This Alumni Profile was first posted in the May 2013 CUAA Newsletter
Mishel Greenberg, A’40
Mishel Greenberg, a rather remarkable graduate of Cooper Union, is 92-years-old and lives with his wife, Bernice, in Teaneck, New Jersey. Mishel studied art at Cooper Union and graduated in 1940 with a diploma in Art. He was then 20 years old. Among the dignitaries at his graduation was J.P, Morgan, Jr. (who was a trustee of Cooper Union and died in 1943). Mishel even had the opportunity to shake hands with Mr. Morgan.
At a subsequent Cooper Union graduation in 1975 (which was attended by Mishel’s daughter, Ellen) he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts certificate. Mishel had a career as a package designer. After his retirement, he continued to create art. What is really special and amazing about Mishel is that he has mastered advanced computer programs and uses them to create art works in a new media – video art. One of these programs is Adobe Flash, which permits him to combine art with music. Mishel has been posting some of the videos that he has been creating in Flash on YouTube.
Bernice Greenberg
One of these videos which was published in January, 2013 is titled Six Days. Mishel explains: “The Biblical reference to six days of creation became a pattern for the work week in past generations. The routine rhythm of their efforts produced humanity’s creative and practical achievements – inspiring this abstract composition.”
Mishel is hopeful that his work may stimulate thinking about the dimension of time in visual art and composing graphics in a time structure – the way music composes sound to create a composition that designs with time elements.