oIt’s official! The Honorable Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on behalf of the City of New York, has proclaimed the second week of November as the 5th Annual Celebration of Illustration Week. Thank you to Todd Lambrix, Director, Illustration Program at Parsons the New School for Design, Mark Heflin, Director, AI-AP, and Anelle Miller, Director, Society of Illustrators, whose collaborative efforts over this past year have made this a reality. So mark your calendars for some exceptional events coming up, starting this Friday, November 4th.

Highlights include Big Talk, a pre-party symposium celebrating the launch of American Photography 27 and American Illustration 30 on November 10th from 3-6pm at the Downtown Community Television Center at 87 Lafayette Street (south of Canal Street). Nicholas Blechman and Antonio de Luca, designers of the new AI30 and AP27 annuals respectively will talk about their current projects and chat with some of the jurors who selected this year's winning images, including: Craig Cohen, powerHouse Books; Gail Marowitz, Roadrunner Records; Rachael Cole, Schwartz and Wade Books; David Saylor, Scholastic Inc. and AI30 cover artist Olimpia Zagnoli. This will be followed by a panel with Richard Kelly, past president of the ASMP; Alex Johnson, Creative Director and Brand Stategist, Jeff Newelt, editor, The Pekar Project and Zack Seckler from Lux Archive who will discuss creative uses of social media for exposure, engagement, promotion, distribution and sales. RSVP. Free.

Left: AI30 cover art by Olimpia Zagnoli. Center: Angel Orensantz Foundation. Right: AP27 cover photograph by Torkil Gudnason. Courtesy AI-AP.

Illustration Week in New York City | November 4-13, 2011
Events at Society of Illustrators take place at 128 East 63^rd Street (Between Lexington and Park). Information.

Friday-Saturday, November 4-6

Pictoplasma | The world's leading festival of contemporary character design and art. Hosted by Parsons The New School. Tishman Auditorium, 66 W 12 St, 10011 New York. Special Limited Offer discount of more than 50% to American Illustration members. Register. Information.

Friday, November 4^, 5-8 pm
Summer Illustration Art Academy Exhibition and Reception
Society of Illustrators

Monday, November 7, 6:30-8:30 pm
50 Years in 60 Minutes | An Evening with Murray Tinkelman
Society of Illustrators

Tuesday, November 8, 6:30-8:30 pm
Illustrators Sketch Night
Society of Illustrators

Wednesday, November 9, 6:30-8:30 pm
An Evening with Children's Book Icons
Society of Illustrators

Thurday, November 10, 3-6 pm
BIG TALK  AI-AP Pre-Party Symposium
Downtown Community Television Center, 87 Lafayette St., NYC
Admission Free. Seating Limited. RSVP.

Thursday, November 10, 6 pm
Art Directors Club Hall of Fame Benefit Gala
Capitale, 130 Bowery, NYC. Tickets/Information.

Thursday, November 10, 7-11 pm
The Party | American Illustration 30 and American Photography 27 | Book launch and celebration
Angel Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street (Between Houston and Stanton Streets), NYC. Information.

Friday, November 11, 6:30-9 pm
An Evening with Tom Peak Honoring Bob Peak
Society of Illustrators

Sunday, November 13, noon-4pm
Appraisal Day
Society of Illustrators

Sunday, November 13, 11am-3pm
Brunch at the Society of Illustrators | Reservations or 212-838-2560

Corrections: Marc Yankus's name is correctly spelled in the archive of yesterday's DART Board. Rose Hartman's exhibition is on the 5th floor of the Shirley Goodman Resource Center at FIT.

Editor's Note: The winner of the November DART Book Prize is Joanna Graham of Brooklyn. Thanks to everyone who entered - almost everyone got it right.

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