Courtesy of the Artist
class notes
Mark Wagner B.F.A., Illustration/Communications Design, ’83, has worked professionally as a freelance artist, as a concept artist for the film industry, graphic designer, illustrator, Web developer, and teacher since 1986. With his wife, a writer, he has been raising two young daughters. Becoming a parent inspired Wagner to record the experience in drawings, photographs, and text, resulting in his first book proposal, “The Art of Being a Dad: The First Seven Years.” During his time at Pratt, Wagner was offered a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to explore on a computer at New York University. “That computer cost a million bucks and had eight colors,” said Wagner. “In 1995 I went digital and have been on the computer making art everyday since then. I find art and the spirit easy and interesting to access with digital media.” Wagner is the founder and creative director of the “Kids’ Chalk Art Project,” an event to celebrate and invest in the creative spirit of children. The project’s goal is to create the world’s largest chalk drawing to achieve the Guinness World Record through the combined efforts of kids (K-12) and the extended San Francisco Bay Area community. (The Guinness World Record is currently held by a chalk drawing measuring 60,439.3 square feet, made by more than 700 volunteers for an event in Eeklo, Belgium, in 2006.) For a two-week period, young and older participants will be drawing together in shifts to cover a 120,000-square-foot swath of pavement at the decommissioned Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda, Calif. The project culminates on June 7 with a festival and a satellite photo of the finished creation. Wagner’s project will soon launch ReEnchanting the World Through Art, a nonprofit organization that supports and inspires children’s creativity and imagination. Barbara Lehman, B.F.A., Illustration, ’85, is the author and illustrator of wordless picture books. Her fourth book, Trainstop, is being published this spring by Houghton Mifflin. Her first work, The Red Book, was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 2005 and was a New York Times best seller. Tamar R. Stone, B.F.A., Photography, ’85, was a contributing artist to the recent group show, “Pricked: Extreme Embroidery,” at the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan. On exhibit was one of her doll bed/artist books. 62
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Megan Montague Cash, B.F.A., Graphic Design,’86, won the firstplace gold medal in the Society of Illustrators’ annual children’s book competition in 2007 for Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug (Harcourt Children’s Books, 2007). The book was co-created with Mark Newgarden. Cash and Newgarden recently released two follow-up tales: BowWow Orders Lunch and Bow-Wow Naps by Number.
Miriam Korolkovas, M.F.A., ’86, is a jewelry designer and sculptor living in Brazil. A photograph of a jewel and an accompanying article written by her were recently published in a book, titled Kristallós. Michael Santoro, B.I.D., ’87, is president of MacCase, a company that produces premium leather products, including shoulder carriers, sleeves, accessory bags, and iPod carriers. A new tote and briefcase will be available soon. Barbara Beirne, M.F.A., ’88, has worked as a documentary photographer for more than 25 years. Her photography exhibition, “Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration,” opened in September at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, Calif. The exhibition, developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, will tour the United States through 2011. Jane Greenwood, B.Arch., ’88, is co-founder of Kostow Greenwood Architects, NYC, which is designing SteelStax, a performing arts, cultural events, broadcast, and educational complex in Bethlehem, Pa. The project is scheduled to break ground in January 2009 on the former site of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Mario Robinson, B.F.A., Illustration, ’88, is renowned for his portraits of African Americans. In December 2007, he was cited in a FineArtConnoisseur article, titled “Artists Making Their Mark: Three to Watch.” Stefan Sagmeister, M.S., Communications Design, ’88, exhibited at Art Basel/Miami 2007. In February, Sagmeister had an interactive exhibition of his work, called “Stefan Sagmeister: Things I have Learned in My Life So Far,” and a presentation of his new book by the same name, at Deitch in New York City. Danièle M. Marin, M.F.A., ’89, was the solo artist in an exhibition of her paintings and installation, titled “Rescue (Object Lessons),” at Noho Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan. Robert G. Meyer, B.F.A., Printmaking, ’89, and Teri Muroff, B.F.A., Painting, ’90, were married on August 16, 2007, at the summit of the Cyclone, the historic Coney Island roller coaster in Brooklyn, N.Y.
1990s
Kenneth Cobonpue, B.I.D., ’91, recently received the “Most Inspiring Cebuano Entrepreneur” award conferred by the Philippine Center of Entrepreneurship at the Go Negosyo Entrepreneurship Conference held in the Cebu International Convention Center. See page 37. Joseph Caserto, B.F.A., Communications Design, ’92, received a 29th Annual National Design Award of Excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for the front cover of the October 15, 2006 issue of Baseline Magazine. Caserto art directed and designed the cover, as well as the editorial content of the entire issue. The competition is the largest among U.S. business publications. David R. Dike, B.Arch., ’92, has joined HOK Chicago’s International Studio as senior designer. His emphasis at HOK will be on work in growing regions, such as the Middle East. Kirsten M. Fischler, M.F.A., ’92, was the curator and a participating artist last fall in an exhibition titled “Recycled Creativity: The Tipping Point of Cultural Chaos.” The theme explored both the physicality of recycling through “found object art” and dumpster diving, as well as the recycling of images and themes. The show was held at The Arts Scene in West Chester, Pa. Eun-Ju (E. J.) Lee, M.S., Interior Design, ’92, was recently named principal at Gensler. She has been with the firm since 1999 and led the interior design of the New York Times headquarters. Currently Lee is leading the design for the interior architecture of the new Bank of America tower at One Bryant Park, which is on track for a LEED-Gold rating. Paul Ligniti, M.Arch., ’92, and his wife, Jeanette, are the proud parents of their first child, Stefano Antonio Ligniti, born August 21, 2007. Jinbae Park, M.S., Interior Design, ’92, is teaching in the Interior Design Department at F.I.T. in New York City. His various vocations include interior designer, educator, author, photographer, and chef. His seventh book, New York Idea, was published in Seoul, Korea, last May. Kenneth Schlesinger, M.S., Library and Information Science, ’92, has been named professor and chief librarian at Lehman College, CUNY, in the Bronx. Schlesinger is vice president of the Theater Library Association and a founder and board president of Independent Media Arts Preservation.