Anelle Miller, Director of the Society of Illustrators, got her degree in Fashion Illustration at Parsons. The Society of Illustrators has long had a close relationship with the Parsons Illustration program, with increasing inclusion of our students’ work in the prestigious, annual Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Exhibition. The society has not only been a pillar of support for the Parsons Illustration program; it’s also been a constant source of inspiration for students, as classes are often brought over to contemplate works within the hallowed halls of the society–founded in 1901.

A recent article in the New York Times, which highlights how Miller has revitalized the society by programming events to lure a younger, “edgier, more relevant audience,” as she puts it, mentions one such class visit. Read all about it here (and be sure to check out the amazing events happening at the Society of Illustrators, including sketch nights, film screenings, lectures and workshops!)

Photo of Anelle Miller, the director of the Society of Illustrators, by Agaton Strom for The New York Times.

In another New York Times‘ article, published yesterday, former Illustration Program Chair, Barbara Nessim, is finally being celebrated in a V&A retrospective for her pioneering, gender-role-questioning illustrative works.

From the article:

During feminism’s rise in the early ’70s her focus on women and gender roles drew the interest of publications covering women’s issues, like Ms. (Gloria Steinem was once her roommate), New York and Time…Ms. Nessim’s sketchbooks of the time show her attempts to raise that consciousness: in them women are blinded by their sunglasses, straitjacketed by their clothes, or are forced to view the world through men’s eyes. “She helped me to realize subliminally,” Ms. Steinem said, “that in a male-centered world it was all right to include women equally, or more so.”

Speaking of using art and design to raise consciousness about gender roles, do you know about Genderplay, a conference hosted by Parsons this Thursday and Friday, which brings an international mix of artists, designers, researchers, and scholars in the field together to explore the issue of gender and its impact and influence on the production of art and design? Well then…read more here, and go!