From the M23 bus on my way to Chelsea galleries earlier this week, I saw something I've been looking forward to for several months. Atop the marquee of the SVA Theatre is Milton Glaser's Tatlin Tower, an homage to the great Russian visionary artist Vladimir Tatlin.

Glaser, who is best known as the creator of the "I [heart] New York" logo and co-founder of New York magazine, based his design for the 18-foot-high structure on Tatlin's proposed monument to the Russian Revolution. Designed in 1920, it is now considered one of the great objects of Russian Constructivism. Glaser's colorful homage consists of three metal cylinders that rotate at hourly intervals like an abstract timepiece. Expanding on the theme of time, the marquee is ringed by a zipper sign that will display quotations about the passage of time by historic figures from Albert Einstein to Ronald Reagan.

SVA Theatre marquee sculpture by Milton Glaser; photo by Jim Brown. Right: Theatre lobby; photo by Harry Zernike. Courtesy School of Visual Arts.

Now that the total renovation of two state-of-the-art theaters designed by Glaser is complete, we can look forward to the grand opening in September. On Wednesday the 16th, a series of film screenings pays tribute to Tatlin and the artistic heritage of the Russian Avant Garde. A program of film masterworks by Yakov Protazanov, Dziga Vertov, H.G. Wells, Fernand Leger and Man Ray will be presented, with screenings beginning at noon. Admission is free and open to the public. SVA Theatre, 333 West 23^rd Street, New York, NY.

But that's not all: On August 31^st, the exhibition Milton Glaser's SVA: A Legacy of Graphic Design opens at the Visual Arts Gallery, and runs through September 26th. Curated by Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department, and Mirko Ilic, faculty member in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department, the retrospective presents graphic works created by the legendary designer since he joined the faculty in 1960. Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, 15th floor, New York, NY 10001. 212.592.2145.

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