What do you remember about starting your career as a faculty member under Richard?

Anthony Zufosky (BFA 2015 Design), graphic designer and writer; BFA Design faculty: “Going up to Richard as a very young faculty member, fresh out of school and asking him for advice on curriculum and the classroom, his response was simply, ‘Teach whatever you are interested in at this current moment and let it take shape into something else along the way.’ Still to this day, those words are something I keep at the core of the classroom.”

Singer: “I occasionally grabbed him for teaching advice or to kick around an idea and always left exhilarated. He saw teaching as a creative experience that, when done right, is [one] that inspires both instructor and student. He was a passionate educator who saw possibility in everything and everyone. His advice, peppered with stories that would invariably veer off-topic into design-related matters, would be expressed with a contagious, childlike joy. To this day, when I think my teaching practice might be stale, I ask myself, what would Richard do? And since leaving his position, I'm apt to take Visual Literacy off my bookshelf to find the answer.”

Leckie: “I was ‘discovered’ to teach in the BFA Design department not by Richard, but by [his wife] Judith. Soon after completing my Master's in Computer Art and newly teaching in the BFA Computer Art department, Judith was in a Continuing Education computer skills class I was leading. I remember the class being full of art directors and established artists who were very eager to learn and that it was a fun, animated group of attendees. I did not know who Judith was at the time, and when I look back, I am glad that I didn't—I would have been nervous as a fairly new teacher! On the last day of the course, Judith approached me and asked if I would ever want to teach in the BFA Design department.”

Anderson: “Richard's almost childlike curiosity and love of big ideas influenced generations of designers and educators—including me, without a doubt. And the best part is that Richard's a borough guy (Brooklyn), and I'm from the Bronx. Milton Glaser used to say that the best people came from the Bronx, but I'm sure he would have made an exception for Richard. We borough people stick together.”

Baker: “The design and advertising departments that Richard helped create at SVA are among the finest in the world. In 1992, Richard asked if I might be interested in teaching a course in the history of graphic design. It was a huge honor to me; I had never taught before and was nervous about it. Richard said to me, ‘Eric, just be you; that’s why you are here.’ Thirty-one years later, I am still here. Because of meeting Richard, teaching would become a major part of my life and bring me such true satisfaction and happiness. In all those years, I have had hundreds and hundreds of students, many of whom I remain in touch with after many years. As trite and goofy as it may sound, SVA is a family and Richard’s love and spirit are a huge part of that.”

As his exhibition ‘Wilde Mind’ continues at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, members of our community celebrate the educator and artist’s impact on the College.