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Night Camp
36 x 48 inches
Oil on canvas

A stunning illustration by Ringling College of Art and Design Illustration Department Head Scott Gordley has been selected to represent the Best of American Illustration by the Society of Illustrators for 2021. 

Scott is no stranger to receiving high honors from the prestigious society, and Ringling’s Illustration students have also won their fair share of awards under the direction of the Illustration faculty. 

Illustrators 64 is an annual exhibit featuring the most outstanding works of the year by leading contemporary illustrators worldwide. Thousands of works are voted on by a prestigious international jury of renowned illustrators, art directors, and designers, and the Annual provides a platform to the global community to express, through illustration, the events and movements of our times. 

Due to the pandemic, the last two exhibitions were held virtually. This year, however, The Museum of Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York City is planning to open their doors for an in-person exhibition, in addition to a virtual exhibition online. The exhibition catalogue will be published at the end of the year and also available to view on their website. 

Congratulations, Scott! 

About Scott Gordley: 

Scott Gordley graduated with an MFA from Tufts University. He is a former Department Chair of Art and Design and Director of the Animation/Illustration BFA program at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Mr. Gordley is currently Chair of the Department of Illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. He began his career in New York illustrating for clients including Time, Esquire, Reader’s Digest, Newsday, Playboy, the London Times, Viking Penguin and Hearst Publishing. His work appears in many public and private collections and has been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States and Europe. In 1999 he was honored with a 20-year retrospective in Vienna, Austria. Mr. Gordley has been recognized for his work by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Print Magazine, Communication Arts and curator Peter Schjeldahl, chief art critic for the New Yorker magazine. 

You can see more of Scott’s work here: http://www.scottgordleyart.com/ 

About the Society of Illustrators: 

The Society of Illustrators’ mission is to promote the art of illustration, to appreciate its history and evolving nature through exhibitions, lectures and education, and to contribute the service of its members to the welfare of the community at large.

Founded in 1901, the Society of Illustrators is the oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to the art of illustration in America. Notable Society members have been N.C. Wyeth, Rube Goldberg, and Norman Rockwell, among many others.

Our Museum of Illustration was established in 1981. We offer year-round themed exhibits, art education programs and annual juried competitions. Our Permanent Collection houses 2,500 pieces that are cataloged for scholarly use and displayed periodically. In 2012, we created the MoCCA Gallery with a focus on curated exhibits of comic and cartoon art.

About the Annual Exhibition: 

The premier showcase for illustrators and animators, the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition features over 400 pieces of the most outstanding works created throughout each year. Open to artists worldwide, thousands of entries are considered by a jury of professionals, which include renowned illustrators, art directors, and designers. To learn how to enter your work visit the Call for Entries page.

The original works are exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in two separate shows. The Sequential and Uncommissioned Exhibit features the year’s best multi-image projects and self-generated images made for self-promotion. The Editorial and Book Exhibit consists of art commissioned by newspapers, magazines and books. 

The Advertising and Institutional Exhibit features artwork created for advertisements and promotions. And the Surface/ Product Design category, which features work used on merchandise such as carpets, pillows, rugs, clothing etc., and can include repeat patterns seen on wrapping paper, wallpaper and other various textiles.

At Opening Award Galas for each part of the Annual Exhibition, medals and certificates are presented to the illustrators and art directors whose works are judged best in each category.

All accepted entries are lavishly reproduced in full color in the Illustrators Annual Book. The leading directory of American and international illustration, the Annual presents not only the year’s finest illustrations, it also includes commentary by the artists, who explain their creative processes in their own words. In addition, essays about and examples of recipients of the Society’s Hall of Fame give historical context to the contemporary work in the book.

Source: https://societyillustrators.org/