Fine artist Pamela Kogen tells the illustrious story of Princeton University through drawings of its iconic images. Nassau Hall. FitzRandolph Gate. The Chapel.
Pamela carefully chooses the most memorable images on campus for her collection and then draws those impressive structures, along with imposing tigers and scurrying black squirrels, in pen and ink and watercolor.
“I love paper and materials,” she said. “I love the feel of the pen, the inkwell and the brushes. They’re all part of the materials I work with.”
One of her favorite images is the straw boater with grosgrain ribbon. Originally worn by Venetian gondoliers, the boater was brought to the United States in the 1880s and adopted by the Princeton University Band in the 1950s.
“I love the boater because it speaks to my fashion aesthetic, and through clothing we can tell a story,” Pamela said, noting that band members still wear those straw hats as part of their uniform. “The boater reflects the spirit on campus, now and in the past.”
Pamela received her BFA in painting from Parson’s School of Design in New York City in the early 1990s. Born in Philadelphia, Pamela was raised in Maplewood, NJ, and settled in New York after graduation. She worked in New York for many years, illustrating editorials for the New York Times and other publications as well as advertisements for fashion houses and department stores like Liz Claiborne, Estée Lauder, and Barneys New York. She also worked as a wardrobe and prop stylist in the fashion industry.
About 11 years ago, Pamela moved from Westchester, NY, to Princeton with her husband, Michael Morandi, Graduate School Class of ’83. He attended Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and longed to return to this vibrant community.
“When I got here I noticed there were no products that reflected the school’s iconic images in a fun and tasteful way,” she said.
Pamela worked with university officials to create a boutique line of Princeton-themed stationery, gift wrap, baby clothing, and silk scarves with the licensed images. The first items were released in 2012, and many of them are featured throughout the Museum Store.
Working from her studio in Hopewell, Pamela gracefully moves from fine art to illustration to the avant-garde. She has chosen cotton undershirts, linen prayer flags, and even brown paper bags as mediums through which to express her aesthetic.
The Museum Store presently carries Pamela Kogen’s Princeton-themed collection of pen-and-ink stationery, gift wrap, and baby clothing.