Maria Snyder - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Maria Snyder is an artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

, designer

Designer

A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...

, model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

, activist and entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

. Snyder's background as a fine artist began in her youth as a painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

and sculptor. She is the daughter of industrialist real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

developer, Arthur T. Snyder, an early pioneer in the revitalization of Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

. Maria attended school in Athens, Greece, studied at the American University in Paris and received a Master’s Degree in 20th Century Art History.

Modeling Career

While in Paris, Maria was discovered by Yves Saint Laurent after Marisa Berenson

Marisa Berenson

Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson is an American actress and model.-Early life:She is the elder daughter of Robert L. Berenson, an American diplomat turned shipping executive, who was of Lithuanian Jewish descent; his family's original surname was Valvrojenski...

introduced her to Saint Laurent’s muse, Loulou de la Falaise

Loulou de la Falaise

Loulou de La Falaise was a fashion muse and designer of fashion, accessories, and jewelry associated with Yves Saint-Laurent. Author Judith Thurman, writing in The New Yorker magazine, called La Falaise "the quintessential Rive Gauche haute bohémienne"....

. Maria quickly rose to fame within the fashion industry as one of Saint Laurent’s chosen models. This launched an international modeling career and work with legendary designers Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...

, Valentino, Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace was an Italian fashion designer and founder of Gianni Versace S.p.A., an international fashion house, which produces accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings as well as clothes. He also designed costumes for the theatre and films, and was a friend of Madonna, Elton John,...

, Moschino, Armani, Emanuel Ungaro, Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein

Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

and Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer.Beene was born in Haynesville, Louisiana. He studied medicine at Tulane University, but dropped out in 1946, after three years. He moved to New York in 1947 to attend the Traphagen School of Fashion...

. She has also worked with photography giants Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...

, Steven Meisel

Steven Meisel

Steven Meisel is an American photographer, who obtained popular acclaim with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book Sex...

, Matthew Rolston

Matthew Rolston

Matthew Russell Rolston is an American photographer and music video director. Rolston is known for his signature lighting techniques and detailed approach to art direction and design, and has been repeatedly identified throughout his career with the revival and modern expression of Hollywood glamour...

and closely with legendary David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...

. Maria was a muse to celebrated artist Alex Katz

Alex Katz

Alex Katz is an American figurative artist associated with the Pop art movement. In particular, he is known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints and is represented by numerous galleries internationally.-Life and work:...

and to one of the greatest fashion illustrators in history, Antonio Lopez

Antonio Lopez (illustrator)

Antonio Lopez was a fashion illustrator whose work appeared in such publications as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Interview and The New York Times. Several books collecting his illustrations have been published...

and is featured as the cover art of his book, Antonio’s People. After moving to New York, Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

encouraged Maria’s art and when embarking on a fashion career remarked, “A photo of you is all people need to see to launch your career.” Maria was also featured in Norma Kamali’s campaign with Andy MacDowell and Dolce & Gabbana’s campaign with Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci

Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...

. Maria was immortalized in Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...

’s comic strips as the inspiration for the “designing woman” character in the series.

Fashion Career

Maria’s career in fashion was spearheaded by Anouk Aimee

Anouk Aimée

Anouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947. She began her film career in 1947 at age 14. In 1958 she portrayed the tragic artist Jeanne Hébuterne in the film Les Amants de Montparnasse...

’s daughter, Manuela Papatakis. She introduced her to Diane von Furstenberg who gave Maria her first exhibition featuring her jewelry as art. Maria’s pieces, which included both costume and fine jewelry, were shown in Estee Lauder

Estée Lauder Companies

Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The company has its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...

and Revlon

Revlon

Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...

advertising campaigns. Maria then launched a fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

business. Maria developed collections featuring hand painted silk, elegant bead work and graphic prints. She showcased her collections in Paris and New York and began shipping to specialty and department stores around the globe. She also worked on a line of jewelry for Emilio Pucci and created fanciful bracelets for New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Felissimo then partnered with Maria and featured her wearable art and jewelry collections. Maria was also hailed by Felissimo for being “one of the first designers to introduce an exclusive eco collection from recycled materials.” Her designs were worn by celebrities, models and aristocrats including Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

, Rosie O’Donnell, Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford

Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford is an American model. Known for her trademark mole just above her lip, Crawford has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She was named #3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s...

, Christie Brinkley

Christie Brinkley

Christie Brinkley is an American model and actress best known for her three consecutive appearances on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for her long-running contract with CoverGirl, the longest ever of any model in history, and for her marriage...

, Anne Hearst

Anne Hearst

Anne Randolph Hearst is an American socialite, philanthropist, and publishing heiress.Hearst is one of the five daughters of Randolph Apperson Hearst , former president of The San Francisco Examiner, and his first wife, the former Catherine Wood Campbell. She is the granddaughter of newspaper...

, Mrs. Henry Ford, Princess Olga of Greece and Princess Marie Chantal of Greece.

Message Brands

Maria's most recent brands, Eco Boys and Girls, EcoBrands, A Message of Love and IAM, deliver messages of environmental awareness and interconnectedness. In 2010, Maria launched Eco Boys and Girls, an educational tool for children to learn, engage and participate with simple but direct messages of love, peace and environmental awareness. Eco Boys and Girls premiered at the Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum and learning center located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.The center, which first opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, the largest IMAX Dome theater in the United States,...

in Jersey City, NJ on April 24, 2010. Since then, the National Education Association

National Education Association

The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...

(NEA) has adopted Eco Boys and Girls lesson plans into their curriculum. The NEA and Friends of the United Nations have also welcomed the Eco Boys and Girls as pro-environmental advocates. The NEA’s Green Across America Program features the Eco Boys and Girls as icons.. In 2011, Eco Boys and Girls were featured presenters in Grand Central Terminal’s Earth Day 2011 celebration , as well as featured partners at American Renewable Energy Day 2011 in Aspen, CO, August 2011 .

In addition, the Eco Boys and Girls short film has been selected to present at Global Peace Film Festival, Sustainable Planet Film Festival, Artivist Film Festival and presented at American Renewable Energy Day. Friends of the United Nations presents Eco Boys and Girls, the Millennium Kids at the United Nations to share awareness of UN Millennium Goals. In September, 2010 the Association of Science and Technology Centers presented the Eco Boys and Girls as participants in their call to action for science education to support the Millennium Development Goals.

Leading a New Generation of Artists

Maria is receiving increasing recognition as “Leading a New Generation of Artists for Peace”. In 2009 the Fulbright Center featured Maria's HeartsUnite painting at The Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations in Washington, DC. Her MandalaLoveBubbles triptych artwork is currently on permanent display at the Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas, Texas. The American Public Health Association

American Public Health Association

The American Public Health Association is Washington, D.C.-based professional organization for public health professionals in the United States. Founded in 1872 by Dr. Stephen Smith, APHA has more than 30,000 members worldwide...

(APHA) at the annual conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

describes Maria’s art “as an emerging body of work that spans graphic, advertising, and fine arts in techniques and media while discussing the challenges of bringing images and ideas about peace into the modern mainstream after decades of marginalization.” Maria's 35 foot mural, Wall Of Peace’n Love, was installed in the entranceway to the new Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas, TX. Maria Snyder was a speaker on her PeaceART at the Newark Peace Education Summit . Her discussion Global Call to Action through PeaceART is a project that helps empower children around the world through art and action, utilizing murals, film, and prose.

Honors, Boards, Awards

Tiffany and Co. announced Maria as “One of America’s Hottest Fashion Designers” along with Isaac Mizrahi and Anna Sui. She has been recognized by the Encyclopedia of Costume Jewelry as “one of the few top jewelry designers to collect.” Maria has been nominated to the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the International Best Dressed List. She has been named Ambassador of Arts to the Middle East Peace Civic Forum and is an Advisory Board Member to the International Committee against Mental Illness.

External links

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