Great Art, Great Artists, Great Cause, But Storm Causes Light Turnout To SVA Gallery Opening

Posted on September 18, 2010 by itees

Thursday evening I attended the opening for a very important exhibition. “Where Is My Vote?” focused on the green movement in Iran. The exhibition is at the SVA Galleries located at 601 West 26th street, 15th floor, in NYC. The more than 100 posters, gathers together so many of the best graphic and illustrative artists of our time.

The opening was at 6pm, exactly the same time as a terrible thunder, lightning, hail, 80-100 mile winds and unreal downpour. There were even reports of tornados in Queens and Brooklyn. But it was a very fast moving storm and was over within 30-45 minutes.

So, by the time 8pm rolled around and the closing of the show, why didn’t more people come? I was there with some friends and we were very surprised at the light turnout. Even the artists who live in NYC and were in the show weren’t there.

Great art by great artists for a great cause… Well, here are a few photos I shot and I hope you’ll go see the show. Definitely a must-see.

Earth Day 2010, Time To Reconnect With Nature

Posted on January 10, 2010 by itees

I have always tried to show, by design or blogging, that people need to reuse, recycle, plant, not tear down, and just plain care more about this place Earth, we all call home. I love the outdoors, gardens, beaches, forests, and have plants, nice green living things in every room, and every Spring into Summer, I have a small outdoor space which is full of flowers. In warmer weather, I ride my bicycle, so I can see and photograph the beautiful gardens around New York and New Jersey. When I travel, I see what I can of the landscape and enjoy it.

However, I’m really beginning to worry about the state of our planet (more than usual). This Winter has been quite frigid, and the snow in some parts of the world, has been at record proportions. The weather in general has been from one extreme to another, and if anyone still doesn’t believe we have global warming, just look around.

People generally live selfishly and don’t think “green,” so I think with Earth Day coming on April 22, and it being the 40th anniversary, it’s a great opportunity to spread the message, that every single person needs to reconnect and realize they are part of nature and do more to help save the planet.

Yesterday, I went to see Avatar, like millions of others, and I was blown away by the story, and the 3D effects. It was so visually stunning and 3d glasses enhanced the natural beauty and made you feel like you were really there. It made me feel so good and I wished everyone felt about our planet, the way the “Na’vi” people felt about Pandora.

I have been thinking about ways to help spread the message of Earth Day and will be designing posters and t-shirts for both i-Tees and the FROGS ARE GREEN sites. Look for more of them in the next week or two. I’m also looking for anyone who’d like to collaborate with me, by donating an illustration or photograph, for this purpose.

Let’s all do our part and show we care and want to save this planet. To learn more about Earth Day, visit this website: Earth Day Network.

Below is my first poster design idea collaborating with photographer, John Crittenden. This poster is 24″ w x 18″ h and we’re offering it at $12.00, along with FREE Shipping.

Poster design © 2010 Susan Newman Design Inc.
Photograph by John Crittenden.

Milton Glaser Exhibition at the SVA Gallery

Posted on September 25, 2009 by itees

Yesterday I visited the School of Visual Arts Gallery at 601 West 26th Street (15th Floor) in New York City. The exhibition of Milton Glaser’s exceptional work was closing on Saturday, and as an alumni and a great fan of his work, I had to see it.

Milton-Glaser-one

As the elevator doors open you are greeted by beautiful double glass doors and a huge SVA logo to the left side. Inside there was a wonderful variety of his poster designs and in two of the rooms, the occasional glass case, where we were able to view his sketches, getting a glimpse into other solutions he thought of before creating the final piece.

For those of you who think they do not know who Milton Glaser is, I’m sure you are familiar with his work.

From Wikipedia on Milton Glaser:

“…best known for the I Love New York logo,^[1] his “Bob Dylan” poster, the “DC bullet” logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the “Brooklyn Brewery” logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968….In 1954 Glaser was a founder, and president, of Push Pin Studios formed with several of his Cooper Union classmates….Glaser has taught at both the School of Visual Arts and at Cooper Union in New York City.”

Milton-Glaser-love-ny The posters ranged from statements about why an artist should enroll at SVA (my favorite copyline is, “To be good is not enough, when you dream of being great.”) to the tragedy of Darfur or revisiting the “I Love New York” campaign after 9/11 and creating, “I Love New York More Than Ever.”

Click here to see the full gallery I photographed at the show, including a few shots of the view of the Hudson River and New Jersey, from the balcony.