SVA Style - Fall 2024

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SVA’s Visual Arts Press handed out disposable cameras to undergraduate students to capture on- and off-campus lifestyle. Featured student photographers are, above, Lourdes (Lsie) Velasco (BFA Interior Design: Built Environments) and, on the cover, Lsie with Lissette Martinez (BFA Interior Design: Built Environments).

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s s e r P s t r A l a u s i V to the n r e t n i 4 2 0 2 r e m m su n o i t a c i d e d r i e h t team for ! e l y t S f o e u s s i s i to th

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hout out to SVA H ead of Archives B eth Kleber! The SV Archives provide A students with an invaluable resour research, and the ce fo r archival materials our student invest gators discovered iwas put to the mos t rigorous academ and historical uses ic in the “Textile Issu e. ” T the evolution of th he team analyzed e art school swea ter, compared cu disposable camer rrent a student photog raphy to the fash photos from days io nable of yore, and foun d inspiration for patterns in those their own of the past.

THE ARTIST ’S HISTORY OF DIY FASHION by sm ili a gaulk in

DID Georgia e O’Keeff

you know that famous painter Georgia O’Keeffe sewed her own clothing? A peek inside her closet reveals designs she created and wore that express the fashion equivalent of her artwork. Flowing shapes, drapery and androgynous silhouettes—all evoke the organic swoop of O’Keeffe’s brushstrokes.

Cultivating a fashion sense is not just for show––it can be a medium that reflects and is essential to an artist’s practice and persona, too.

Take a look at former SVA Galleries Director Shirley Glaser. Glaser graduated from Cooper Union in 1956 before marrying Milton Glaser, designer of the iconic I Heart NY logo. As Head of SVA Archives Beth

Louise Bourgeois’s Fabric Sculptures

M on ore Sh Gl irley as er

Kleber writes in Print and on the SVA Archives blog post “The Big Apple,” Shirley Glaser “operated at a stunning pace, producing a new exhibition every few weeks, calling up artists herself, and then ferrying the artworks to the SVA Gallery via subway or taxi." Some of her SVA exhibitions included “Working Drawings,” considered to be among the first to exhibit conceptual art; “Inside the Big Apple: Paintings of New York Interiors;” and “65 Self-Portraits,” a show that recorded higher attendance than any previous Visual Arts Gallery exhibition, no doubt thanks to Glaser’s bold and tenacious spirit.

Like O’Keeffe, Glaser is “a born do-it-yourself type,” as fashion writer Eugenia Sheppard described her in a 1966 New York Herald Tribune profile titled “Designing a Lifestyle.” Glaser crafted an iconic style that encapsulated her personality and her artistic practices: a turtleneck collar, sometimes on a sweater paired with jeans, but more often than not on dresses she herself chose the fabric for, designed, patterned,

cut and sewed. Paired with her black French bob and hand-painted shoes, every outfit was unique from head to toe, literally. This labor of love was the obvious choice for Glaser––asked why she handmade her dresses, she simply said, “It’s the shape I like.”

Throughout history, the process of hand-making clothes has been relegated to “women’s work,” deemed a practice not worthy of being called an art, or even a craft. Embroidery, sewing, knitting and textile work were, sadly, often seen as requiring less creative skill, and typically regarded for their utility instead of their artistic merit. A recent exhibition at the New-York Historical Society showcased 45 crafted objects formerly degraded as such, from lace shirts to pinback buttons. But, according to The New York Times arts and culture journalist Julia Halperin, the rising feminist movement in the late 1960s reclaimed needlework, and the term “fiber arts” now acknowledges the artistic validity of this industry. Creatives like Glaser used fashion as a means to create and

self-express––producing singular and definable personas, honoring and elevating the history of clothing, and breaking down the concept of fashion itself, laying its threads bare.

Handmade clothing articles are not the only way artists have incorporated fashion into their practices.

French American artist Louise Bourgeois was known for her evocative, figural and fabric sculptures, and for using her own garments in her artwork. Nick Cave is a sculptor, fashion designer and performance artist who created a series of “Soundsuits”: wearable sculptures of any material imaginable––sticks, sock monkeys, human hair––that are both stationary sculptures and movement-driven costumes. And textile artist Bisa Butler uses fabric as a tool rather than just her canvas, creating quilts that resemble portrait paintings to carry on traditions her mother and grandmother taught her.

The effort to overcome dismissive and sexist attitudes about fashion and reclaim "women's work"

Bisa Butler’s Paintings

NICK CAVE SOUND SUIT @ NORTON MUSEUM OF ART

continues. Designer and SVA faculty member Jessica Walsh favors simple shapes and bright colors in her brand and advertising work, reflecting a personality as bold as her fashion and design aesthetic. When she launched her creative agency &Walsh in 2019, she defied the odds, shrugging off the intimidating statistic, according to the 3% Movement, that only 11% of creative directors are non-male. With projects like her global nonprofit initiative “Ladies, Wine, & Design,” Walsh’s goal now is to keep fostering a community to quash the stigma around working women creatives.

A DIY attitude toward fashion begins with the freedom and confidence to explore our own relationship to clothes, without having it decided for us. And all artists––no matter if you create with fiber arts, textiles, or want nothing to do with making your own garments––can feel encouraged by the fact that, like the artists who came before us, we are always designing a lifestyle. ♦

Jessica Walsh’s Work

Style’s Guide to

The creative possibilities for wearable art are so extraordinary and varied. But it can seem overwhelming to beginners. So, to help all you DIYers, here are just some of the many spaces in or around SVA that can help you start on your path to handmade fashion or integrating textiles into your artistic practice:

e e to a wid m o h is b ers La and The Fib d sewing n e h ig for h range of t perfect n e m ip u ery eq tile art, embroid with tex n io t a t ts en o studen experim t le b a il ava ses or and it is ted cour la e r s r e b ime. taking fi pen lab t o g in r u d

The F ibe (@fib r Arts Clu e b rart begin ner-fr ssva) is a ien hosti ng ev dly space, e anyth nts about i n g croch from brace et to friend lets, ship all ma and it pro v terial s need ides ed.

The Printshop (@svaprintshop) offers g dedicated and enrichin e courses to take if you’r ble ata interested in repe textile designs.

For accessorizin g, try your hand at making jewelry at the SVA Metalsh op.

And if you’re no t into making clothes yourself, head over to the SVA Winter and Spri ng markets to grab some on e-of-a-kind items and suppor t your fellow students as you express your pers onal style.

No matter how or why you create, there’s a generous community of DIY fiber artists ready to support you, on and beyond campus!

Here are some free fabric patterns designed by

Riley Hastings

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East 23rd Street between Second and Third avenues is “SVA Way.” The east side of SVA’s campus can now stake a claim on the map of New York City. But East 23rd is far from being the only street in NYC with a rich history. Test your New York knowledge with this matching game to see if you can draw a line from the official street name to its honorary one. Then check your answers on the next page and read how each street got their name!

IN THE EARLY 1800S, Manhattan’s Fourth Avenue was the home of the New York and Harlem railroad, right at ground level. This forced traffic to go around the tracks. The train was not powerful enough to go up an incline, so an open trench was dug through Murray Hill. But this hill was eventually covered after public complaints about safety, and was better landscaped in the 1850s, giving us the name Park Avenue for the area between 34th and 40th Streets.

Park Avenue has only grown larger since (and become the official street name) and was even given its own house-numbering system separate from Fourth Avenue.

THOUGH TODAY SVA’S CAMPUS spans multiple streets and multiple avenues, SVA moved to 209 East 23rd Street—where it still has its official address—in 1960. To celebrate the College’s long history on East 23rd, the SVA Way honorary street sign was put up with an unveiling celebration.

IN ORDER TO HONOR Pan-American ideals and principles, the highly frequented Sixth Avenue had its name officially changed to the larger-than-life sounding Avenue of the Americas in 1945. The City Council and mayor at the time hoped the name change would encourage Central and South American countries to build consulates along the street and possibly promote more intercontinental trade. While these aspirations didn’t fully develop, one aspect of the name has persisted: the round signs attached to streetlights that pepper the avenue, honoring Central and South American countries with their national seals.

FROM 26TH TO 42ND STREETS, Fashion Avenue was originally meant to be a temporary name as part of a campaign to raise New York City to global fashion status. Known as part of the Garment District and a hub for the transportation of fabrics and clothes, Seventh Avenue turned out to be the prime location for fashion-lovers, suppliers, designers and shoppers alike! Famous fashion designers Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren both had studios on Fashion Avenue, and the Garment District, sometimes called the Fashion District, still boasts many esteemed fabric and fashion supply stores.

ON JUNE 28, 1969, police stormed the Stonewall Inn, a gay and lesbian bar on Christopher Street, and it was written into history as a groundbreaking moment for LGBTQ+ rights when protestors fought against police brutality. A year later, the first Pride Parade took place, which was then known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. Today, there are countless pride parades across the globe–and an official NYC Pride March, which begins on 25th Street and 5th Avenue. The stretch of Christopher Street where Stonewall stands was given the honorary name Stonewall Place to commemorate the brave people who stood up for equal rights.

Merching to the Beat of Your Own Drum

Whimsical designs, silly mascots and koalas ‘shaped like hotdogs’ are just some of the many designs that make up Izzy Delore’s unique and charming body of work.

BFA 2023 Animation

“I really like cute and silly things, and I want to own cute silly things with a handmade touch,” he says. He focuses on hand-printed apparel and Risograph prints, and all his wearable merch is screenprinted with waterbased ink. You can find him selling his work at Artist Alley events around the country.

To anyone interested in making merch, Izzy highly recommends taking as many print courses as can fit in your schedule. “I didn’t realize how nicely set up and easy it is to print in SVA’s facilities until I left,” he says. “I miss it a lot.” But Izzy’s chief advice is to always ask yourself: “Would someone buy this?” In his experience, it’s best to start small before fully jumping into the makers-market scene.

When not designing his next apron or printing in the studio, Izzy is a freelance animator, suffusing his love of handmade materials into mixed media and stop-motion animation techniques.

• oolongcreama.bigcartel.com • @oolongcreama

Can you find SVA’s flower logo hidden in these images from the SVA Archives?