
Elizabeth Meggs
Elizabeth Meggs is a Brooklyn-based artist, illustrator, writer, and designer, whose most recent work includes paintings, photography, imagery for children, and hand-bound artist books. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and received her MFA in painting from Pratt Institute. She has worked as a graphic designer at Hearst’s Victoria Magazine, as a writer at the Los Angeles Daily News, at Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn, as a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University, and now as a faculty member at Pratt Institute and New York City College of Technology.
Exhibitions include Sweet Lorraine Gallery, ISE Cultural Foundation, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Mariner’s Museum, Firehouse Art Collective, Anderson Gallery, Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, Galapagos Art Space, Edward Hopper House, Pratt Institute Dean's Gallery, “Go Brooklyn!” with the Brooklyn Museum, and Gravity Racers at Pierogi Gallery, among others.
Her essay about life with her father, graphic design historian Philip B. Meggs, titled “Life By Design: From Ephemeral to Historical,” was published in the book Meggs: Making Graphic Design History. Recent publications include essay contributions to Practice Makes Perfect: A Graphic Design Student’s Guide to Freelance; and writing and photography for TRUEQUE, a collaborative artists’ book project between artists in Copenhagen, Mexico City, Berlin, London, New York, and Rio de Janeiro.
Awards and honors include being selected to attend New York’s Center for Book Arts’ Letterpress Printing & Fine Press Publishing Seminar for Emerging Writers; recipient of a Mellon Grant; recipient of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship for Drawing in the State of Virginia; serving on the Leadership Council of the Pratt Artists’ League; and as president of the Virginia Commonwealth University Illustrator's Club.
Meggs is a member of SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), The Daguerreian Society, The Typophiles, College Art Association, and The Visual Lunacy Society. She is on the Advisory Board At Large for Black Gotham, which celebrates the underrepresented history of the African Diaspora in New York City, through walking tours, graphic novels, teen programs, and more.
“Troco Rio,” a sound installation, including her piece titled Stand Clear, was recently played in the street markets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of the New York City Sing for Hope public pianos program, a piano she designed, painted, and named “Octavia Upright,” was placed outdoors in Manhattan in Hudson River Park in Chelsea and the Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center for the public to play.
Contributed Articles
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
Recent Articles



