User:Grizma/Alice Sherman Simpson

Alice Sherman Simpson
Born	Alice Sherman 1941 (1941) New York City
Nationality	US-american
Known for	Book Art, Illustration, Sculpture, Writer of novels
Website	www.alicesimpson.com

Alice Sherman Simpson (born as Alice Sherman 1941 in New York City) is an american graphic designer, illustrator, book artist, sculptor and author. She lives in Southern California.

Life

Alice Sherman grew up in Flushing, Queens. Her mother, Helen Sherman (neé Hannah Schenkin, 1908–1990), worked as a secretary to the president of the William Morris Talent Agency, in New York City during the 1930s. In later years she was Secretary Treasurer of the mining engineering company Towne Mines Corporation. Her Father, Hal Sherman (1897–1985), was an internationally renowned vaudeville eccentric dancer and taught Alice how to dance tango (is this mentioned in any of the artists books? We need to know why this is important). Argentine Tango became a passion for her later in life and dance in general the inspiration not only for many of her artist books but also her first novel Ballroom (2014).

In 1947 she went to public school at PS 32 in Queens and graduated from Bayside High School in 1958. She then attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1959, where she studied Fine Art, and transferred in 1960, in her sophmore year, to the Fashion Institute of Technology at the State University of New York, where she graduated with an Associate degree in Graphic design and Fashion illustration in 1962. Later in her career, Alice Simpson returned to the State University of New York to attend classes in Interior design in 1993–1994.

Career

1962–1998: Packaging Design and Illustration

In 1962 Alice Simpson moved to Manhattan and started her career as a graphic and packaging designer and illustrator. She got married in 1963 and had a son in 1964. From the early 1970s on she worked as a freelance Art director for several beauty and fragrance companies including Helena Rubinstein, where she was responsible for a variety of design tasks, such as packaging design, displays, videos, Point of purchase, the design of Annual reports and national and trade advertising. She started her own company, Alice Simpson Design, in 1974. In the early 1980s Alice Simpson moved to Los Angeles, working for clients such as Redken Laboratories and Max Factor.

She came back to New York in the mid-1990s. In 1995 she created packaging design as well as product concepts for Estée Lauder. Beginning in 1995, Lauder produced collectible compacts from Simpson's designs; a rhinestone-encrusted shoe holds Knowing and Pleasures solid perfumes, as well as compacts in the shape of a Kelly bag. Simpson designed an enameled teacup, a petit four, and a bejeweled topiary for the 1999 Holiday Collection. Other companies that sought out her designs included: Revlon, Johnson & Johnson, Avon Products, Macy’s, Coty, Kodak, Mattel, The Ford Foundation, Benjamin Moore Paints and Fortunoff. Department 56 and Marcel Schurman licensed her art for a collection of gift bags, cards, gifts, Christmas boxes and giftwraps. Art Resources International, Ltd. and The New York Graphic Society, Ltd. published collections of Simpson’s artworks for home decor. Thomas Nelson Gifts commissioned and licensed her Cherub Wedding Collection featuring the designer’s graphics, and she developed a signature line of collectible cherubs for Lenox.

As an illustrator, Alice Sherman Simpson contributed artwork to many magazines, including Los Angeles Times, Diversion, Vogue, Self, Good Housekeeping and Vanity Fair. She illustrated a monthly beauty column for Cosmopolitan (which years?). Noting her ″exquisitely detailed images″, Victoria Magazine wrote, ″Simpson’s lyrical illustrations and designs express the fluidity of her imagination.″ (source?)

Simpson also contributed illustrations to books, such as The New Mother′s Home Companion, published by Bantam, Doubleday, Dell, and a Weight Watcher′s Cookbook. (Do you remember the author or the vague year?)

1998–?: Bev & Alice: Two Hot Broads Greeting Card Company

In 1998, together with a new business partner, Beverley Douglas, Simpson created and designed Bev & Alice: Two Hot Broads Greeting Card Company, a line of greeting cards and products for women in menopause. Bev & Alice appeared on the morning shows Good Day New York (Fox TV) and Good Morning America (ABC News), hosted by Diane Sawyer. The New York Press featured a story on the two friends, as did the New York Daily News, New York’s Newsday, Mirabella, More and American Health for Women magazines. Both Time Magazine and The Chicago Tribune featured an article about the dynamic duo. (do we have these articles somewhere? At least a few of them) At the 1999 National Stationery Show, which featured the two cartoon characters Bev & Alice developed by Simpson, Gift and Decorative Magazine selected Bev & Alice: Two Hot Broads Greeting Card Company as ″one of the year’s hottest new products″. (source)

1984–2004: Teaching

As a working professional, Alice Sherman Simpson taught package design, color and graphic design at the Fashion Institute of Technology from 1987 to 1991, package design at the School of Visual Arts in New York from 1991–1994 and the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles (when?). She was a member of the Fashion Institute of Technology's Advisory board (when?). She served as a judge for the Fragrance Foundation Packaging Awards (year?) and was president of the association Women in Design (identical with this? https://www.awaplusd.org/) in Los Angeles (how long?). She has taught Artist Book workshops in elementary and high schools, colleges as well as to corporate executives.

Works

xxy

Artist Books

In 1992, the Alice Sherman Simpson began creating One-Of-A-Kind and limited-edition Artist Books, primarily about dance. The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. showed her work in exhibitions and catalogues between 1992 and 2002. The New York Public Library presented Unique Books of Dance and Romance, a solo exhibition of Alice Simpson′s dance themed books, reflecting her love of ballroom dancing. For the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft she created the artist book Gospel According to Miss Roj, a unique double-fold accordion book with cut paper for the 2007 exhibition Visions from Voices: Artwork Inspired by Kentucky Poetry, Prose and Songwriting, after the George C. Wolfe revue play The Colored Museum.

Add Collections (also add sources for the above)

Among the collections that purchased her books are the New York Public Library – Performing Arts Research Collections (One for the Book, 2005), Dartmouth University, Harvard University, Connecticut College (Evils of Dance, 2003)

• Beleg: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/alice-sherman-simpson-on-characters-shaping-the-story • https://www.craftinamerica.org/artist/alice-simpson • https://centerforbookarts.org/people/alice-simpson

Sculpture

Alice Sherman Simpson began working in clay in 1995. Her sculptural works have been widely exhibited and, like her Artist Books, celebrate themes of performance; dance, opera, and the urban experience. • https://womanmade.org/artwork/alice-simpson-2/

In 2020, Simpson was invited to judge the CraftBoston Holiday 2020 - Society of Arts + Crafts, which is among the premier juried exhibitions and sales of contemporary craft in the U.S.

Writing

Alice Sherman Simpson moved from New York City to Southern California in 2010, where she completed her novel Ballroom, which she had started working on in 1994. It is a reflection of her passion for ballroom dancing, which she took up late in life. The book was published in 2014 as a hardcover and appeared as a paperback in 2015 as well. Short Storyline. In 2023 she published her second Novel The Winthrop Agreement, also at HarperCollins.

Awards

Literary Awards

• 1999: Best New American Voice for Ballroom, The New York Writers Voice
• 2013: Best Fiction Award, San Francisco Writer’s Conference for Ballroom

Art Prizes and Awards

She received The Benjamin Franklin Award for her Annual Reports (year?), the DESI Award for packaging (year?), and an American Graphic Design Award for a Love valentine (year?).

• 2004: Concours Award, second place for the sculpture Street Wise, Art Student League, NY
• 2005: Concours Award, second place for the sculpture The Three Graces, Art Student League, NY
• 2009: Award for the sculpture Portrait of the Artist as Marie Antoinette, ACCI National Juried Competition
• 2010: Laguna Clay Award for the sculpture Portrait of the Artist as Marie Antoinette, California Clay Competition, The Artery, Davis, CA

Exhibitions (Selection)

Solo Exhibitions

• 1996: Title?? Shaw/Cramer Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
• 1998: Dance & Romance. Columbia Gallery, NY
• 1998: Dance & Romance. St. Agnes Branch, NYPL, NY
• 1999: Summer Swing. Donnell Library Center, (NYPL) NY
• 2001: Tango Bar & Other Dances. Monthly Featured Artist at the Center for Book Arts, NY
• 2003: Artist Books. Samuel Priest Rose Building JCC, NY
• 2004: Alice Simpson: One for the Books. Beverly Hills Library, CA
• 2004: Urban Motion. Sculpture and Books on Dance. Treasure Room Gallery, Interchurch Center, NY
• 2007: Abundant Beauty. Sculpture. Artworks Gallery, NY
• 2011: Me, Myself & Others. SoPas Gallery, CA
• 2015: Artist Books: Ballroom & Other Dances, Crowell Public Library, San Marino, CA

Group Exhibitions

• 1998: xxy

Art Works (Selection)

Artist Books

• 1992: Matthew with the Turquoise Eyes. Unique tunnel book, watercolor collage on Kraft paper.
• 1994: The Marc Ballroom. Limited edition of 2 handmade copies, watercolor on arches, wooden feet.
• 2002: Rumba. Unique concertina book, calligraphy and drawings on original paste paper.
• 2003: Evils of Dance. Edition of 6. Original illustrations on Xerox print.
• 2004: Urban Motion
• 2005: Pandora's Box
• 2007: Gospel According to Miss Roj.
• 2011: Temptation
• 2016: Tango in the Afternoon. Unique tunnel book, watercolor on handmade paste paper.

Sculpture

• The Three Graces
• Portrait of the artist as ...

Publications

Illustrations and Designs

• (1995) Elbirt-Bender, Paula and Lee-Small, Linda: A New Mother’s Home Companion. New York: Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-50663-8.
• Humor in Craft- Schiffer Publishing - ISBN-10: 076434059X
• 500 Handmade Books - Lark Books - ISBN - 13: 978-1-57990-877-5 ISBN - 10: 1-57990-877-2
• 1000 Artist Books - Quarry Books - ISBN: 978-1-59253-774-7
• Handmade Books and Cards - Jean G. Kropper - Davis Publications - ISBN: 087192-334-3
• The Art and Craft of HANDMADE BOOKS - Shereen LaPlantz - ISBN: 1-57990-180-8
• Estee Lauder Solid Perfume Compact Collection-1967-2001 - Roselyn Gerson - Collector Schroeder Publishing
• Victoria Calling Cards-Hearst Books - ISBN: 0-688-11400-8
• DISCOVERY: Fifty Years of Craft Experience - ISBN: 0 89101-106-4

Novels

• (2014) Ballroom. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0062323033.
  • (2015) Ballroom. New York: Harper Collins Paperback. ISBN 978-0062323040.
• (2023) The Winthrop Agreement. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0063304093.

Short Fiction

• (2003) Dancing Past Windows. In: Writer’s Voice Magazine No.
• (2006) Der nächste Tanz. German translation of Dancing Past Windows. In: Tangodanza. No. 27, Bielefeld, p. 16–17. ISSN 1438-8847 (in German)
• (2011) Dreaming of Buenos Aires. Text and Images. In: University of Southern Maine Journal
• (2019) Aboard the Coast Starlight, as part of Short Takes: So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu. In: Sue Leonard (ed.): Persimmon Tree Magazine, Winter 2019. (Online)
• (2021) Eldridge Street, 1903. Excerpt from the novel The Winthrop Agreement. In: Sue Leonard (ed.): Persimmon Tree Magazine, Fall 2021. (Online)
• 2011 - ALICE SIMPSON: ME MYSELF & OTHERS - South Pasadena Review -CA - Feature

Literature

• (2011) Alice Simpson. In: Diego Decont Jiménez and Erick Sandoval Hofmann (eds.): Neuroblasto*. Creación Contemporanea. No. 0.5, Aug/Sept 2011, p. 6–21. (pdf)

External links

• Official Website