by Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
Editorial Note: One of Ric's recent projects was the redesign of the header for this blog.
The Smithsonian Associates monthly program guide is like a trusted friend offering up the most irresistible treats for the mind and body. And it’s all wrapped up in a pretty package, with the hardest part being narrowing down the choices. You can choose amazing lectures by best-selling authors, talks on your favorite painters, and virtual escapes to the ends of the earth (at a time when your passport won’t get you there).
But who is behind the program guide’s alluring look and feel? Well, that would be Ric Garcia, visual design specialist for Smithsonian Associates ever since 2004. The Florida transplant has been doing graphic design work for the Associates—both print and online--for 16 years. We caught up with him recently for an email-facilitated chat.
Garcia earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design and illustration from the University of Miami. He relocated to the DMV area in 2002 from Florida in search of better employment opportunities. After arriving, he worked as a freelance graphic artist for ad agencies before landing his job at the Associates in 2004. Back then, he also settled into a new home in Maryland.
We wondered if Garcia has a favorite cover from the many program guides he has helped shepherd into print. He says, “It’s hard to pick a favorite, they’re all so good looking, but to date my favorite is the May 2020 cover. That is the first cover I designed. I’m looking forward to designing many more.”
Garcia is also an accomplished artist in his own right. Some of his favorite artists include Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. He says, “The Associates played a key factor in my early success as an artist because I met my first mentor when volunteering for a beginning oil painting class at SA.”
We wanted to learn a bit more about Garcia, whose work puts a face on Associates’ offerings for so many. Here’s some of what we found out.
Q: Did you always want to be a graphic designer? When did you first discover you had an interest in graphic design?
A: I had wanted to be a veterinarian or a firefighter, but starting at about 10 years old I decided being an artist would be a better idea. That decision would evolve into a career in graphic design and art.
Q: I understand you recently got a promotion, so congratulations on that! How has your job changed since the promotion?
A: I’ve always played a role in the production of the Associates program guide, but my new and expanded responsibilities allow for a fundamental involvement with the planning and design of the program guide. I continue to develop online marketing graphics and advertising. To meet the new demand for online advertising, I’ve developed multiple easy-to-use templates that expedite the process of creating ads. One set of templates, for example, is meant to empower marketing and public relations staff to independently create ads on social media.
Q: Explain how you are able to stay on top of all your deadlines? Do you have an assistant or a clone?
A: I always have a steady flow of work in marketing. Beyond the program guide, I’m responsible for additional print collateral, such as postcards and brochures, as well as designing digital online marketing assets. No clones to help with the workload, but I have the support of my supervisor when prioritizing my tasks and implementing time-management strategies.
Q: Will the print version of the program guide have a different role to play in the future with so much emphasis on digital marketing?
A: Like many of our for-profit competitors, we use both print and digital assets to promote our products. The Associates program guide is part of a mix of marketing tools that currently includes the print version. The print guide is also a member benefit. Marketing is always discussing ways to expand the role of the print version of the guide. It’s hard to predict the future role the print guide will have as we continue to reinvent SA.
Q: What’s been the most challenging thing for you personally in the last several months since Ripley closed, the programming schedule was interrupted and many programs shifted to streaming?
A: It’s been very difficult to maintain a work-life balance.
Q: Outside of your job with Smithsonian Associates, you are an accomplished artist. Can you tell us about your work and how it has evolved?
A: I am a Cuban-American painter and digital print maker who exhibits in the DC metro area. My art samples visual information from various image sources that are combined into a new expression of Americana. My work references Latino culture and creates a space for conversation about diversity, identity and what it means to be bi-cultural. I like to work in a pop art style because it allows me to build on a tradition that has a place in art history, and to represent ideas with immediacy, power and flexibility.
I recently received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. Each year the award recognizes the outstanding artistic achievements of artists across Maryland. I have also exhibited in several local shows. Most recently at American University’s Katzen Art Center in an exhibit titled ‘The Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants of Washington,” and at the College Park Aviation Museum. My work is in the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank collection and part of other public and private collections.
Q: As you have been working from home during the pandemic, have you been able to do more or less of your own artwork? I understand you have children.
A: I’ve been producing art but spending more time with my family. My family always comes first, but making art makes me sane.
Q: What’s the best thing about your job at Associates?
A: I’ve found that working at the Associates provides inside access to the Smithsonian and its collections. I was very excited to get a personal tour of the meteorite collection at [the National Museum of] Natural History several years ago.
Q: What is your favorite Smithsonian museum? What will be the first exhibit/gallery/paintings you go see once the museums are reopened?
A: My favorite Smithsonian museum is the [National] Air and Space Museum, followed by the Hirshhorn [Museum], and to maintain marital bliss, [the National Museum of] American History, where my wife works. The exhibit I would visit first is the same exhibit I saw when visiting DC for the first time in 2001, the Boeing Milestones of Flight exhibit. And I would want to see the iconic Bell X-1, with its ‘international orange’ signature paint job.
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