Apr 29, 2011 – Graphic Design USA, a monthly news and information magazine for and about the professional design community, has honored the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) with American Inhouse Design Awards for excellence for two recent publications: “Inspiring Greatness: The Story of the Julius Rosenwald Fund” and the Andy Warhol Factory Party Invitation. Both pieces were designed by MAM Graphic Designer Oksana Ercolani, who has been on staff for almost two years. Funds to produce these pieces were made available by the Vance Wall Foundation.
“Inspiring Greatness” was created by MAM’s Marketing and Communications Department to succinctly tell the story of the significance of the exhibition A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which was on view at the Museum February 7–July 25, 2010. Artists whose works were included in the exhibition had all been recipients of the Rosenwald Fund’s Fellowship Program, designed to foster black leadership through the arts, literature, and scholarship; between 1928 and 1948, the program awarded stipends to hundreds of African American artists, writers, and scholars across many disciplines.
The invitation to the Andy Warhol Factory Party gala is in conjunction with the current exhibition Warhol and Cars: American Icons, which is on view through June 19. The Factory Party will be held on May 14, 2011. It culminates the Museum’s Art in Bloom celebration, a five-day festival of fine art, floral displays, and special events. The full-color invitation includes a complex application of multiple varnishes and has, as its cover image, a photograph, Air Lingus, by the photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg, the original of which will be featured at the Factory Party’s live auction. The invitation was printed by Meridian Printing, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, one of the premier printers in the U.S.
For nearly five decades, Graphic Design USA has sponsored design competitions that spotlight areas of excellence and opportunity for creative professionals. The American Inhouse Design Awards is the original and preeminent showcase for outstanding work by inhouse designers. For many years, it has provided an opportunity for inhouse designers to be recognized for their talent, for the special challenges they face, and for their contributions to their businesses and institutions. For the sixth straight year, more than 4,000 entries arrived from across the country; a highly selective 15% have been recognized with an Awards Certificate of Excellence.
