The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) was founded in 1953 by a group of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

artists and designers "...to promote the professional status of illustration art as well as foster both philanthropic and educational goals".

History

Founding

In the spring of 1953 a group of leading Southern California Illustrators got together in a meeting room at the Statler Hotel (now the downtown Hilton) to discuss the possibility of forming a professional artists club. The group at the Statler Hotel was composed of L.A.’s most talented illustrators and included

Joseph Morgan Henninger Joseph Morgan Henninger (May 15, 1906 – March 7, 1999) was an American artist and illustrator. He was born in Elwood, Indiana and died In Pacific Palisades, California. Henninger was an accomplished painter and sculptor. He also became a commer ...

, Fritz Willis, George Sheppard, Jacques Kapralik, Bill Tara,

Reynold Brown William Reynold Brown (October 18, 1917 – August 24, 1991) was an American realist artist who painted many Hollywood film posters. He was also briefly active as a comics artist. Biography He attended Alhambra High School and refined his dra ...

, Ken Sawyer, and others. There were thirteen in all and they began to lead the mushrooming of major art and illustration in Southern California. By the beginning of World War II huge demands by defense and aircraft companies had lured other fine illustrators from all over the nation and suddenly the “cultural desert” had blossomed into a first class art market. Membership in SILA had swollen to over one hundred and, together with the Los Angeles Art Directors Club, the two organizations drew speakers from New York and Chicago to their programs and they both sponsored top quality shows every year.

USAF

The Society maintains an association with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

(USAF) whereby members may contribute appropriate art to the USAF Art Collection. Contributing artists are flown at government expense to a show of their works and receive awards for their contributions. The artists retain copyright to their works. One memorable trip took place during the last USO show in 1957 when twelve SILA members flew to Europe and did 2200 portrait sketches of military personnel in post war occupation bases. In 1961, the USAF requested, via the Society, several Disney artists

Claude Coats Claude Coats (January 17, 1913 – January 9, 1992) was an American artist, background artist, animator and set designer, known for his work with the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering. His pioneering work with the compa ...

Al Dempster
and Art Riley to participate in the program. The Society supports an active blog to keep members informed and conducts classes and workshops at Pop Secret Gallery.

Illustration West

The Society hosts
Illustration West
', an annual illustration competition and exhibition open to illustrators around the world with Gold, Silver and Bronze awarded individually in several different categories: Advertising; Book; Cartoon; Children's Market; Editorial; Entertainment & Visual Development; Gallery; Graphic Novels and Comic Books; Institutional; Student; and Unpublished and Self Promotional Category. Scholarships are presented to the Gold, Silver and Bronze Award winners from the Student category. A panel of other well known artists and art directors conduct the judging. The top annual award, named after the first president of SILA, is the "

Award". An additional award presented is the "

Patrick Nagel Patrick Nagel (November 25, 1945 – February 4, 1984) was an American artist and illustrator. He created popular illustrations on board, paper, and canvas, most of which emphasize the female form in a distinctive style, descended from Art Dec ...

Award for Excellence". Over 1,100 entries spanning the globe were received for the 2020 competition.

Presidents

, the president of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles is Joe Cepeda. Notable past presidents of the Society: *

(1953) — founding member * Karl Hubenthal (1959) — founding member *

Leo Monahan Leo Monahan (1933) is an artist who is known for paper art. Monahan creates paper sculptures and multi-dimensional art work that cannot be represented on a two dimensional flat canvas. Monahan was involved with Chouinard Art Institute. Monahan ...

(1966, 1980–1981) * Don Weller (1967) * Ren Wicks (1956, 1977) — founding member *

Mike Machat Michael J. Machat is an American artist, author, and pilot. He specializes in aviation art and was a frequent collaborator of R.E.G. Davies on the book series ''An Airline and its Aircraft''. Several aviation museums have permanent collections of ...

(1983) *

Bobbie Moline-Kramer Bobbie Moline-Kramer (born November 4, 1946) is an American artist, lecturer, teacher, and illustrator. Her work includes Japanese Shunga style paintings, gestural abstraction, animal symbolism, and realism. Biography Moline-Kramer was born ...

(1988) *

Keri Rosebraugh Keri Rosebraugh is an American artist and art administrator. Her artworks often deal with ecological themes and focus on human being’s relationship with nature. Art education and career Keri Rosebraugh is an American artist who lives and work ...

(2003-2004)

References

External links

* *
Illustration West
'
The Illustrators' Blog
{{Authority control Arts organizations based in California Art and design-related professional associations American artist groups and collectives * Clubs and societies in California Organizations based in Los Angeles Arts organizations established in 1953 1953 establishments in California