“The Masters Series: Paula Scher”

Designer Paula Scher to receive Masters Series Award from the School of Visual Arts

Retrospective exhibition in conjunction with Award scheduled, October 28 – November 20, 2002

Slide lecture and book signing, October 29, 2002, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Designer Paula Scher is the 16th recipient of the coveted Masters Series Award given by the School of Visual Arts. As part of the award, a retrospective exhibition of Scher’s work, “The Masters Series: Paul Scher, Make It Bigger,” will be held at the Visual Arts Museum.

“Scher is among the best designers of her generation. She cut a path for herself through the billboard-jungle of Pop, creating an approach to design that is articulate yet unpretentious, open to influence yet decisively individualistic.” —Ellen Lupton, design curator, Cooper Hewitt Museum

Scher, who was born in Washington, DC, received a BFA degree from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and began her career as an art director at both Atlantic and CBS Records. In 1984, she co-founded Koppel & Scher, a design firm that existed for eight years. Scher joined Pentagram in 1991 as a principal, a position she holds today.

At Pentagram, she has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publication designs for a wide range of clients including The New York Times Magazine, Anne Klein, The Asia Society, Citi, the American Museum of Natural History, Symphony Space, and Herman Miller. In 1996, Scher’s highly influential identity for the Public Theater won the conveted Beacon Award for integrated corporate design strategy.

In addition to the Beacon Award, Scher has received numerous design accolades including four Grammy nominations from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. She was named to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2000 received the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design. In 2001, Scher received the AIGA Medal and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts Honoris Causa from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. She is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.

Scher has taught at SVA for 20 years, and currently a course on identity in the MFA Design Department. In 1992, she published a book of her students’ work, The Graphic Design Portfolio: How to Make a Good One.

Exhibition

The Masters Series: Paula Scher