10. The School of Visual Arts honors Milton Glaser, creator of the “I Love NY” logo
The School of Visual Arts, centered around East 23rd Street, is a private arts school with nearly 4,000 undergraduates. Started in 1947 as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, SVA first catered to World War II veterans and first began offering degrees in 1972. SVA offers majors in everything from computer art and animation to interior design to advertising. Alumni have included actor Jared Leto, director Carlos Saldanha, co-founder of My Chemical Romance Gerard Way, and artist Keith Haring, who was expelled when he used the interior of an SVA building for a graffiti project. Faculty have included comics creator Will Eisner, graffiti artist KAWS, and artist Sol LeWitt.
One famous professor who has quite a few places around campus dedicated to him is Milton Glaser, designer of the acclaimed “I Love NY” logo. Glaser, the first graphic designer to ever receive the National Medal of the Arts, introduced the logo in 1977 to promote tourism to the state. He drew up his idea for the design on scrap paper in the back of a taxi. Glaser designed the interior and exterior of the SVA Theatre in 2009. The SVA’s Design Study Center and Archives bear his name and house many of his illustrations.
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