When David Zeggert was a young art student, a favorite professor imparted the artist’s professional adage of, “make it, show it, sell it.” And so, Zeggert has spent the past few decades doing just that. Though “teach” was not included in that initial mantra, he eventually added that to his life’s work as well, and has spent the past seventeen years instructing and mentoring SUNY Broome’s fine arts students in the disciplines of drawing, painting, and illustration. When Professor Zeggert is not in the studio on campus, working alongside his students with jazz classics playing in the background, you’ll find him in his home studio, creating vibrant and rich oil portraits that are being showcased across the nation. His most recent portrait of Elon Musk has been accepted into The Society of Illustrators 60th Annual Exhibition in Los Angeles, California.
Zeggert’s art education began at SUNY Sullivan, where he focused his studies on commercial art. He freelanced for the Democrat & Chronicle, a Rochester newspaper throughout his time as an undergrad student at SUNY Buffalo State, and briefly contemplated remaining in Rochester to study illustration at RIT. Ultimately, he decided to enter the workforce for several years until he pursued his education as a graduate student at Syracuse University.
Academically and artistically burnt out after four years of intense study, Zeggert returned home to Binghamton and took a position at a local publishing company that designed the Pennysaver. He made a rule that he would only stay with the publisher for four months. So, on his four-month anniversary, he promptly quit.
“I don’t know why I made this rule to quit a perfectly good job, but I did. I took a position as a grounds-keeper backfilling graves and used my free time to start creating again. I just needed a break,” said Zeggert.
Though David saw this period at home as a much needed time to regroup as an artist, his mother did not. While David was out one day, his mother strategically placed an advertisement for a designer position with the Planning Department of the City of Binghamton on his dresser. Her not-so-subtle gesture was her way of saying, “you need to leave!”
Working as a designer for the City of Binghamton allowed Zeggert to create tangible and practical art through designing items like letterhead and signage. “I was recently in the parking garage across from Boscovs and noticed that the directional arrow signs that I designed are still hanging on each floor. It made me smile and wonder just how many people I personally guided with those signs. I made art that had a working purpose,” laughed Zeggert.
While still working for the City of Binghamton, Zeggert began freelancing for the Vestal Press and Sun Bulletin providing illustrations and paintings for print. When a position as the newsroom afternoon artist became available, Zeggert jumped at the opportunity to transform written content into visual illustrations designed to advance each story. Over the years, Zeggert’s career at the newspaper advanced to him serving as the photo and graphics editor for the daily publication. The hours were grueling, but thanks to Zeggert’s foresight to usher the photography department through the transition from film to digital photography, the whole workflow of the artistic side of the house became a lot smoother.
Sadly, we now all know the stories of the newspaper industry’s clash with modern technology, but in the mid-1990s, not everyone saw the writing on the wall. David Zeggert did.
“The arrogance of the newspaper industry is what eventually crushed it. I vividly remember being in a staff meeting with some executives from Gannett and when someone asked about how we should handle presenting our news stories on the internet, they completely brushed over the question. Exactly six months later, they were back looking for people to join an emergency online committee,” shared Zeggert.
It was around that time that Debbie Morello, then SUNY Broome’s Vice President of Student and Economic Development, recruited Zeggert, who earned his master’s degree in illustration from Syracuse University, to teach a “cartooning for kids” continuing education course on Saturday mornings. Zeggert had never considered teaching as a vocation, because he was so focused on “make it, show it, sell it,” but he quickly fell in love.
“Teaching those children on Saturday mornings just gave me this amazing feeling. As much as I loved my work with the paper, which I had done for well over a decade, I realized that I had a different, natural passion for teaching. The first class was definitely a little shaky. One little student complained that I made them draw a boot, but once we started illustrating characters, everyone was happy. I was asked to continue teaching for SUNY Broome’s Continuing Ed department and eventually added adult illustration classes in the evenings that were well received,” said Zeggert.
Zeggert’s CE courses in illustration were so popular that they eventually turned into credit-bearing classes, which he taught as an adjunct instructor. With the newspaper industry rapidly diminishing, Zeggert began to switch his focus to teaching and became an Assistant Professor in 2006.
Throughout all of his professional pursuits as a designer, editor, and educator, Zeggert has been constantly producing art, particularly oil portraits of everyone from Bob Dylan, to David Bowie, to Norman Rockwell, to his family, friends, and even pets.
Zeggert converted his daughter’s childhood, lavender bedroom into his home studio years ago, but he intentionally left his daughter’s poster of Selena Gomez up on the wall out of respect to the room’s previous inhabitant. With Selena looking down on him, he works to recreate interesting faces and responsibly infuse some sort of life into the portrait through a combination of personal research on the subject and an intentionally selected vibrant color palette. Zeggert’s oil portraits are widely respected in the art community and are displayed in exhibitions all over the state of New York and across the country, including an annual exhibition entitled Tipping Point displayed at the Rockefeller Institute of Government at Albany.
“I like to share my personal work with my students and remind them that I am still a student as well. I was a student as recently as last year, when I took a class at the The Arts Students League of New York. I tell my students that artists are often motivated by our need to always unlock something. I encourage them to not become a prisoner of the process. Once they let that go, it will alleviate the stress of the constant pursuit and they can just enjoy the creative process,” said Zeggert.
As a native of Chenango Valley, Zeggert has balanced his life between the disciplines of fine art and public service. Even though his father was in law enforcement, it was his mother that provided the structure, discipline, and instilled a sense of drive and work ethic that guided him. Zeggert’s early exposure to his father’s protection of their community fostered his deep affection for public service. He served as a member of the Chenango Bridge Fire Company for eight years and has spent the last four years working as a Broome County Security Officer.
“Public service is such a special part of my life. Whether I am able to help someone by simply giving them directions or if I am assisting in a time of real crisis, I am genuinely honored to be there to support the members of our community,” shared Zeggert.
Zeggert’s two worlds of art and public service collided in 2021 with the creation of the “Broome County Security Division…Involved in the Community” coloring book. As art director for the project, Zeggert was able to collaborate with past and present SUNY Broome students to create a children’s coloring book depicting public servants at work within the community.
“I am truly proud of this project. It is art at work, making a positive impact in the community for our children. The coloring book was a huge hit and we are in the process of doing a reprint so that more kids in Broome County can learn about public service in action through art.”
Learn more about Visual Communication Arts: A.S. at SUNY Broome!
