National Parks Posters: Then & Now

Poster House is thrilled to partner with the United States International Poster Biennial (USIPB) in celebration of Blazing a Trail: Dorothy Waugh’s National Parks Posters. This year’s USIPB theme honors the rich visual legacy of the U.S. National Parks system, inviting contemporary designers to respond to that tradition and reimagine it for the 21st century. Tonight, join designers Christopher Scott, Marlena Buczek Smith, and Taber Calderon as they share how historic National Parks posters influenced their creative process—and how they approached designing new work that bridges past and present.

Christopher Scott is the founder and president of the United States International Poster Biennial and an assistant teaching professor at Iowa State University. He is an internationally recognized, award-winning designer from Northern Ireland who holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Design from the University of Ulster, Magee. He has received over 300 international awards, including honors from the WWF, Amnesty International, Poster For Tomorrow, Adobe, and Graphis—where he won three Gold awards—and a Silver from the International Design Awards. His work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Louvre in Paris. 

Taber Calderon is a graphic designer hailin from both the Dominican Republic and the South Bronx, currently working in New York City. He is heavily influenced by traditional family values and first world culture shock, including poverty, the crack epidemic, crime, and grime. Fortunately, his grandfather and uncles worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the best going to work with dad(s) days. On the train, he found (or it found him) his biggest influences—the School of Visual Arts posters and the all mighty Benetton ads. Arts was it! His work has been recognized by international design and poster exhibitions

Marlena Buczek Smith is a designer and author who moved to the United States from Poland in the early ’90s, where she attended the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Her body of work includes posters, commercial graphic design, and paintings. Her posters have been printed in various publications including Print Quarterly and Graphis, the latter elevating her status to Master in the September 2023 issue. Marlena judges and/or participates in international poster exhibitions, including the 8th International Biennale of the Socio-Political Poster, the 14 International Triennial of Political Posters, What Unites Us 2, and the 2021 New Jersey Arts Annual: Revision and Respond. Her latest work, a compilation of posters and poetry book entitled Continuum, was released in Spring 2025.

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact info@posterhouse.org.