Inspiring Women

New York’s culinary scene would not be the same without the likes of the Italian restaurants dell'anima, L'Artusi, L’Apicio, and Anfora, all founded by restaurateur Joe Campanale and his partners. The native New Yorker discovered a love of Mediterranean food and wine early in life when his studies took him to Spain and Italy, and that passion has never waned. A trained sommelier, Campanale opened his first restaurant at 23 and still serves as Beverage Director for his restaurants, which have become known for their impeccably selected array of small-production wines and beers, as well as creative cocktails. He also opened Anfora, a wine bar that highlights niche, natural wines. Despite his renown, Campanale has a humble goal: to show people such a good time that they come back again and again.

"I can’t imagine a more challenging job than being a single mother. But my mom’s difficult childhood made her determined to make my childhood better than her own, and she succeeded to a degree she’d never imagined. She stressed that love and taking care of others is of paramount importance. She taught me that I should do well in school in order to achieve my dreams. And she told me not to litter, because I should make the place I live more beautiful, not less. It’s these lessons and so many others that guide my life."

Image: Dante Meick

“I believe that the diverse journey I have chosen has led me to be an innovator on the front lines of the battle against the all-consuming commercialism of art and creativity,” says film director and producer Sol Tryon. Whether through a documentary, short, or feature, Tryon’s singular mission is to create original, inspiring stories and to share them with the rest of the world. His award-winning films include Bomb the System, The Living Wake, Weapons, Explicit Ills, Fix, 2012: Time for Change, Being in the World and Starlet, starring Dree Hemingway (now in theaters). Currently, Tryon is developing a digital distribution platform, Mangusta.TV, which will bypass the traditional movie-release model, to bring inspiring films directly to a global audience.

“My favorite mental image of finding creative inspiration comes from David Lynch’s book, Catching The Big Fish. As you can imagine, the ‘Big Fish’ in his title serves as a metaphor for catching a creative idea. Sometimes you just have to sit there with the line in the water until you get a bite. Well, I was fortunate enough to catch a lifetime’s worth of creative ideas thanks to my lovely wife, Rebecca. Her sensitivity, passion, and diverse talents feed into a world of imagination and wonder that inhabits our daily lives. She is part mentor, part muse, and a full-time performer. Whether through singing, writing, acting, composing, or simply expressing her inner motivations, Rebecca is a vast sea full of creative fish for me to pluck from at will.”

Illustrator, graphic designer, and author Christoph Niemann uses his skills and unparalleled wit to provide a running commentary on New York City (his primary home since 1997) and on modern urban living itself. His work has appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Time, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and American Illustration. But Niemann is perhaps best known for his whimsical New York Times blog, “Abstract Sunday,” which he draws and writes essays about politics, the economy, and modern life. He is the author and co-author of many books, including this year’s Abstract City and 2010’s I Lego N.Y., a fanciful look at New York life constructed entirely out of Legos. He has live-sketched from the Venice Art Biennale, the Olympic Games in London, and the 2012 Republican Convention, and he has even drawn the New York City Marathon—while running it.

“I became a fan of Paula Scher’s work the moment I discovered her posters in design books as a student. I eventually met her while interning at Pentagram in 1996, and she has been a mentor and friend ever since. She must have swallowed some sort of magic pill that enables her to constantly reinvent her craft, and she has the wits and smarts to convince even the most complicated clients to trust her vision. More importantly, she’s the ideal person to talk to, over a glass of wine, about the world’s three most important topics: painting, politics, and maps.”

Mariana Amatullo’s mission is to infuse design education with social innovation and a sense of responsibility for bettering the world. Amatullo founded Designmatters in 2001 as a college-wide initiative at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, to encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations that both enhance Art Center’s role at the forefront of art and design and contribute solutions to urgent social and humanitarian needs. By using design to address issues ranging from the needs of underserved youth communities in Los Angeles to low-income housing dwellers in India to water poverty in the slums of Chile and Peru, the program’s award-winning solutions have established Designmatters as an exemplar in the field of social impact design.

“As the daughter of a diplomat from Argentina, I traveled around the world, frequently changing schools. This experience instilled in me an uncanny determination to not only ‘fit in’ but also conquer each new environment I encountered. By the time I met Dr. Selma Holo, while earning a master’s degree in Museum Studies and Art History at the University of Southern California, I was a resolute and focused student who thought I knew where I was headed. As it happens with extraordinary mentors, however, she guided me in entirely new directions. Dr. Holo’s mentorship and inspired approach to her own life was instrumental in helping me find purpose in my professional path. Through my work with Designmatters at Art Center College of Design, I strive to inspire the next generation of students to excellence in the same way she inspired me.”

When photographer Scott Schuman created his blog, “The Sartorialist,” in 2006 to explore the relationship between the world of fashion and daily life, he unwittingly became the leader of a “street style” movement. Although the genre was not a new one, “The Sartorialist” turned street style into a global obsession. Schuman’s discerning eye and captivating images have garnered a loyal public following and demand from magazines like GQ, Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, and Interview. Schuman’s book, an anthology of images from “The Sartorialist,” has sold more than 100,000 copies, and his work resides in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.

“When I first met Garance, at a fashion show in Paris, we immediately connected. I love that even though we work in the same field, her vision is clear and strong and completely different from my own. I aim to capture my subjects in the abstract, but Garance gets to know people. She’s interested in their reality. And she has one of the most incredibly well-developed personal styles of anyone I know. She has become an inspiration for everything I do.”

As President of the Public Art Fund, Susan K. Freedman plays a profoundly important role in shaping the cultural landscape of New York City. Since 1986, Freedman has been helming the organization, which brings dynamic contemporary art to public spaces with ambitious free exhibitions that offer powerful encounters with art in the urban environment. Freedman’s commitment to philanthropy and ensuring the accessibility of art extends to her positions on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art, the Municipal Art Society of New York, WNYC Radio, and City Parks Foundation. Most recently, Susan, who has received a slew of awards and accolades joined the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission and was a jury member for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s World Trade Center Memorial Competition, where she had the honor of helping to select one of New York City’s most meaningful examples of public art.

“A commitment to public art is in my DNA. I grew up walking to the Arsenal in Central Park and weaving my way to the corner of the building, where bold and groundbreaking ideas for how to incorporate art into the fabric of the city were percolating under my mother’s leadership as the city’s first Director of Cultural Affairs (1967-70). I marveled as she championed New York’s Percent for Art legislation, which was signed into law in 1982 and has served as a guide for cities across the country. When she founded the Public Art Fund in 1977, she created an organization that has presented some of the most iconic outdoor works that New York City has ever seen. Three decades later, I am still humbled and proud to be part of my mother’s legacy, sharing in her belief that public art revives the spirit, challenges the intellect, brings beauty to our lives, and stands as a measure of the health and vitality of all great cities.”