrews, MFA Design for Social Innovation Alice Gavish and thesis partner Christina Faraj, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Allison Golden, BFA Visual and Critical Studies Sarah Grass, MFA Art Practice Yvonne Hsuan Ho and thesis partner Silver Paul, BFA Animation Maxwell Huffman and project partner Andrew Alexander, BFA Cartooning Yuqi Kang, MFA Social Documentary Film Hanna Kim, BFA Interior Design Rori Knudtson, MFA Art Practice Georgia Lale, MFA Fine Arts Netta Laufer, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Nakyung Lee, MFA Computer Art Shihyun Lee, BFA Animation Eden Lew, MFA Products of Design Christina Liao, MFA Social Documentary Film Martin Mendizabal, BFA Photography and Video Forrest Meyer, BFA Fine Arts Amalia Mourad, MFA Fine Arts Mischelle Moy, BFA Photography and Video Idit Nissenbaum, BFA Photography and Video Noel Núñez-Caba, BFA Design Souvik Paul, MFA Products of Design Hannah Roman, MFA Computer Art Taylor Russo, BFA Film

Li Yao, BFA Fine Arts Tianji Yu, MFA Social Documentary Film Alexander F. Yuan, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media

NAMED FUND AWARDS 727 Award Luiz Felipe d’Orey, BFA Illustration Abigail Kim, BFA Design Amelia Geocos Memorial Award Sandy Ng, BFA Fine Arts BFA Illustration and Cartooning Award Jamie Trey Abdella, BFA Illustration Kyoosang Choi, BFA Illustration Bob Guglielmo Memorial Award Gleb Brezhnev, BFA Cartooning Kendra Josie Kirkpatrick, BFA Cartooning Edward Zutrau Memorial Award Delano Dunn, MFA Fine Arts Jack Endewelt Memorial Award Gabrielle Gomez, BFA Cartooning Xia Gordon, BFA Illustration James Richard Janowsky Award Becca Farsace, BFA Film MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Award Susan Coyne, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Chioma Ebinama, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Claire Merchlinsky, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Robert I. Blumenthal Memorial Award Linet Huaman, BFA Design Sylvia Lipson Allen Memorial Award John Patrick Wells, BFA Fine Arts Thomas Reiss Memorial Award Sara Meghdari, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Will Eisner Sequential Art Award Masami F. Kiyono, MFA Visual Narrative William C. Arkell Memorial Award Lauren Muller, BFA Film V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Linet HuamĂĄn, work from her

graphic design portfolio; Ange Wong, Hong Kong Cafe, 1997 (detail), dye-based pigment printed fabric; Aurora AlĂ¤nge, still from Syskon (Siblings), short film; Georgia Lale, from #OrangeVest, public performance series; Gleb Brezhnev, untitled, pen and ink; Nico Gao, still from Again, digital animation; Alice Gavish with Christina Faraj, still from Unmasked, 3D animation; Dillon Utter, untitled, oil painting on hand-primed wood panel.

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DONORS The SVA Alumni Society gratefully acknowledges these alumni who gave to the society from July 1 to December 31, 2015. Kim Ablondi BFA 1984 Photography Arthur Ackermann BFA 1982 Cartooning Dawn E. Albore BFA 1981 Illustration Manuel D. Aleman BFA 2011 Advertising Evelyn M. Alfaro BFA 1985 Advertising Adam P. Ames MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media Anonymous (8) Alexander C. Bas BFA 2014 Fine Arts Cynthia Bittenfield MFA 2009 Photography, Video and Related Media Eva Bokosky BFA 1978 Illustration James R. Bomeisl BFA 1978 Graphic Design Marguerita Z. Brinton E 1976 Alan Brooks BFA 1977 Graphic Design Robert W. Brown BFA 1989 Photography Barbara A. Browne G 1970 Sharon Burris-Brown BFA 1984 Illustration Darlene Cah BFA 1976 Advertising Brian Callaghan BFA 1977 Media Arts John Calnan G 1957 Angelo Canitano G 1970 Carol Caputo G 1960 Graphic Design Ed Cassel G 1970 Fine Arts Paul K. Caullett BFA 2000 Graphic Design Joseph T. Cavalieri BFA 1979 Cartooning Terese Cavanagh 1968 Media Arts Bernard Champon Jr. G 1969 Fine Arts Frederick Chandler G 1969 Film and Video

Andrew Chang MFA 1987 Illustration as Visual Essay Lynn and Brian (alumnus) Chichi BFA 1977 Graphic Design Christopher S. Chung BFA 2011 Fine Arts William N. Ciaramelli G 1967 Eavan Cleary MFA 2002 Design Florence Cohen E 1973 Alice E. Meyers Corjescu E 1974 Fine Arts George Courides BFA 1981 Advertising Phil and Julia Coyne BFA 1986 Media Arts BFA 1988 Media Arts Cora Cronemeyer E 1966 Fine Arts Mark L. Crowell BFA 2014 Film and Video Carmen V. Cruz BFA 2002 Illustration Diane Cuddy BFA 1988 Graphic Design Therese S. Curtin BFA 1980 Illustration Diane Dawson Hearn BFA 1975 Illustration Vincent De Vito E 1968 Peter S. Deak BFA 1990 Film and Video Catherine Del Buono MFA 2008 Photography, Video and Related Media Rebecca L. Delaney MAT 2015 Art Education Theresa DeSalvio BFA 1976 Fine Arts Haydee Diaz BFA 1986 Graphic Design Rael Jean DiDomenicoSchwab BFA 1990 Advertising Susan L. Diehl-Bell BFA 1982 Illustration Candace (alumnus) and Jeffrey Dobro MPS 2010 Digital Photography Ronald Dube 1966 Illustration

Katrin Eismann MFA 2002 Design

Noelle W. King MFA 2013 Art Practice

Judith Nilson BFA 1974 Fine Arts

Carol Fabricatore MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay

S. Klein G 1970 Photography

Luigi Novi BFA 1994 Cartooning

Robert Kohr BFA 2003 Animation

Nancy Boecker Oates E 1980 Media Arts

Jean Kooi BFA 1978 Media Arts

Susan Koliadko Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien BFA 1984 Graphic Design

Korean Alumni Association of SVA

one2tree / Rena Sokolow BFA 1986 Graphic Design

Melanie Kozol MFA 1987 Fine Arts

Donald A. Orehek E 1951 Cartooning

Abby Kreh G 1962 Illustration

Romaine Orthwein MFA 2003 Photography and Related Media

Richard W. Farrell BFA 1985 Media Arts Charles Fazzino BFA 1977 Media Arts Dina M. Ferrante-Smyth BFA 1985 Photography Manuela F. Filiaci BFA 1979 Fine Arts Lawrence Flood BFA 1980 Fine Arts Neil M. Gallo BFA 1977 Graphic Design

Staci Fischer Laico BFA 1991 Communication Arts

Peter A. Geffert BFA 1990 Advertising

Patricia Langer BFA 1995 Illustration

Edith Ostrowsky E 1972

Rita Genet BFA 1974 Fine Arts

Steven Langerman G 1972 Photography

Andy Outis MFA 2006 Design

Andrew Gerndt G 1971 Fine Arts

J. P. Lee MFA 1991 Computer Art

Kalpesh Parekh BFA 2004 Animation

Suzanne C. Giovanetti BFA 1981 Graphic Design

John Lefteratos BFA 1988 Graphic Design

Andrea M. Golden E 1985

Brian Lemus BFA 2015 Design

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Petrilak (alumnus) BFA 1976 Animation

James A. Haines BFA 1986 Media Arts

Gary A. Leogrande BFA 1978 Fine Arts

Meghan Day Healey BFA 1993 Graphic Design

Roxanne Lorch Lipman E 1984

Jean Held E 1969

David Lubarsky BFA 1979 Photography

Joanne Honigman E 1981 Graphic Design

Ronald W. Lucas E 1966

Rui Ying Huang BFA 2006 Graphic Design

Rafael Macia E 1968 Photography

Lyn M. Hughes BFA 1981 Photography

Mark J. Madias BFA 2001 Film and Video

Elizabeth J. Hunter BFA 1985 Photography

Laura Maley BFA 1978 Fine Arts

Nanette Jiji BFA 1981 Illustration

Denise Malin-Young BFA 1983 Media Arts

Allen Johnston E 1966 Graphic Design

Sam Martine BFA 1980 Illustration

Catherine A. Jones BFA 1979 Graphic Design

Ed M. Melnitsky BFA 1989 Graphic Design

Paul Kane BFA 1989 Advertising

David Moir G 1975 Photography

Yvette Kaplan BFA 1976 Animation

Robert V. Murphy BFA 1981 Fine Arts

Akiko Kikuchi MFA 2008 Photography, Video and Related Media

Joel Naprstek BFA 2004 Illustration

Eun Jung Kim BFA 1999 Interior Design

Lauren R. Nelson MAT 2005 Art Education

Stacey H. Osbeck BFA 2000 Film and Video

Gary Petrini E 1979 Media Arts Maria E. Pineda BFA 1995 Illustration Jennifer Pouech BFA 2002 Photography Rita Quintas BFA 1980 Photography Marc Rabinowitz MFA 2008 Design Todd L. Radom BFA 1986 Graphic Design Nicole E. Ray BFA 2003 Illustration Lisa Rettig-Falcone BFA 1983 Advertising Vernon C. Riddick G 1973 Barbara Rietschel BFA 1976 Media Arts Robert Risko BFA 1991 Illustration Eileen Robert E 1973 Stuart A. Rogers MFA 2004 Design Federico M. Romero MFA 2002 Computer Art Marc Rubin BFA 1982 Advertising V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Kathleen E. Sandklev BFA 1979 Media Arts

Barbara C. Vasquez BFA 1998 Graphic Design

Gini Santos MFA 1996 Computer Art

Hank A. Vitan E 1975

Jean A. Schapowal BFA 1987 Cartooning

Susan Vlamis E 1968 Photography

Joel Scharf BFA 1983 Graphic Design Philip Scheuer E 1981 Illustration Mark Schruntek BFA 1993 Advertising Eileen Hedy Schultz BFA 1977 Graphic Design JoAnne Seador BFA 1977 Photography Jim Seidel G 1971 Advertising Tod M. Seisser BFA 1979 Advertising Heewon Seo MFA 2012 Fine Arts Myoung Duck Seo MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay Charles Sforza and Mary Moran BFA 1982 Advertising BFA 1976 Advertising Jerold M. Siegel BFA 1975 Fine Arts Mimi Silverman BFA 1989 Fine Arts Sally A. Silvestro BFA 1988 Advertising Ellen Small MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media

Kevin “Gig” Wailgum MFA 1991 Illustration as Visual Essay Tom Wai-Shek G 1970 Advertising

Nada and Eugene Camali Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Carnevali Jennifer Cates Charles Chenet Ivan Chermayeff Michon Cherry Yu Jen Ching Moo Sun Cho

James C. Walker BFA 1988 Media Arts

Frank and Gerri Clyatt

Darya Warner BFA 2014 Fine Arts

Colony Pest Management, Inc.

Satoru T. Watanabe BFA 1989 Fine Arts

Ralph Colucci

Judith Wilde BFA 1979 Fine Arts

John and Amy Crane

Eugene G. Williams BFA 1982 Cartooning Kippax Williams E 1971 Frances Roberts Wilson E 1984 Fine Arts Ellen J. Wolff BFA 1979 Photography Gary N. Zaccaria BFA 1981 Graphic Design Michelle M. Zadlock BFA 1990 Advertising (E) denotes an evening program student. (G) denotes a graduate of the certificate program.

John N. Codis

Henry S. Coshburn

Sue and Paul Cryan DC Entertainment Joseph and Esther DeRosa John Dye Electronic Arts Outreach Bill and Monica Fabbri Gabriel Falsetta Ms. Elizabeth Fama and Mr. John Cochrane James Farek Tanya Finder Mary Kay and Woody Flowers Matthew Futterman Ganer + Ganer, PLLC

We also thank these parents and friends of SVA who supported the SVA Alumni Society.

Randilyn Gilliam

Frank Agosta

Ana Gouvea

Jonathan Aleksey

King Freeze Mechanical Corporation

The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Foundation

Kitchen + Hansen Agency, LLC

Sajan Saini

Douglas Krieger Ming-Dai Kuo Marilyn Landfield

Barbara Salander Lester Sanchez Peter Sanderson

Brooke Larsen

Joni Blackburn and David Sandlin

LDI Color ToolBox

Salomon Sassoon

Karen and Michael Lefkowitz

Jeff Sauber

Don Li Priscilla Lindenauer Liveright Jiawen Lu Magnum Real Estate Group Ronnie and Al Martella Alfonso Martin Michiko and Shoichi Matsumoto Charles Matthews William McAllister Heather McCallum William Menaker Meridian Building Services, Inc.

Howard K. Schoenfeld Jean Schulz Arlen Schumer SCS Agency Inc. Maureen and Gary Shillet Sooji K. Shim Brian Smales Gerard V. Smith Patricia E. Smith Andrew Stanton Edwin Steckley Julie Stone Robert Sylvor Thomas A. Tarantin Louise H. Taylor

Nicholas Mermigas

Steve Tepperman

Hildy Mesnik

Jamie A. Thornton

Stephan Meyer

Riva Touger-Decker and Brian Decker

Miccio Family Kathleen and Edward Miller

TreppPort LLC Christine Tripoli

Lori Minasi

Aurea Vallo

Mr. and Mrs. D. Mininni

Irra Verbitsky

S. A. Modenstein

Bill Verigan Charles R. Vermilyea Jr.

Elise Goyette

Patrick and Patricia Morahan

Anonymous (3)

Karen Green

Laurie Pearlberg Mosner

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Sandra and Francis Archer

Helen and John Guglielmo

Michelle Nahmad

Wells Fargo

Lisa A. Speroni BFA 1986 Graphic Design

Backhaul Engineering LLC

Shreya Gupta

Jane Nuzzo

Hilda Werschkul

Bank of America

Mary Hendricks

Mary and Dan O’Byrne

Peggy Whitlock

William Sponn BFA 1985 Media Arts

John Barrett

Ms. Maryhelen Hendricks and Mr. Robert Lewis

Elizabeth and Coleman O’Donoghue

Richard Wilde

Sally Holst

Chris Oschmann

Mohr Ben-Reuven

John Hotaling

Robert Parrilla

Gregory Benton

Chris Hudson

Edward D. Payesko

William and Jane Beucler

Miranda Pierce

Shaila Bhalla

In-Line Air Conditioning Inc

Charles Blauner

Dr. Jeremy Isenberg

Andrea Bobbitt

Darryl D. Jensen

B. Borlongan

Michael Kahn / Benefits Unlimited Inc.

Sean T. Smyth BFA 1983 Photography Daniel N. Solomon BFA 2013 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Skip Sorvino BFA 1994 Graphic Design

Darlene L. Ruess and Robert F. Supina Both BFA 1984 Graphic Design Tony Tallarico G 1954 Illustration Robert Todd E 1965 Steven M. Toriello BFA 1984 Advertising Thomas Trengove E 1968 Joanne S. Ungar BFA 1984 Fine Arts SPR ING 20 16

Benefit Management Solutions

Karen and Kuba Brown Monica and Frank Brown Richard Buntzen

Susan Ginsburg Rachel Gluckstern

Sang W. Kang David Kasakove

Marc Witz

Proskauer Ned and Ellin Purdom John Rediske Ella Romero RSM US LLP Renee Russell

ALUMNI NOTES & EXHIBITIONS GROUP EFFORTS

Joey Cofone (BFA 2013 Design), Daniel Fishel (MFA 2011 Illustration as Visual Essay), Tina Ibañez (BFA 2007 Graphic Design) and Anna Laytham (BFA 2013 Design) were featured in “New Visual Artists: 15 Artists Under 30,” Print, 6/25/15. MFA 2015 Products of Design alumni Lucy Knops and Julia Plevin were featured in “Cock-Roach Tales: How Top Bartenders Are Using Bugs in Our Drinks,” The Telegraph, 7/7/15. Marilyn Church (1973 Illustration) and Anna Walter (1967 Fine Arts) showed work in “12 x 12,” Carter Burden Gallery, NYC, 7/9-7/30/2015. Bryan Balla (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Cat Del Buono (MFA 2008 Photography, Video and Related Media), Nicholas Fraser (MFA 2008 Fine Arts), Yoav Friedländer (MFA 2014 Photography, Video and Related Media), Mitch Paster (BFA 2013 Photography) and Denise Treizman (MFA 2013 Fine Arts) showed work in “Bronx Calling: The Third AIM Biennial,” Bronx Museum of the Arts, NYC, 7/9-9/20/2015. Victor Ilyukhin (MFA 2014 Social Documentary) and Olga Lvoff (MFA 2013 Social Documentary) were featured in “Young Russian Documentary Filmmakers Find Professional Success in U.S.,” Russia Beyond the Headlines, 7/14/15. Gita Blak (MFA 2010 Photography, Video and Related Media), Sara Mejia Kriendler (MFA 2013 Fine Arts), and Amanda Pohan (BFA 2008 Fine Arts) showed work in “Enduring Ephemera,” A.I.R. Gallery, NYC, 7/24-8/23/15. Dan Halm (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay) curated “FiveSixSevenEight,” which featured the work of Nir Arieli (BFA 2012 Photography), Theodore Beck (BFA 1991 Photography) and Rachel Papo (MFA 2005 Photography, Video and Related Media), Here Arts Center, NYC, 8/20-10/10/15. BFA 2015 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects alumni Elizabeth Ku-Herrero, Chihyun Lee and Nicholas Manfredi won Student Academy Awards for their films Taking the Plunge (Ku-Herrero and Manfredi) and Zoe (Lee), 8/25/15.

To submit items for consideration for Alumni Notes & Exhibitions, email alumni@sva.edu

Davis Caldwell (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Roger Carmona (BFA 2006 Fine Arts), Katie Cercone (MFA 2011 Fine Arts), Noa Charuvi (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Rebecca Goyette (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Alejandro Guzman (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Hai-Hsin Huang (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Gregg Louis (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Michelle Matson (BFA 2005 Fine Arts), Jenny Morgan (MFA 2008 Fine Arts), David Mramor (MFA 2008 Fine Arts), Chris Oh (BFA 2004 Fine Arts), Stacy Scibelli (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Maria Jose Duran Steinman (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Matthew Stone (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Francesca Strada (BFA 2006 Fine Arts), Trish Tillman (MFA 2009 Fine Arts) and Denise Treizman (MFA 2013 Fine Arts). Christopher Brand (BFA 2007 Graphic Design), Daniel Zender (MFA 2014 Illustration as Visual Essay) and Zipeng Zhu (BFA 2013 Design) received Young Guns awards from the Art Directors Club, 9/17/15. SiTE:LAB/The Rumsey Street Project, a temporary exhibition venue created and curated by Paul Amenta (MFA 2000 Fine Arts), won Outstanding Venue at ArtPrize 2015. It featured the work of Kate Gilmore (MFA 2002 Fine Arts), who won the ArtPrize 2015 Grand Prize, and Diana Shpungin (MFA 2002 Fine Arts). Grand Rapids, MI, 9/2310/11/15. John Arsenault (BFA 1999 Photography), John Dugdale (BFA 1983 Photography), Eric Rhein (MFA 2000 Fine Arts) and Pacifico Silano (MFA 2012 Photography, Video and Related Media) showed work in “Art AIDS America,” Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, 10/3/15-1/10/16. The work of Gregg Bordowitz (1986 Fine Arts), Christine Sun Kim (MFA 2006 Fine Arts), James Nares (1975 Fine Arts), Collier Schorr (BFA 1985 Communication Arts) and Lorna Simpson (BFA 1982 Photography) was included in “Greater New York,” MoMA PS1, NYC, 10/11/15-3/7/16.

Andrea Fraser (1983 Fine Arts) and Sarah Sze (MFA 1997 Fine Arts) were featured in “Back to School: 10 Famous Art Professors We Wish We Had as Teachers in College,” ArtNet News, 9/11/15.

Kelynn Alder (MFA 1988 Illustration as Visual Essay), Mike Cherry (1991 Cartooning), Sara Cook (BFA 2001 Photography), Carol Fabricatore (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay), Allyson Howard (BFA 1982 Illustration), Thomas Kerr (MFA 1989 Illustration as Visual Essay), Amanda Reilly (BFA 2012 Graphic Design), Douglas Ross (MFA 1998 Computer Art) and Christopher Spinelli (BFA 1989 Illustration) showed work in “Sodom by the Sea Salon: Coney Inspired Art 2008-2015,” Coney Island USA, NYC, 11/7/15-2/7/16.

Cathleen P. Cueto II (MFA 2010 Fine Arts) and Natalia Yovane (MFA 2010 Fine Arts) launched Art Pow Wow, a social network and e-commerce website, in 2015. They hosted their inaugural exhibition at LES Projects in NYC, 9/12-9/13/15. The show included work by Agata Bebecka (BFA 2005 Fine Arts), Sara Berks (BFA 2010 Graphic Design), Kate

The documentaries The Lost Arcade (2014), co-directed by Irene Chin (BFA 2014 Fine Arts); The Red Umbrella Diaries (2014), directed by David Kornfield (BFA 2003 Film and Video); and The Ties That Bind (2015), directed by Thom Zimny (BFA 1990 Film and Video) , screened at DOC NYC on 11/16/15.

1967

1977

Carole Feuerman (Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Figuren,” Galerie Huebner+Huebner, Frankfurt, 10/9-11/13/15.

1968

Billy Sullivan (Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Summer Diaries,” ILLE Arts, Amagansett, NY, 8/15-9/1/15.

1969

Ping Chong (Film and Video) received the 2015 National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama on 9/10/15. Bill Plympton’s (Cartooning) work was featured in “Bill Plympton Lends His Animation Skills to ‘Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet,’“ The New York Times, 8/5/15. Nina Yankowitz’s (Fine Arts) work screened as part of “Enhanced Vision – Digital Video,” an online video exhibition presented by ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community, 8/11/15.

1971

Terry Berkowitz (Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Veil of Memory, Prologue: The Last Supper,” Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL, 9/11/15-1/10/16.

1975

Rick Krieger (Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “What Have You Been Doing For 40 Years?,” Hudson Guild, NYC, 9/17-11/14/15. Bill Murphy (BFA Illustration) was commissioned by the developers of The New York Wheel to document the project’s construction through illustration, 11/13/15.

1976

Theresa DeSalvio (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Looking Inward/ Looking Out,” Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ, 10/411/20/15. Jorge Rodriguez (BFA Fine Arts). Installation, The Oracle of The Past, Present and Future, Tompkins Square Park, NYC, 6/6/15-5/1/16.

Joni Sternbach (BFA Photography) was featured in “Capturing the Stillness of Surfers in Portraits,” The New York Times, 7/20/15.

1978

Patrick McDonnell (BFA Media Arts) illustrated The Skunk (Roaring Book Press), named one of the best illustrated children’s books of 2015 by The New York Times, 10/28/2015.

1980

Kevin O’Callaghan (BFA Graphic Design). Solo exhibition, “Monumental: The Reimagined World of Kevin O’Callaghan,” Farmingdale State College, Farmingdale, NY, 9/15-11/8/15.

1981

Ron Barbagallo (BFA Graphic Design) was interviewed for “Ron Barbagallo: Restoring Animation, Photography and Finding Los Angeles,” Only In L.A. podcast, 9/8/15. Martina Batan (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Human Ecology 101,” Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC, 6/207/24/15.

Barbara Kolo (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, “Art Southampton,” JanKossen Contemporary, NYC, 7/9-7/13/2015.

1982

James Meyer ( Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Paper,” Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY, 8/30-10/4/15. Mark Newgarden’s (BFA Cartooning) work was featured in “The Garbage Pail Kids Are Still Horrifying Parents 30 Years After Emerging from Trash Cans,” Vice, 9/15/15. Lorna Simpson (BFA Photography) was featured in “Fine Art Focus: Lorna Simpson,” DesignSponge, 9/14/15.

1984

John Dinkey (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Logarithmic Scale,” Catskill Art Society, Livingston Manor, NY, 10/2411/22/15. Joseph Quesada (BFA Media Arts) was featured in “Joe Quesada Talks Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Marvel Animation, and More,” Nerdist, 10/26/15.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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1985

Alexis Rockman (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “The Value of Food: Sustaining a Green Planet,” Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC, 10/6/15-4/3/16. Collier Schorr (BFA Communication Arts) photographed actress Elle Fanning for i-D, 9/23/15.

1986

Federico Castelluccio (BFA Illustration) was featured in “Princeton Shows a Rediscovered Guercino Painting,” The New York Times, 7/23/15. Peter Cunis (BFA Illustration). Group exhibition, “Conscious and Unconscious: Subjects of the Real & Surreal,” Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO, 6/4-8/30/15. Michael Paraskevas (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Michael Paraskevas’s Sketchbooks,” AI-AP, 11/23/15.

1987

Melanie Kozol (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Translations,” St. Joseph’s College Alumni Room Gallery, NYC, 10/26-12/1/15. Gary Petersen (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “I Am What I Am Not Yet, A Survey of Brooklyn’s Moment,” Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY, 6/258/21/2015.

1988

Jennifer Pastor (BFA Fine Arts) gave a lecture at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 11/12/15. Catya Plate (Fine Arts) won the Frackin’ Female Filmmaker Award for her film Hanging by a Thread (2013) at FrackFest Film Festival, Oklahoma City, 10/4/15.

1989

Samantha Yudin (BFA 2012 Photography), untitled, 2014, C-print. From her solo exhibition “Enlightened Objects,” Something in Mind, NYC, 10/13-11/30/2015.

Joseph Illidge (BFA Illustration) was featured in “Interview: Bryan Hill in Conversation with Former Batman Editor Joseph Illidge,” Comics Beat, 6/22/2015. Brian Palmer (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “All Our Sorrows Heal: Restoring Richmond’s East End Cemetery,” University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, 9/4/15-1/22/16.

1993

Miles Ladin (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “The Spectacle of Fashion,” Connecticut College, New London, CT, 11/5-12/11/15. Karen Ocker (BFA Graphic Design). Group exhibition, “Louisiana Contemporary,” Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, 8/1/-8/20/15.

Seth Michael Forman (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Man, Boulders and Trees,” Frosch & Portman, NYC, 9/910/18/15.

Patricia Spergel (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Holiday Exhibition,” Giampietro Gallery, New Haven, CT, 11/28/15-1/2/16.

1994

Scott Lukacs (MFA Computer Art). Solo exhibition, “Demons & Dreams: Recent paintings by Scott Lukacs,” Gallery 319, Woodland Hills, CA, 9/1-9/30/15.

1991

John Ferry (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Open15,” Front Art Space, NYC, 6/11-7/2/2015.

Albert Nickerson (BFA Cartooning). Solo exhibition, “An Act of Faith,” Monroe Free Library, Monroe, NY, 12/2-12/31/15. John Simon (MFA Computer Art). Solo exhibition, “The Ever Present Sun,” Edward Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY, 6/20-8/16/2015. Penelope Umbrico (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Forget Me Not,” Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA, 8/22-12/6/2015.

1990

Paul Evans (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Parlor Presents Sunday, Noon,” Chaffey Building, Los Angeles, 6/28-6/29/2015.

Lisa Deloria Weinblatt (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Schooled,” Caldwell Arts Gallery, Lenoir, NC, 6/5-6/17/15. Laurie Murphy (BFA Graphic Design). Solo exhibition, “Soul Baby,” Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ, 10/17-12/19/2015. Kip Omolade (BFA Illustration) was featured in “Diovadiova Chrome Portraits by Kip Omolade,” Juxtapoz.com, 11/4/15.

1992

Carol Fabricatore (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Sketching with Carol Fabricatore,” AI-AP.com, 9/3/15. Dinh Q. Lê (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Memory for Tomorrow,” Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 7/25-10/12/15.

Inka Essenhigh (MFA Fine Arts) wrote “Sincerity’s Checkered Past,” Art 21, 8/3/15.

1995

Tom Cocotos (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “The Q&A: Tom Cocotos,” AI-AP, 6/22/2015. Lori Earley (BFA Illustration) was featured in “Rising Artist Lori Earley Draws Upon Her Strength and Refuses to Be Knocked Down by Rare Disease,” Lioness, 7/9/2015. Jane Marsching (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Directions,” Brant Gallery at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, 9/17-10/7/15.

1996

Michael Combs (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “The Nature of Things,” Salomon Contemporary, NYC, 11/5-12/20/15.

Simen Johan (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Until the Kingdom Comes,” Olson Gallery at Bethel University, St. Paul, MN, 9/17-12/18/15. KAWS (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Along the Way,” Brooklyn Museum, NYC, 6/10-12/6/2015. Andrew Rash (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) published Archie the Daredevil Penguin (Viking Books for Young Readers, 2015). Stephen Savage (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) published Where’s Walrus? And Penguin? (Scholastic Press, 2015). Riccardo Vecchio (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Designing Arthur Miller: Simple Gestures, Big Ideas,” The New York Times, 11/10/15.

1997

Aaron Augenblick (BFA Animation) was featured in “Meet 5 of Brooklyn’s Best Animators,” Brooklyn Magazine, 7/14/15. Raul Manzano (BFA Illustration) curated “Diversity: Forging New Paths,” Livingston Gallery, NYC, 6/1-8/31/15. Sarah Sze (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Sarah Sze,” Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, NYC, 9/10-10/17/15. Ash Thayer (BFA Photography) was featured in “Intimate Punk Portraits of 90s Lower East Side Squatters,” Vice, 7/24/15.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

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Elektra KB (BFA 2012 Visual and Critical Studies), Humanity Washed Ashore, 2015, archival pigment prints, thread and felt on fabric. From her solo exhibition “The Accidental Pursuit of the Stateless,” BravinLee Programs, NYC, 9/10-10/17/2015.

1998

Kenneth Eng (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “A Father’s True American Dream, Realized,” The Boston Globe, 11/27/15. Brian Finke (BFA Photography) was featured in “Football, Cheerleading and Hometown Glory,” The New York Times, 9/28/15. Changhyeon Kim (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Concurrence: Recent Landscapes of Jeju Island,” Contemporary Art Gallery Atelier Aki, Seoul, 9/1-9/30/15. Daniel Traub (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Little Road North,” Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, 9/17-11/27/15. Jonathan Twingley (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Jonathan Twingley’s Sketchbooks,” AI-AP, 8/13/15.

1999

John Arsenault (BFA Photography) published Barmaid (Daylight Books, 2015). Elizabeth Goldwyn (BFA Photography) was a panelist for “Liz Goldwyn and Susan Orlean: L.A.’s Red Light Era,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 10/13/15.

2000

Martin Ahlgren (BFA Film and Video) was nominated for a 2015 American Society of Cinematographers award for his work on the pilot episode of the television series Blindspot. Esao Andrews (BFA Illustration). Group exhibition, “Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape,” Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA, 6/27-10/26/15. Katherine Bernhardt (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Pablo & Efrain,” Venus Over Manhattan, NYC, 9/9-10/24/15.

Kevin Cooley (MFA Photography and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Fallen Water,” Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, 6/6-8/22/15. Todd Kelly (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Jolly Liar,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 10/29-12/19/15. Lauren Redniss (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) published Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future (Random House, 2015). Eric Rhein (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Ordained,” Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NYC, 9/10-10/17/15.

2001

Jose Casado (MFA Computer Art). Group exhibition, “Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition,” Socrates Sculpture Park, NYC, 9/27/15-3/13/16.

Crystal Moselle (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “For Seven Siblings Trapped in an NYC Apartment, Movies Were a Window to the World,” WNYC, 6/11/2015. Kate Neckel (MFA Computer Art) published Start Now! The Creativity Journal (Chronicle Books, 2015). Robin Raven (BFA Film and Video) published Next Stop: Nina (Batham Press, 2015). Chad Roberts (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in “What’s on the Menu? Chad Roberts Gives Us a Taste of What He’s Learned About Food and Design,” DesignEdge Canada, 7/8/15. Diana Shpungin (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Nothings,” Guttenberg Arts, Guttenberg, NJ, 11/6-12/2/15.

Danwen Xing (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Here Out There,” Helsinki Art Festival, Helsinki, Finland, 8/14-8/30/15.

2003

2002

2004

Michael Alan (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “The Rise of the Artistic Tradition,” Tanja Grunert, NYC, 7/22-8/12/2015. Christi Bertelsen’s (BFA Animation) short film Late (2015) won Best Narrative Short at the Animation Block Party, NYC, 8/2/15. Marlena Buczek Smith (BFA Graphic Design). Solo exhibition, “The Global Citizen: Graphic Art of Marlena Buczek Smith,” Norton Putter Gallery, Syracuse, NY, 9/12-10/24/15. Joe Fig (MFA Fine Arts) published Inside the Artist’s Studio (Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).

Lauren Matsumoto (MFA Design). Solo exhibition, “Fragments,” Fabrik Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, 7/16-8/31/15. Rosson Crow (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Masks and Memory: Staging Rosson Crow’s Psychosis,” Blouinartinfo.com, 11/8/15. Kira Greene (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Nebraska Suite,” Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, NE, 6/5-6/27/2015. Vashtie Kola (BFA Film and Video) was featured in an episode of the Showtime documentary series 3AM, 6/4/15. Nora Krug (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Illustrating Is a Way of Thinking,” AI-AP, 6/11/2015. Morley (BFA Film and Video). Solo exhibition, “Sky Writing,” Stone Malone Gallery, Los Angeles, 10/17-10/31/15.

Reuben Negron (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “Dirty Dirty Love: Reuben Negron,” Juxtapoz, 9/24/15. Minos Papas’ (BFA Film and Video) film Behind the Mirror (2015) screened at the Manhattan Film Festival, 6/19/15. Anne Peabody (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath – Force of Nature,” Wave Hill, NYC, 6/79/7/2015. Santiago Siguenza (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Water Colors, Celebrity and San Siguenza,” Huffington Post, 8/30/15.

2005

Anna Bauer (BFA Photography) was featured in “Anna Bauer’s Hidden Talent,” W, 8/7/15. Heather Boose-Weiss (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Caught on Film,” Susan Eley Fine Art, NYC, 6/10-9/2015. Zackary Drucker (BFA Photography) was featured in “Zackary Drucker and Hari Nef on Getting Beyond the Gender Binary,” Good, 9/30/15. Max Greis (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Painting in Motion,” Lux Art Institute, San Diego, 9/12-10/31/15.

2006

Christine Sun Kim (MFA Fine Arts) was selected as a 2015 MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, 7/9/15. Mike Rizzo (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “Don’t Text & Walk! Here’s an Intentionally Terrible PSA from a Brooklyn Comedy Duo,” Village Voice, 6/5/2015. William Wedig (BFA Film and Video) directed the animated television series Team Toon (2013), which began streaming on Netflix 6/15/15.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Shen Wei (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was featured in “The Power of the Self: Shen Wei’s Photographic Exploration and Evolution,” Feature Shoot, 9/21/15.

2007

Anita Cruz-Eberhard (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Data Rush,” Noorderlicht Photofestival 2015, Groningen, Netherlands, 8/23-10/11/15. Amy Elkins (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Inside/Outside: Prison Narratives,” Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, 9/8-11/21/15.

Dana James (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “We Are What the Seas Have Made Us,” Proto Gallery, Hoboken, NJ, 7/11-8/23/15.

Amber Boardman (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Expansion,” Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane, Australia, 8/25-9/27/15.

Damian Wampler (MPS Digital Photography) published the first three issues of his comic series Sevara (Broken Icon).

Matthew Lifson (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “The Snakes That Remain,” ACME, Los Angeles, 6/6-7/11/2015.

Andrew Castrucci (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Seeing in the Dark,” Christian Berst Art Brut, NYC, 6/7-7/19/2015.

Matthew Craven (MFA Fine Arts) curated “Character Traits,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 7/9-8/14/15.

Justin McConney (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “Meet the Man Who Makes Donald Trump Go Viral,” Politico, 10/1/15.

Robert Herman (MPS Digital Photography) published The Phone Book (Schiffer Publishing, 2015).

Anthony Iacono (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Crudités at Sunset,” P·P·O·W, NYC, 7/9-8/7/2015.

Gregg Louis (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Likeness,” Nohra Haime Gallery, NYC, 11/17-12/31/15.

Naoko Ito (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Barely There,” Lesley Heller Workspace, NYC, 10/28-12/6/15.

Hye-Ryoung Min (MPS Digital Photography). Group exhibition, “Two Moons,” GoEun Museum of Photography, Busan, South Korea, 8/29-11/25/15.

Inhae Kim (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “See Through,” Fairleigh Dickinson University College Art Gallery, Teaneck, NJ, 10/5-10/23/15.

Habby Osk (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Sculpture/Sculpture,” Gerðarsafn Art Museum, Kópavogur, Iceland, 10/17/15-1/3/16.

Dina Litovsky’s (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) work was featured in “Times Square in the de Blasio Era,” New York, 10/4/15.

Jake Roper (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “Vsauce’s Jake Roper on Jack Black, Success, and Tacos,” The Daily Dot, 10/14/15.

Raissa Venables (MPS Digital Photography) was featured in “States Project: Vermont,” LensScratch.com, 9/18/15.

Jenny Morgan (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Jenny Morgan: Catch Me If You Can,” White Hot, 6/1/2015.

Timothy Goodman (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in “Timothy Goodman: Artist as Storyteller,” Reader’s Digest, 9/16/15.

Joshua Sevits (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Small Works,” Trestle Gallery, NYC 7/10-7/31/15.

Ryan Pfluger (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) photographed all 100 honorees on Out Magazine’s annual Out 100 List, 11/9/15.

Sarah Sole’s (MFA Fine Arts) paintings of Hillary Clinton were featured in “An Artist Painted Hillary Clinton Nude, and She Didn’t Stop There,” Huffington Post, 11/10/15.

2008

Kristy Chatelain’s (MPS Digital Photography) project “Brooklyn Changing” was featured in “Stunning Photographs Show Brooklyn Before and After Hipsters Took Over,” Architectural Digest, 10/9/2015. Jade Doskow (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was featured in “Photographer Travels the Globe Documenting What Remains of World’s Fair Sites,” Feature Shoot, 8/3/15.

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Martin Wittfooth (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Offering,” Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NYC, 10/1711/14/15.

2009

Maria Berrio’s (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) work was featured in “The Magical Sisterhood of Maria Berrio: The Harmony of the Spheres,” Artefuse.com, 10/29/15.

Rebecca Sugar (BFA Animation) was featured in “Steven Universe Creator Rebecca Sugar on Growing Up, Gender Politics and Her Brother,” Entertainment Weekly, 6/15/2015.

2010

Devin Yalkin (BFA Photography) was featured in “From Veteran Marines to Male Models, Photographer Captures Illegal Fight Nights in NYC,” Feature Shoot, 7/7/15.

Rich Tu (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was a featured speaker at the 2015 Adobe MAX Festival, Los Angeles, 10/5-10/7/15.

Federico Infante (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated a collector’s edition of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, published by the Folio Society, 10/13/15. Mathias Kessler (MFA Art Practice) published Nowhere To Be Found (Hatje Cantz, 2015). Natalie Labarre’s (BFA Animation) thesis film Papa (2012) screened at The Museum of Modern Art as part of the museum’s Family Films program, NYC, 11/14/15. Olivia Locher (BFA Photography) was featured in “‘How To’: Hilarious Photo Series Mocks Instruction Manuals,” Feature Shoot, 6/8/2015. Angela Miskis (BFA Visual and Critical Studies). Solo exhibition, “Regarding Strangers and Other Urgencies,” Inter Space Lab Gallery, NYC, 9/24-9/27/15. Antonio Pulgarin (BFA Photography) was featured in “Celebrating the Diversity of Dominican Identity,” Slate, 11/22/15. Hu Renyi (MFA Art Practice). Group exhibition, “Migration,” Leo Gallery, Hong Kong, 6/10/15. Denise Treizman (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Archimedes’ Bathtub,” Lorimoto Gallery, NYC, 8/8-8/23/15. Matin Zad (MPS Fashion Photography) was featured in “A Tongue-in-Cheek Series of Photos (Loosely) Inspired by Fashion,” The New York Times, 10/8/15.

2014

Julia Harding (MFA Art Practice). Group exhibition, “personal:interpersonal:connected,” Sardine, NYC, 7/11-8/2/15. Philip Sugden (BFA 1977 Fine Arts), Pages from the Manual on Dismantling God (installation view), 2013 – 2015, sepia ink and gouache on handmade Himalayan Daphne paper, black thread, PVC pipe, cable. Sugden’s work was shown as part of ArtPrize 2015, Grand Rapids, MI, 9/23-10/11/15.

An Rong Xu (BFA Photography) was featured in “Photos Capture Complexity of Chinese-American Identity,” NBCNews.com, 6/1/2015.

Juan Paulo Laserna’s (BFA Film and Video) feature-length film La Malas Lenguas (2015) screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Los Angeles, 6/13/2015.

2013

Yoonjin Lee (BFA Design) was featured in “The Stories of New York’s Deli Owners, One Book at a Time,” PSFK.com, 7/14/15.

2011

2012

Maxine Gurevich (MPS Branding) was featured in “By Satisfying Paradoxical Truths, Brands Can Be Immortal,” PSFK.com, 11/30/15.

Jeremy Haik (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Summer Open,” Aperture Gallery, NYC, 7/16-8/13/15.

Cindy Hinant (MFA Fine Arts) was a panelist for “Gendered Expectations: The Representation of ‘Girls’ in Contemporary Art,” NEWD Art Show, NYC, 6/7/2015.

M. Benjamin Herndon (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Making Meaning,” Drift Gallery, Portsmouth, NH, 8/19/13/15.

Jaclyn Berkopec (BFA Photography) was featured in “Fine Art Double-Exposure Photography: Human Nature,” Huffington Post, 7/29/15.

Bao Nguyen’s (MFA Social Documentary) documentary Live From New York! (2015) aired on NBC, 10/3/15.

Pacifico Silano (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was featured in “Pacifico Silano: Exploring Homosexual History,” Art Report, 6/10/2015.

Shubhashish Bhutiani’s (BFA Film and Video) film Kush (2013) was a finalist in the FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards for Film, 8/7/2015.

Dasha Tolstikova (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) published A Year Without Mom (Groundwood Books, 2015).

Meng Chih Chiang (MFA Computer Art). Solo exhibition, “A Stranger to Words,” Taipei Cultural Center, NYC, 10/27/15.

Rebecca Ward (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Artists at Work: Rebecca Ward,” Interview, 8/28/15.

Anna Paula Costa e Silva (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Eter,” Phosphorus, São Paolo, 10/24-11/7/15.

Daniel Fishel (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “#StoriesThatSurroundYou: Artist Daniel Fishel,” Audible’s YouTube channel, 8/8/15.

Julie Schenkelberg (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Embodied Energies,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 9/10-10/25/15. Catt Small (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in “Game Changer: Game Maker & UX Designer Catt Small Talks Multifaceted Skill-sets, Interactive Technology and Diverse Industries,” The Mary Sue, 6/3/2015.

Bon Duke’s (MPS Fashion Photography) photographs were featured in “Joan Smalls, Making Waves,” The Glamourai, 10/6/15.

Gena Larson (MPS Branding) was featured in “In Age of Micro-Moments, How Strategists Must Constantly Exercise the Muscle of Strategy,” PSFK.com, 11/11/15.

Anna Beeke’s (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) book Sylvania (Daylight, 2015) launched at Photoville, NYC, 9/17/15.

NaiWei Liu’s (MFA Computer Art) animated film Something Important (2014) was an official selection at the Taipei Film Festival, Taipei, 6/26-7/18/15. Andrea McGinty (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Life’s a Beach!!!,” Hotel-art. us, NYC, 9/22/15. Dino Qiu’s (MFA Computer Art) animated film Kia Rex (2014) was an official selection of the Festimation: Animation + New Media Arts Festival, Missoula, MT, 10/9-10/30/15. Daniel Zender (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Splash That,” Nolita Beach, NYC, 7/9/15.

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

Reasons to contribute Help the next generation of creative professionals Your gift allows students to produce high-quality final projects that will give them the competitive edge they need to enter today’s tough job market.

Your gift is tax-deductible The SVA Alumni Society is a not-for-profit corporation that is independent of the College. All gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Your gift counts 100% of your donation goes directly to students; SVA covers all overhead expenses for the SVA Alumni Society.

Ways to contribute Telephone: 212.592.2300

Please make checks payable to SVA Alumni Society.

Online: alumni.sva.edu/give

Questions? 212.592.2300 or alumnisociety@sva.edu

2015

Diego Acosta’s (MPS Digital Photography) work was featured in “New York City from the Perspective of a Toddler in a Stroller,” PetaPixel, 9/8/15. Meaghan Cleary (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “Interview: Meaghan Jane Cleary,” Writers Guild of America East, 7/2/15. Craig Coss (MFA Visual Narrative) published The Goddess Coloring Book (Tatterhood Press, 2015). Nadia DeLane’s (MFA Visual Narrative) thesis film, Spilt Milk (2015), screened at the Twisted Oyster Experimental Film Festival, Chicago, 11/20/15. Logan Jackson (BFA Photography) was featured in “This New Agender Fashion Site Wants You To Just Do You,” Refinery29, 8/18/15. Tahir Karmali (MPS Digital Photography) was featured in “The 15 Young African Creatives Rebranding Africa,” Forbes, 8/28/15. William King’s (MPS Digital Photography) photo series “A Man and His Barge” was featured on Lens Culture, 8/6/15. June Korea (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was featured in “Curiously Touching Photographs of a Man and His Latex Girlfriend,” Flavorwire, 7/9/15.

SPR ING 20 16

Mail: SVA Alumni Society 209 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010

Ima Mfon’s (MPS Digital Photography) work was featured in “Being Nigerian in America,” CNN, 8/12/15. Kristoffer Mikkelsen’s (MFA Computer Art) project “Collide” was a demo participant at NYC Media Lab’s Annual Summit, 9/25/15. Yusef Najafi’s (BFA Design) work was the feature of “This Artist Re-Imagined Super Mario As Famous Cultural Icons,” BuzzFeed, 9/11/15. Michelle Poler (MPS Branding) was featured in “100 Days Without Fear: One Woman Overcomes . . . Everything,” CNN, 6/24/15. Ken Siu’s (BFA Animation) film Clown With the Ingrown Frown (2015) was nominated for the World Animation Celebration Awards in the Student Traditional Animation category, Culver City, CA, 10/24/15. Tiffany Smith (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was featured in “For Tropical Girls Who Have Considered Ethnogenesis When the Native Sun Is Remote,” PDN Online, 9/25/15. Pan Terzis (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Earth Eaters,” Endless Editions, NYC, 11/19-12/15/15.

For a complete list of funds go to alumnisociety.sva.edu/funds. If no fund is designated, the gift will benefit the Alumni Scholarship Award Fund.

IN MEMORIAM

Brent Bailer (1966 Fine Arts) died on May 28, 2015. Bailer was an artist and illustrator who began drawing at the age of 9. After graduating from SVA, he worked for several years as a courtroom sketch artist for NBC. He went on to work as a freelance artist for advertising giants J. Walter Thompson, BBDO and Young & Rubicam. He also painted and exhibited his fine art in fairs and galleries around New York City. Bailer is survived by his wife, three children and 12 grandchildren. Seth Kushner (BFA 1995 Photography) died on May 17, 2015, of leukemia. Kushner was a photographer, writer and comics creator based in Brooklyn. Best known for his photos of comics artists, his work appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine and Time. Kushner’s first book, The Brooklynites (powerHouse, 2007), celebrated notable Brooklyn residents through his photographic portraits and through interviews by writer and editor Anthony LaSala. Kushner was passionate about comics and co-founded Graphic NYC, a website that was expanded into the book Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comic Books (powerHouse, 2012). He died before the publication of Schmuck (Alternative Comics, 2015), his semi-autobiographical graphic novel. He is survived by his wife, Terra, and their son, Jackson. Brookie Maxwell (BFA 1977 Illustration) died on November 4, 2015, of ovarian

cancer. Maxwell was an artist, activist and curator who focused on helping war veterans, victims of trauma and disaster, and underprivileged and homeless children. A 1977 graduate of SVA, Maxwell also studied at Columbia University’s Institute of African Studies and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She was the founder of the Creative Arts Workshops and Gallery 138 in Chelsea, which provide artists with resources and space for experimentation and collaboration. She is survived by her son, Ellis Dolin Maxwell, and sister, Katharine Aulia Maxwell. Herbert Trimpe (1960 Cartooning) died on April 13, 2015. After studying cartooning at SVA for three years, Trimpe served in the United States Air Force. In 1966, he joined Marvel Comics, where from 1968 to 1975 he was the exclusive illustrator of The Incredible Hulk. During that time he was the first artist to draw the character of Wolverine. He is also known for his work on Captain America, The Fantastic Four, G.I. Joe, Godzilla, Spider-Man, Thor and The Transformers. Trimpe earned a BA from Empire State College in 1997 and a master’s from SUNY New Paltz in 1999. An ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, Trimpe was awarded the 2002 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award for his work as volunteer chaplain at the World Trade Center site in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and four children.

FROM THE SVA ARCHIVES

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT An undated photo

of an SVA student in his room; a 1981 issue of Canvas, SVA’s student newspaper, announcing College housing; a 1993 brochure for the Gramercy Women’s Residence, SVA’s first residence hall.

Thirty-five

years ago, in 1981, SVA secured its first student housing: space for 85 students at the Sloane House YMCA, on West 34th Street in Manhattan, a building that hosted students from several area colleges as well as long-term residents. It was a modest start, maybe, but things quickly grew from there. Within a few years, SVA was offering housing at additional locations in Manhattan and New Jersey. In 1993, the College opened the first residence hall of its own, the Gramercy Women’s Residence, located opposite Gramercy Park, and it soon secured the deeds or leases for three other buildings—including the George Washington Residence on Lexington Avenue and the New Residence on East 23rd Street. In 2007, the Ludlow Residence, the first such facility constructed specifically for SVA, opened, expanding the campus to the Lower East Side. This August, the College will open its latest residence hall—a 150,000-square-foot, 14-story building that will be known as the 24th Street Residence—to more than 500 incoming and returning students. Built from the ground up to meet SVA’s

needs and standards, the 24th Street Residence was designed by Ismael Leyva Architects in consultation with Spacesmith, the architecture, planning and interior design firm founded and led by Jane Smith, chair of BFA Interior Design. Its features will include a landscaped roof garden, dedicated indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces and conference rooms for on-site classes and workshops. The building will also house the administrative offices currently located in the George Washington Residence, after SVA’s lease on that address ends later this spring. To celebrate the new facility and three and a half decades of SVA student housing, Visual Arts Journal asked the SVA Archives to collect some brochures and photos of residential life at the College throughout the years, a selection of which is presented here. [Greg Herbowy] serve as the repository for the historical records of the College. To learn more, visit svaarchives.org. THE SVA ARCHIVES

V I SUA L A R T S JOUR N A L

External Relations Â· School of Visual Arts 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010-3994 sva.edu

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