Hello Everyone!
Every year, the seniors of the Illustration Department take part in an exciting project called Chalk FIT. Students, based off of a selected theme, create a mural on an assigned school panel. The result? A huge display of different artistic voices from a variety of students.
This year, the theme chosen by the professors of the department was “Dreamers.” Daniel Shefelman, a professor at FIT’s illustration department is one of the leaders of the project. Professor Shefelman’s idea for the project was to show the public outside what goes on inside FIT; he wanted the illustration students to see and understand the impact of creating their work. Creating art is like creating magic, and not very often do students have the opportunity to see what people think of their work outside from their peers- until now.
The professors involved in the project helped students choose their preferred designs to add vibrant color and life to FIT’s exterior. They brought in Victor Saint-Hilaire and Angel Garcia, two alumni of the FIT Illustration Department who specialize in murals, to help students work on their design, as well as explain the process of painting a mural.
The material used to paint the murals is a chalk and water mixture that acts like paint. After a week of hard work and dedication, the murals were complete. All murals can be found from 28th-26th St. along 7th Ave. You can read more about Chalk FIT here:
http://chelseanow.com/2017/10/public-art-project-draws-on-the-talent-of-fit-students-past-and-present/
http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2017/10/16/fashion-students-in-chelsea-create-chalk-mural-hundreds-of-feet-wide
Professor Shefelman also participated in a TedXFIT talk, so be sure to keep on the lookout for that release as well!
Until next time,
Annmarie