School Notes: School of Art
November/December 2019

School of Art celebrates 150th year

To commemorate the Yale School of Art’s 150th year, Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design Sheila Levrant de Bretteville ’64MFA and Senior Designer at the New Museum Laura Coombs ’17MFA were commissioned to create an anniversary mark that both celebrates and conveys the profound history of the school. The first university arts institution in the United States, the School of Art was also the first Yale school to admit women and has done so since its first day of classes on October 15, 1869.

The designers collected a range of 150 interchangeable marks constructed with typefaces made by students, alumni, and faculty of the School of Art. In a visual representation of the breadth and pace of the school’s contributions to both the development of graphic design and visual culture, these 150 marks race past one another, revealing a continuity of difference in an accelerated assembly of typographic inquiry. “By collecting 150 typefaces . . . and placing the words against a blended color background,” said the designers, “our intention is to create a visual statement of unending potential and accomplishment among past and future generations continually at work here at the Yale School of Art.”

In addition to serving as an insignia of celebration, the 150th mark is also the visual element anchoring a series of public talks and engagements planned throughout the academic year.

Hayden Fund brings visiting faculty to campus

This fall, the Yale School of Art welcomes two Hayden Distinguished Fellows and one Hayden Visiting Artist to campus. Curator and theorist Peter Osborne is returning for his third year as a Hayden Distinguished Fellow, and artist Andrea Fraser will be joining the school as a fellow for the first time. Also joining the Hayden initiative is artist Jessica Stockholder ’85MFA, who will be giving a public lecture this semester as a Hayden Visiting Artist.