Dear Art and Design Students,

It is indeed “Hot Town. Summer in the City,” as the 60s song goes! But if you pace yourself you’ll be able to take advantage of much that New York City has to offer in the weeks before the start of fall classes.

The City’s cultural events and other resources feed the creativity of all of us. The sights and sounds of the City combined with your innate talent and energy will help your individual vision and make you better students and lifelong forces in our industry.

We have taken to Twitter with some excellent faculty recommendations of exhibits and happenings around New York. I want to mention a few that are current for the month of August, and to add a couple of my own suggestions:

Suggestions from our faculty:

Interior Design Professor Gordon Frey: “Sargent: Portraits of Artists & Friends” at the Met. “It is a great lesson for any form of visual presentation. The artist’s flick of a little bit of white paint creates a whole effect!” For more info: http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/exhibitions/2015/sargent

Accessories Chair Sarah Mullins: “FAILE: Savage Sacred Young Minds,” at the Brooklyn Museum. “They show arcades that play on development of the city,” she says.  For more info: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/faile/

Textile Design Professor  Susanne Goetz: “The Rise of Sneaker Culture,” also at the Brooklyn Museum “It’s so us as designers!” she says. For more info: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/rise_of_sneaker_culture/

Photography Professor Brad Farwell: The group show “Aperture Summer Open.” “It’s an excellent mix of current photographers all addressing contemporary society and the gap between what we imagine and what we actually manage to create,” says Prof. Farwell. For more info: http://www.aperture.org/exhibition/aperture-summer-open-exhibition/ (’til August 13)

Jewelry Design Chair, Wendy Yothers: “Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life” at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. We can’t ever seem to get enough of this intriguing artist! For more info: www.nybg.org/frida/

Illustration Design Professor Leslie Cober-Gentry: “Artists Illustrating Artists” at the Society of Illustrators. “It’s interesting to see what artists drew which artists, whether their friends, mentors, or just favorites,” she says.  For more info: http://www.societyillustrators.org/The-Museum/2015/Members-Open/Artists-Illustrating-Artists.aspx (’til August 15)

I have two recommendations to add to the list. The first is, “Everything is Design: The Work of Paul Rand,” at the Museum of the City of New York.  Paul Rand was such an influencer of the design world of the 1930s. It was Rand who brought European influences such as Cubism and avant garde to American design. For more info: http://www.mcny.org/exhibition/everything-design

I also suggest the “Yoko Ono: One Woman Show,” at MoMa. I think it portrays Ms. Ono as an icon on many levels, most importantly fashion and contemporary art! For more info: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1544

All of these indoor venues are likely to be air conditioned. For staying cool outdoors, you might consider the endless water path on the Highline!

For students, New York is indeed a hot town! We will continue to post things on Twitter so feel free to follow us @FIT_artdesign.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer!

I look forward to seeing you on campus!

Sincerely,

Dean Joanne Arbuckle