Thursday, May 10, 2012, 1pm Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas.  Private event; Press seats available at 212.592.2010 or proffice@sva.edu.

New York, March 27, 2012 – School of Visual Arts announced today that acclaimed multimedia artist Laurie Anderson has accepted an invitation to speak at this year’s commencement exercises. The event takes place on Thursday, May 10, 2012, 1pm, at Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, New York City. The ceremony is a ticketed event and open to students and invited guests only; a live webcast will be streamed at www.sva.edu/commencement.

As a lifelong exemplar of artistic curiosity, Ms. Anderson is particularly well suited to address the 1,100 degree candidates in SVA’s 2012 graduation class,” said *SVA President David Rhodes*. Ms. Anderson was nominated by *MFA Art Practice Chair David Ross* and will also receive an honorary degree at the ceremony.

Laurie Anderson has been an arch observer of the American scene for more than four decades through her work as a visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, vocalist and instrumentalist. Widely recognized as a pioneer in the use of technology in the arts, Ms. Anderson has toured the United States and internationally with shows ranging from simple spoken word performances to elaborate multimedia events. In 2002, she was appointed the first artist-in-residence for NASA, an experience that culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance, /The End of the Moon/. In 2008, she completed a two-year worldwide tour of her performance piece /Homeland/, which was released to critical acclaim as an album on Nonesuch Records in 2010.
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On Tuesday, March 6, more than 100 students, faculty and administrators from New York’s degree-granting proprietary colleges reminded lawmakers that TAP is both a smart investment in the state’s future and a vehicle that allows New Yorkers to maintain access to higher education.

In highlighting their message, delegates representing New York’s Association of Proprietary Colleges (APC) thanked lawmakers for rejecting deep cuts to TAP in recent years, and acknowledged their support of the governor’s proposed 2012-13 budget, which maintains TAP at current levels.

However, APC delegates reminded lawmakers that in 2010, students enrolled in colleges that only offer two-year degrees had their TAP awards slashed by 20 percent. As a result the maximum award went from $5,000 to $4,000. The reduction impacted thousands of students, some of whom need TAP the most.

LIM College has partnered with DHL to provide some Visual Merchandising majors a unique, hands-on Fashion Week experience.

Students Emily Acle, Carinne Cusanelli, Samantha Scopo, and Vinessa Soluri — under the supervision of Department Chair Eric Feigenbaum, Associate Chair Marjorie Lee Woo, and with assistance from Professor Grailing King — styled four mannequins in fashions created exclusively from DHL’s shipping and packing materials. The mannequins were donated by Goldsmith. Dan Evans, Goldsmith’s President and Creative Director, is a member of LIM College’s Fashion Industry Advisory Board.

After an online competition, the top two mannequins, created by Vinessa Soluri and Carinne Cusanelli, were showcased at DHL’s space in the Event Lobby during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Damrosch Park. DHL served as the official logistics provider of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for the 11th straight season.

Vinessa and Carinne also won prizes of $250 each, provided by Bill Levine, President of WL Concepts, a leader in creating innovative visual displays, graphics and signage.

Visitors to the DHL booth were able to select DHL fashion accessories, also created by the students, and have their photograph taken with the DHL-branded mannequins on a simulated fashion runway. The photographs were taken by LIM College students under the direction of professor and award-winning fashion photographer Michael Creagh.

The MFA Interaction Design Department’s On the Verge lecture series, which pairs leading minds from across design disciplines, continues on Thursday, February 9 at 6pm. Dennis Crowley, co-founder of foursquare (a website that combines social networks, location awareness, and game mechanics to encourage people to explore the world around them via smartphone) and Mark Shepard, an architect whose work focuses on the implications of mobile communication and information technologies for architecture and urbanism, will convene to discuss how technology is increasingly shaping our physical surroundings.

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MFA Design Department Co-chair Steven Heller and other winners of the 2011 National Design Awards were honored by first lady Michelle Obama at the White House this week (watch video below). Heller was recognized for earning the Design Mind Award, which honors “a visionary who has effected a paradigm shift in design thinking or practice through writing, research and scholarship.”

According to Businessweek, Michelle Obama offered another nod to SVA during the ceremony, quoting the College’s Acting Chairman Milton Glaser. “Good design is good citizenship,” she said, emphasizing that good design improves life for everyone.

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Dario A. Cortes, PhD, President of Berkeley College, today testified in Washington, DC, at the Joint Hearing on “The Gainful Employment Regulation: Limiting Job Growth and Student Choice.”  The Joint Hearing comprised the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending, and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

“Berkeley College is proud of its standards, regional accreditation, and 80-year history of preparing students for career success,” said Dr. Cortes following the hearing.  “I urge those whom are in positions to do so, to lessen the regulatory burden being imposed on private sector institutions, so that our attention and resources may be placed where they duly deserve to be – on the preparation, teaching, and learning of our students.”

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A team of students from Monroe College took part in the annual Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) competition – an international organization that provides a forum for students to apply classroom knowledge in solving actual challenges in the community. Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro (first row, far right) sponsored a resolution honoring the students and the college, and Bronx Senator Gustavo Rivera welcomed the delegation to the Senate and co-hosted their visit.       

The team won the regional competition and finished 20th out of more than 300 teams nationally. Their project, “Their Need … Our Movement,” focused on improving the quality of life for underserved youth; supporting businesses with “green” initiatives; addressing the need for worldwide hunger relief; assisting entrepreneurs; providing eyeglasses to economically-disadvantaged people all over the world, and more.   

The SIFE team was led by Monroe College President Stephen J. Jerome, his wife, Alumni Director Leslie Jerome and Vice President of Student Affairs Roberta Greenberg.

The National Stationery Show® (NSS) and Kate’s Paperie have named LIM College students Alexis Michaelides and Margaret Carroll as winners in “The Paper Runway” competition, for “Feather Fantasy.” The paper fashion contest and exhibit was a feature of NSS 2011, offering some 11,000 attendees a unique demonstration of the paper-fashion relationship. The students will receive a $1,000 cash prize and window display at Kate’s Paperie during Fashion Week this fall.

Runners-up were “Orange Burst” by Alexis Michaelides and “Golden Warrior” by LIM College student Gina Mercatili. The students worked under the supervision of Marjorie Lee Woo, LIM College’s Associate Chair of Visual Merchandising. Also participating in the exhibit was Kate’s Paperie, with several paper fashions from cutting-edge designers, as well as NSS exhibitor DCWV, Inc.

LIM College Visual Merchandising students also designed and installed a 1,600 square-foot venue at the front of the exhibition hall at the NSS to highlight Best in Show product.

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Photo Caption: Participants in the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Berkeley College Brooklyn Campus at 255 Duffield Street in downtown Brooklyn are(left to right): Glen Zeitzer, PhD, Provost, Berkeley College; Beth Coyle, EdD, Senior VP Administration; Kevin L. Luing, Chairman of the Board, Berkeley College; Timothy D. Luing, Trustee, Berkeley College; Conrad I. Walker, Campus Operating Officer, Brooklyn Campus, Berkeley College; Dario A. Cortes, PhD, President, Berkeley College;Michael Burke, Executive Director, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership;Hon. Marty Markowitz, President, Borough of Brooklyn;Carl Hum, President, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce;Tyrone Woods, Community Liaison, Office of NYC Council Member Albert Vann; Cynthia Rubino, Vice President Government Relations, NY, Berkeley College;Allan Joseph, Special Assistant, Office of Congressman Edolphus Towns;and Oscar Jonas, Community Liaison, Office of NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery, 18th District.

More than 100 dignitaries, business and civic leaders from the Brooklyn community celebrated the grand opening of the Brooklyn Campus of Berkeley College located at 255 Duffield Street (off Fulton) in downtown Brooklyn on Friday, April 15.

Honored guest speaker, Marty Markowitz, President, Borough of Brooklyn, said, “If you’re a college whose specialty is business education, you couldn’t ask for a better place to be than Downtown Brooklyn. For business students, the world right outside Berkeley College’s doors is like a living classroom. Just look at all the activity in the hospitality industry on Duffield Street—with the Sheraton Brooklyn New York and, coming soon, the Aloft Hotel and the 718 Hotel. So no matter how you look at it, for a college like Berkeley, the place to be right here, right now, is Brooklyn. And I know that for Berkeley, the next 80 years will be even better than the first!”

Dario A. Cortes, PhD, President, Berkeley College, described the efforts that went into establishing the new campus and acknowledged all of those who helped to bring about this day of celebration in such a short amount of time. 

“Today we have more than 500 students taking classes at the Brooklyn Campus,” said Dr. Cortes. “Berkeley College will continue to support community and business associations and the next generation of Brooklyn citizens who can benefit from Berkeley’s outstanding record of educating and changing lives for 80 years.”

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Following the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, efforts to raise money and send aid have been coming from all corners of the globe. Two alumni of the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department are doing their part to help the survivors. Dice Tsutsumi (BFA 1998 Illustration), an art director at Pixar Animation Studios, has created Artists Help Japan (AHJ), an open call to artists who want to help raise funds to help Japan. “As a Japanese native working in the creative industry, I created this movement calling for artist communities to come together to help victims in Japan,” says Tsutsumi. “We have raised over $54,000 through cash donations and are planning to have 10 – 12 fundraising art events in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Toronto and more.” Artists and/or donors who want to help can visit artistshelpjapan.blogspot.com for updates on AHJ fundraising events and information on how to become a part of the organization’s activities.

Fellow alumnus Daisuke Takeya (BFA 1993 Illustration) is a Toronto-based artist and one of the organizers of ASHITA: Artists for Japan, which is hosting an event on Tuesday, March 29, 7pm, at Toronto’s The Great Hall. The event’s host is Japanese fashion model Nana Akimoto and features music by Ashley Ingram, “Super Hero” dancing by AKA Dance, poetry by Ewan Whyte and a silent auction of works by Toronto artists. For more information about the event or making donations to ASHITA, visit ashita11.tumblr.com.