| | | | Welcome
We are pleased to share with you the School’s news, activities and accomplishments of our alumni, students, faculty and staff as we begin the 2017–18 academic year.
As alumni, we ask that you keep us abreast of your accomplishments and please know that you are always welcome back to campus to participate in our activities.
Spring 2018 dates for our MFA and BFA exhibitions at the Krannert Art Museum and our Visitors Series are listed below.
Key Accomplishments
Our students continue to do great work and represent us well after graduation.
Please note that in "College Factual" under Best Colleges offering Degrees/Majors in Design and Applied Arts: Nationwide (2018), Illinois is ranked #6.
The School of Art + Design was listed in Illini Success as one of the top 15 majors/units on campus for high employment rates. Art + Design students responding to the first destination survey had an employment rate of 81%, which is among the higher rates on campus.
Undergraduate Enrollment
We have good news on the undergraduate admissions front. The School has set the goal of increasing our undergraduate enrollment through the development of an aggressive recruitment and communication plan in tandem with the FAA recruitment and admissions office. Our faculty and staff participated in a number of recruitment venues on campus and across the mid-west, mailed 1,200 BFA catalogs to high school art teachers and our FAA representatives visited many high school art programs.
Through all of these efforts, the School of Art + Design was very pleased to welcome 165 new first year students for the 2017-18 academic year. This “Class of 2021” is the largest class since 2005.
Summer 2017 Outreach/Recruitment Efforts
- Summer Educator Micro-Residency
Summer 2017 was our fourth Summer Educator Micro-Residency, created in partnership between FAA Admissions and the School of Art + Design. We hosted 34 art educators from IL, IN, WI, MI, KY, OH, TN, NY, NJ, VA, TX, CA, VT.
- FAA Summer Intensive
FAA Summer Intensive 2017 hosted 74 high school students from 8 states and 2 countries. FAA Summer Intensive encompasses Art + Design, Dance, and Theatre. We offered art + Design classes in Painting, Drawing, New Media, Industrial Design (Product), Metals (Jewelry), Graphic Design, and Comic Art.
Increasing Diversity
Art + Design has continued to focus on establishing a more inclusive atmosphere in every aspect of the School. This can be measured through our efforts that include the August 2016 faculty/staff retreat that focused on “Issues of Inclusivity in the Classroom,” our continued partnership with the Black Girl Genius Week organizers, and outreach through the newly created BLOC Gallery, a student run gallery. We have made progress in our recruitment activities with our newly established partnership with Chicago based organizations such as the Chicago Public Schools Advanced Arts Program and MARWEN, a visual arts center for under-served youth.
Graduate Student Advisory Committee
In fall 2016 the School of Art + Design developed a Graduate Student Advisory Committee to facilitate discussions with the Art + Design administration about issues pertaining to our graduate students interests and concerns. This group meets twice a semester and is composed of elected representatives from all of our programs.
Undergraduate Student Advisory Committee
In fall 2017 the School of Art + Design is developing an undergraduate advisory group for discussions with the Art + Design administration about issues pertaining to our undergraduate students’ interests and concerns. This group will meet twice a semester and will be composed of representatives from all of our programs.
2017 BFA Exhibition Catalog
The Art + Design 2017 BFA Exhibition Catalog was designed by graphic design seniors Grace Sullivan and Robert Marohn. We are pleased to announce that this catalog received the Excellence Award in the "Green-Production" category from the 47th Annual University & College Designers Association (UCDA) Design Competition.
Thank you to Grace, Robert and Associate Professor Eric Benson for all of their efforts in the creation of a beautiful catalog that documents the work of the class of 2017. |
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- Graphic Design junior, Keenan Dailey was the winner of the Afrofuturism Cover Art Contest in spring 2017. Read his interview in Chicago Literati. His first short film "Labyrinth” was selected for the 2016 New Art Film Festival.
- Honglin Liu recognized by the 2017 core77 Design Awards
Honglin Liu was recently honored for his chair created in Stephen Cartwright’s class ARTS 299, fall 2016, “Introduction to Furniture Design.” Honglin was a Student Notable in the Furniture & Lighting Award category.
- Recent Industrial Design alum (2017), Charlie Prescott won an IDSA student merit award.
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Lisa Mercer is an Assistant Professor of Design in the School of Art + Design. She is the founder of Operation Compass, a 501(c)3, established to continue the work she developed while enrolled in the MFA program in Design Research at UNT. Her internationally recognized Master’s thesis was titled, "Riding Shotgun in the Fight Against Human Trafficking." She has been invited to present her research at four international academic conferences, three national academic conferences, and nine public speaking and media events. Her research is focused on using design research methods as a way of developing and executing social innovations to impact change. She received her BFA in Visual Communications and Design from Purdue University in 2000 and her MFA in Design Research from the University of North Texas (UNT) in 2015. |
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Dr. Salamanca is an interaction designer who has been experimenting with product aesthetics and information technologies, from both academy and private organizations, for more than 15 years. His current research work is two faceted. One strand inquires for the participation of socially apt smart artifacts in socio-material interaction. The other explores the design of visual and tangible data for the achievement of unplanned collective goals such as urban commuting.
He regards social interaction mediated by smart (computational) artifacts as the ongoing adaptation of the activity flows of individuals, which are shaped by the enaction of both people’s and artifact’s programs of action. At a socio-technological level, this means that for the achievement of collective goals the design of social abilities of nonhuman agents is as relevant as people's sociality.
Dr. Salamanca holds a doctoral degree from the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago, USA, a master degree in design direction from Domus Academy in Milan, Italy, and a BA in industrial Design at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia. He is currently assistant professor at the Design Department of Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia, where he created and directed the first undergraduate interactive media program of the country in 2004. |
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Nekita Thomas is a designer, researcher, and educator with skill in participatory design and social practice.
She works across a range of media to create integrated visual and communication systems of print, interaction, and installation design. Working primarily with themes of identity, history and social justice, her research focuses on the analysis, explication and disruption of the African American experience in sociocultural contexts and popular culture. Her work overlaps into American studies, African American studies, design history, media studies, sociology, and women and gender studies. She is also interested in exploring ad-hoc circumstance around making as a model for design justice.
Nekita is a member of AIGA's National Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, which was created in 2014 to encourage diversity in design education, discourse, and practice as means to strengthen and expand the relevance of design in all areas of society.
She earned her M.F.A. in Visual Studies from The University at Buffalo in New York. |
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Krystal Harper joins Art & Design in the position of Educational Technology Specialist at the Art & Design Laboratories. She has a BFA from Oklahoma State University, and an MFA from The University of Illinois. She will be splitting her time between the Digital Output Lab and the 3D Fabrication Lab. Krystal brings extensive experience with our lab technology and our students’ activities, and we expect her to be able to provide much needed help in our labs quite quickly. Welcome Krystal! |
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Paul Duncum, Professor of Art Education retired summer 2017 after 14 years at the University of Illinois, School of Art + Design.
He came to Illinois from the Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia, where he taught primary and secondary visual arts curriculum.
Paul brought innovative research and teaching methods to the School. He has over 250 publications and three books. His courses included: Elementary Art Education, Advanced Education Laboratory Professional Teaching Seminar, Visual Culture in Art Education, Foundations in Art Education, Art and Cultural Theory, Foundations in Art Education, Popular Visual Culture, and Exploring Visual Culture.
We wish Paul happy retirement in Tazmania. |
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What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I came to U of I because it felt like home to me the first time I stepped onto campus. There was something about the place, the buildings, and the people that made me want to stay and invest my next 4 years. I had visited a few many amazing universities before coming to see U of I, and for me, it was love at first sight!
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I’m now running my own user experience and strategy consultancy. I am helping a variety of companies improve their product experiences in order to solidify their businesses while pleasing their customers. I focus on bringing empathy to the table and poking holes in existing solutions during product development. Coming from the UIUC ID program, I was at a great advantage in my UX career because I already had a solid research foundation since that was such a integral part of our curriculum. This has set me apart from my peers in design / technology. In addition to running my consulting business, I create content (videos, articles, and courses) for my blog UX Queen (http://uxqueen.io). One of the big things I want to do in my career is give back. I want to be able to share my learnings, mistakes, and stories with other people so that they can have a launching pad for their futures. I talk about topics ranging from running user interviews to productivity.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
My best memory from UIUC was studio time during senior year. We were all working on our senior thesis and it just felt like we were “in it together” working hard on models, presentations, research, interviews, and more. We were working SO hard and somewhat stressed, but somehow it was all okay. We weren’t alone and that made all the difference. My peers worked hard and pushed me to do my best. I learned so much from them during our late night studio work sessions. I will never forget those moments.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Starting my own consulting business 3 years after graduation. Putting out content on my blog :)
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
Subscribe at my blog http://uxqueen.io for articles, videos, and access to my resource library!! :)
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Solidify your “WHY” - Why are you doing the job you’re doing? Why are you in the field you’re in? Why are you chasing after that promotion? Knowing your why is like having an internal compass. You will find it so much easier to make decisions in life and your career when you can nail down the reasoning. Always have your 2 year, 5 year and 10 year plan laid out. These plans may change, but understanding where you want your life to go is crucial. I had that laid out within 1 year of graduation and it has helped me make LEAPS in my career. It has given me the ability to try things I never thought I could. Outlining these 3 timelines gave me my very own career blueprint. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc. I’m originally from the east coast, though I’m currently living on the west coast in the Los Angeles area. I just recently finished up my second Masters in Information Science at UCLA. My first Masters is in Fine Art, specifically lens-based media, from the School of Visual Arts in NYC.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
Leading up to attending UIUC I was running a non-profit in the CU area with several other people. At the time, I was very interested in literature, reading a range of authors from several different countries. This was my original major at UIUC, comparative world literature. Half a year in, I switched to art history, though by the end of the year I had switched to studio art, with a specific interest in photography. This largely came out of my taking an art history course early on in my first year that focused on the history of photography while also taking a film photography class using the dark room. One afternoon in particular while working alone in the dark room I recall thinking ‘this is how I want to use my brain, in this way, using this medium.’ It was a very clear moment.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I currently work in plant science research at the Rancho Santa Ana Herbarium at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont. I oversee a National Science Foundation funded project that focuses on collections in support of biological research (CSBR). The primary purpose of the project is to process the historical plant specimens of ten California botanists within the collection.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
One of my best memories at UIUC is putting together our photography thesis show. We (the photo seniors) found a perfect location that was ideal for a photograph exhibit. It was the entire floor of yet to be completed building. The space was very open with large windows. We worked many hours together toward finishing and preparing the space for the show. I think we were all very pleased with how our work looked on opening night.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
My proudest accomplishment is a book I recently published through the New York Botanical Garden Press titled The Field Photographs of Alain H. Liogier; Plants of Hispaniola Dominican Republic, 1968-1969. It is a curated collection of the field photographs of the botanist Alain Liogier who’s research primarily focused on the Caribbean region (Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico). It includes one hundred and sixteen 2 in x 3 in Kodachrome prints of tropical plants that Liogier photographed while out collecting in the field.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I’m currently considering the focus of my next book. The collections here at the Rancho Santa Ana Herbarium and Library are so rich. I’ve been spending time with them over the last year and will likely choose a collector from this collection to be the focus of my next book. Plant science field collecting is such an interesting practice, which the field photograph is an indexical trace of.
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Pursue what you love, though make sure to have some measure of financial practicality in how you go about it.
http://www.nybgpress.org/Products/5549/the-field-photographs-of-alain-h-liogier-plants-of-hispaniola-dominican-republic-19681969.aspx |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
I was born in Chicago and spent my teenage years as a professional BMX athlete. I traveled the world riding in contests, touring with companies, and meeting new people through a network of underground culture. After a bad accident, I applied to go to college, which was not in my life plan at that time. I ended up applying to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because of the school’s history of focus on research and production across disciplines. I entered UIUC as an undergraduate without ever taking an art class.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
After one year as an undeclared major, I decided to apply to the School of Art and Design to peruse design. At the time, I was completely self-taught – I was pirating lots of digital software to produce images and videos for my passion in BMX. Through this hobby, I found an interest in graphic design and video production. When entering UIUC, I knew that I wanted to pursue an career in the arts because I’ve always lived my life interested in creative endeavors. After a year of general art education, I was introduced to a new program, the New Media program, which combined interests in art, design and technology. This was a perfect fit for my interests.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I currently live and work in Chicago, but spend about half of the year traveling to different cities and countries for my art. I am a practicing artist and also am the director and founder of Radius, an experimental radio broadcast platform established in 2009 that produces, exhibits, and distributes work by radio and transmission artists from around the world. I split my time pretty evenly between my own studio practice and my role as a curator for Radius.
My current solo and collaborative projects, installations, and public performances often investigate the mundane sonic nuances of everyday electronic devices. A key component of my creative practice is collaboration. I often work with others from diverse disciplinary backgrounds because of the inherent challenges and incredible possibilities that come from working with others. Much of my work uses sound, radio, and new media as a creative medium. My research is situated in a contemporary and historical practice of media, radio, and sound art, which also encompasses performance, media installation, and networked art.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
My best memories at UIUC have always been my ongoing relationships with faculty. While an undergraduate student, the entire faculty in the School of Art and Design treated me on equal terms, giving me confidence that my career as an artist was possible. The faculty supported my experimentation, research, and freak interests. They always took the time to listen to what I was interested in and helped me build skillsets that pushed my art practice forward, even through many awkward stages of interests. The faculty always thought of me as a peer, and I was fortunate enough to work with several of the faculty on their personal projects during and after my time as a student. Getting this hands-on experience really helped open me to what it meant to be a practicing artist.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
My proudest accomplishments always vary, and part of my personality is to keep pushing myself to grow sustainably as a person, artist, and curator. In the last few years, I have had the pleasure of touring around the world for artists residencies, live performances, and exhibitions. I am proud to have built a strong network around the world in the past 7 years, which has allowed me to travel and grow as a person. Similar to my life as a professional BMX rider, my career as an artist has helped me see the world, experience different cultures, and form relationships with other individuals who are interested in similarly weird subcultures. I believe incredible and strange relationships I’ve built between people around the world has been one of my greatest accomplishments that keeps nourishing me personally and pushing me to be a better artist and collaborator.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
Opening in the Fall 2017, I am presenting a mini retrospective of Radius at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD Museum) in New York. The exhibition Sonic Arcade: Shaping Space with Sound is a multi-component exhibition featuring interactive installations, immersive environments, and performing objects that explore how the ephemeral and abstract nature of sound is made material. Sonic Arcade: Shaping Space with Sound is on view September 14, 2017 to February 25, 2018.
Radius will presents two new commission installations by Deborah Stratman and Anna Friz that explore radiophonic beacons inside and outside, below and above the MAD Museum. Radius will also install the Audio Relay Unit, a mobile FM radio transmitter designed and constructed in 2002 by Intermod Series in collaboration with Temporary Services. Using the Audio Relay Unit, Radius will broadcast live on-air our entire Episode Archive which includes over 200 international artists. Museum guests, provided with handheld radios and a printed broadcast schedule, are encouraged to roam the museum grounds while listening to over 80 radio programs produced by Radius.
For more information visit: http://madmuseum.org/sonic-arcade-shaping-space-with-sound
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Collaborate! A key component of my creative practice is collaboration. I often work with others from diverse disciplinary backgrounds because of the inherent challenges and incredible possibilities that come from working with others. Through these collaborations, I strive to build long-term, mutually beneficial experiences that help me grow as a person and expand my art practice. UIUC has the benefit of being a research institution. As a student, this means you have access to brilliant minds: scientists, artists, historians, technology specialists, writers, poets, the list goes on and on! Use these resources to help build your specific interests and to gain experience in other fields that will strengthen your work. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc
I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. For as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little kid, my dream has been to be involved in an art related field such as painter, graphic designer, fashion designer, or really any similar discipline. Interestingly, I entered Kookmin University as a Metal and Jewelry Design major student. Now that I think about it, it was not an accidental choice even though I had no understanding of the field or what it was going to involve at that time. I always had a good eye for details and appreciated the hands on experiences. After participating in a study abroad program in University of Kansas during my senior year, I decided to go to graduate school in the United States to experience a different education system. I came to the U of I in 2013 to study in Metals and developed my practice concentrating on creating contemporary jewelry and craft objects.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
When it came down to choosing one program between the two schools in which I was accepted, there were some factors I considered. Taking only a year off after graduating from college, a three-year program seemed more appealing to me so I could have enough time to develop and experiment a variety of materials, techniques and ideas. As a big research institution, U of I offers a unique chance to interact with students and staff members from lots of different backgrounds while at the same time being rooted firmly inside of a local community and it's decades’ worth of traditions and resources. I had a strong belief about the faculty members in the program as well as a lot the alumni who are actively engaged with the field. Those things showed me the strong potential of the program.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I recently moved to Springfield, Mo for a position I accepted as an assistant professor at Missouri State University in Metals. My practice explores the relationships between desire, clothing, and space within the context of the body. I spend a lot of time researching historical as well as contemporary meanings and interpretations of the materials I use. I utilize a lot of used clothing that are discarded, or damaged. To me, they are a form of documentation of humanity. They reflect the value system that is socially and culturally constructed. I use the parts of clothing and combine with metal to create mostly wearable objects. As I start to work in a new facility with different fellow artists, faculty members, and students, I am excited to see how this fresh environment will positively affect my research.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
Moving from a different country with no family and friends around, I spent a lot of time thinking by myself. It is interesting that some of the rough moments always turn into memories I am most fond of later on. My personal struggle adjusting to the cultural differences and language barrier with people has allowed me to have the opportunity to solely concentrate on nothing but my own self and the work. I still clearly remember those moments of sitting in the small chair working on things for hours in my quiet studio or walking through the quad at 2 am when no one was around. I am sure this experience helped me to become a more mature independent artist. Beside the times for my practice, I appreciate deeply that I had teaching opportunities during the time at U of I. Since the courses I taught were offered for Art and Design majors and non-majors, I interacted with a diverse group of students who have different backgrounds culturally, ethnically, or intellectually. It has allowed me to be aware of the importance of being open-minded and adapting to certain situation, which are inspirational qualities both for an artist and an educator.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Receiving the Fountainhead fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University right after graduation was an honorable achievement. Each year, three recent graduates from all over the nation are chosen as fellows in painting, sculpture, and craft departments, and offered a studio space, housing, and teaching assignments for one year. It was a meaningful transition for me not only to develop my artistic practice, but also to invest my interest in the teaching profession. At the end of it, I did a public lecture about my practice and a solo exhibition with the work I created during the fellowship period.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I have been combining both traditional and unconventional techniques and materials for my wearable objects and jewelry pieces, including drawing, metal/jewelry making process, textile and 3D printing. Currently I am utilizing vintage leather gloves as my primary material to express the concept of desire through symbolic and bodily forms. I have been invited to the annual symposium at East Carolina University as a guest speaker this winter. I am very excited to share my recent research to broader audiences.
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
My former professor and mentor Billie Theide always told me that graduate school is only a snap shot of my life. I had thought that the graduate program would be the answer to my practice and I would figure out everything by the time I graduated. As I was leaving the school, I realized that there is a decades long path ahead of me to maintain my work as an artist, an educator, and a human being. I look forward to the direction I want to go, and move one step at a time, hoping to get there someday with or without knowing it. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc:
I am an Indianapolis native who went to a small liberal art college in Kentucky called Centre for undergraduate. After getting a BA in studio art and living in a small town for four years, I wanted nothing more than to move New York City. So in September 2001, I packed my things and headed for the east coast. While living in New York, I primarily worked in art galleries and as a research assistant for a few professors at universities in and around city. To pay the rent, I also worked a number of other odd jobs. However, in 2003, when I was asked to become the director of Ubu Gallery, I let go of other work. The job also afforded me the opportunity to meet curators from Museum of Modern Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and The National Gallery. Hearing them plan exhibitions and make acquisitions, I became certain that I wanted to pursue a PhD in order to become a curator at a major museum.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?:
My experiences in New York led me pursue a graduate degree in art history. Although I considered programs on the east coast, I was so impressed with personalized attention I received from each faculty during my campus visit that Illinois really stood out from other institutions. I came to the U of I because of the quality of the art history faculty, the breadth and inter-disciplinarity of the program, and the opportunity to gain valuable teaching and research experience. Through the close mentoring of the faculty and the teaching opportunities that they offered me, I became inspired to focus more on teaching than the curatorial work that had originally attracted me to art history. Although curatorial projects are still part of my practice as a researcher, I am pleased to be able to work in a university environment, mentor students, and share the knowledge and approach to learning that I gained at Illinois.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?:
Now I am an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Kentucky, specializing in modern and contemporary art. In this area, I have curated a number of national and international exhibitions, and at Kentucky I have helped to establish a new MFA in Curatorial Studies, which will begin admitting students this year. My current book project, entitled “Ray Johnson: Beyond Belonging,” analyzes Johnson’s role as the initiator of the international “mail art” movement through the lenses of interpersonal communication, network studies, and theories of gender and sexuality. This past year I presented part of this research at the TATE in London and the Université de Bordeaux.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
There are so many that it's hard to narrow it down to one, but perhaps it was sneaking an unsolicited wall label into the Krannert Art Museum's Asian Art Galleries as part of an assignment for Anne Burkus Chasson's "Collecting East Asian Art" class.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Finishing my dissertation and getting a tenure-track job.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I have a forthcoming survey of mail art entitled Pushing the Envelope, which is scheduled to open Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Fleischman Gallery in Fall 2018 and will travel to other venues from there.
I am the guest editor of the Fall 2017 issue of Artl@s Bulletin, which is focused on "Network Visualizations": http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/artlas/
My article "Queer Correspondence: Ray Johnson's Exhibition of Correspondence Art at the Whitney," has just appeared in the July-December issue of Mexico City-based peer-reviewed journal, Nierika: http://revistas.ibero.mx/arte/uploads/volumenes/12/pdf/Nierika12-Final_29junio.pdf
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Surround yourself with people who challenge, inspire, and support you, and reciprocate in kind. http://finearts.uky.edu/savs/faculty-staff/miriam-kienle |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc
I’m first generation Mexican-American artist and educator from Chicago. The semester before my student teaching began I was able to take two studio classes in Chicago at Harold Washington College. Since I was a part time student I was applying to internships in the city and was able to intern in the education department of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. This kickstarted my interest in working in art museums and museum education.
I use photography as a means to examine my relationship to memory, nostalgia, and family history. While my artistic background is in photography, my work currently incorporates bookmaking, printmaking, and ceramics.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I went back and forth deciding if I wanted to go to an all art school or to a school that had an art program. Once I decided that I didn’t want to be around art kids all the time I applied to UIC and UIUC. I got accepted into both and went with UIUC because while it was far away it is still pretty close to Chicago. I knew that I wanted to be a studio artist right when I started but adding art education to my major was not planned from the beginning. What attracted me to art ed was thinking back to the amazing teaching artist teachers I had when I attended Marwen and wanting to be apart of teaching artist community.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I am back in Chicago and I work as a Family Programs Assistant at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and as an Educator at the Jane Addams Hull-House. My current practice focuses on how to make contemporary art museums accessible to Latino families.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
My senior year I wrote a proposal for the Visiting Artist Lecture series for artist Curtis Mann to visit UIUC. I had encountered Mann’s work while I was a high school intern at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. With the help of Professor Luke Batten I was able to invite Mann to UIUC and in addition to his lecture he had studio visits with both grad and undergrad students. My favorite part was after the lecture Curtis, Luke, myself and other UIUC students went to get food and in a relaxed environment were able to ask questions that we were unable to bring up during the lecture.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Accepting a 10 month fellowship at the Brooklyn Museum. I have never visited NYC before working there. I also moved there 2 days before I was to start.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
At the Hull-House I'm working on contributing to their Family Days and Public Programs.
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Keep in touch with your professors. They can offer so much knowledge and advice in these post grad years. Also staying in touch with your fellow studio mates, you never know what collaborative opportunities may raise from those friendships.
Photo credit: Carolina Ibarra |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc
I am a designer using artist’s material and artistic sensibility, but also I can introduce myself an interdisciplinary artist since my work is positioned in the middle of art, design, and craft I am originally from South Korea and studied graphic design in Korea before I attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I had some freelance experiences and established a small design studio with my friend. But attending classes at UIUC was a turning point for me as I can pursue what I have wanted.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I wanted to be a design educator with my MFA degree if my situation allows, and my professor recommended me UIUC when I was looking for graduate schools in the US. He said it is a good school and even his graduate thesis advisor was from UIUC when he studied. Also, financial support and TA/RA opportunity for the graduate students were attractive. Those opportunities helped to get ready for post graduation. Champaign-Urbana became my American hometown.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I am currently an Assistant professor of Graphic Design at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. My research explores unconventional methods of creating the three-dimensional type and objects with materials and techniques unique to graphic design, such as ceramics and 3D printing. Today, technological convergence and new digital manufacturing processes have broadened creative possibilities and the perception of the three-dimensional experience for artists and designers. In response to this movement, this research combines three different areas: graphic design, ceramics, and 3D printing. I decided to build my own tools including a custom desktop 3D printer and my own paste extruders, as a ceramic 3D printer was not affordable or accessible. The use of digital fabrication pushes the boundary of the medium in graphic design both regarding concept and materiality. Likewise, 3D printed ceramic type obtains materiality and dimensionality so that this becomes an involved cross-disciplinary research effort.
My future research would focus on how to combine analog and digital methods and tangible and intangible experience in design.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
It might choose two best moments. One was when I was a part of the MFA show with my classmates, and the other one is when I received my diploma as there was a behind story. A year before my MFA show, I was diagnosed with a retinal detachment in my right eye. It was very sudden, and I had got the first surgery as it can cause loss of sight. Unfortunately, I had two eye surgeries since it was detached again after the first surgery, and I had to take a semester off. It was a terrible experience as I have to have the face-down recovery for about two months after the retinal surgery. Faculty, staff, and friends helped me to overcome the situation. I truly appreciate all the support I received. When I get back to school, I only had a semester toward my MFA show. I got inspiration from my independent study in ceramics and changed my thesis topic eventually. That was the moment when I started to combine graphic design and ceramics. Thankfully, I was able to submit my work on time. Although my thesis work was a part of the MFA show, I spend one more semester to finish my thesis paper and receive my diploma. Actually, I was graduated in December of 2015, and it took 3 and 1/2 years. Somehow this misfortune turned in a good fortune in the end and brought me two significant memories in my life.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
First, I was delighted when I get a full-time tenure track position as I have wanted to be a design educator/researcher for a long time. As a teacher, I am happy to share what I have learned with young designers. As a design researcher, I can set my own research agenda and run projects. I am also proud of my work when my research project started to gain attention nationally and internationally. In the beginning, I was not even sure I can 3D print clay with a DIY machine although there were a few people was experimenting with this new method. Thankfully, I successfully proved that it is doable. Many have contacted me to talk about my research. I have been traveling to give workshops and lectures, and I am looking forward to disseminating what I have learned much more.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I hope to have opportunities not only to share my work but also inspire other artists and designers since this new technology could provide new methods for their creative practices. We cannot deny the rapidly changing digital technologies and their influences on art forms in the digital age and for the post-digital age. There are mixtures of hopes and concerns between being human or being digital. Personally, I believe the debate should focus on the exploration of new avenues and possible ways to bridge digital and physical relationships. Digital environments enable us to make something we have only imagined or even have never imagined before.
For now, I am testing a large scale 3D printer that can print larger 3D type and objects. Then next step would be testing different materials, like cement or concrete as they do not need special curing process like firing ceramics. I would need a space and some research budget. Also, I am experimenting with different CNC machines for my research project.
In the future, I like to turn my work more interactive to bridge analog and digital methods and tangible and intangible experience. I have vague ideas at this point. However, I truly want my work would be the total work of art in the middle of art, design, and craft.
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
I want to say "Half of your life is filled with all kinds of problems, and the other half is for trouble shooting."
I see the design process as the problem-solving process, and it helped me grow up as a designer and have an attitude to the life. We are facing with different kinds of problems–personal, social, cultural, or even political–and it leads us to the endless problem-solving process whether they are big or small and significant or not. Please use your artistic/creative force to tackle the problems in your field. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc
I am originally from Moline, IL and now living in Chicago. I moved to Chicago to pursue an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I completed my MFA in 2016. I am a first generation Mexican American, my identity has heavily influenced my work, specifically my father's history of migrating to the U.S. in the 70's. While in Chicago, I have taught at various non-profits and institutions across the city. Teaching in brown and black communities is important to me as an educator. I have taught at various institutions including, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Elevarte, SkyArt, The Frida Kahlo Community Organization, and now at The National Museum of Mexican Art.
What brought you to U of I? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I was attracted to U of I due to the strong presence of a community within the A+D department. I was also inspired to learn more about and have the opportunity to work with the faculty in the Painting and Sculpture Department. I wanted to attend a research based institution that would allow me access to build my artistic career and take courses that would influence the research in my practice. It was exciting to learn that as a student in the Painting department, I was granted my own studio and could create sustainability in my practice so early on in my career.
Where are you now, and what are you doing? What does your research or current practice focus on?
I am living and working in Pilsen, Chicago. I just finished a couple of residencies this summer and now I'm getting ready for an upcoming solo show at EXPO Chicago this September. I am really humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to exhibit at so many venues across the city this year, things have sped up quite a bit after grad school. This past March I had the opportunity to exhibit at 5 spaces across the city and that was a humbling experience. After completing my MFA in 2016 I had the opportunity to join the Chicago Artists Coalition’s BOLT Residency for the year of 2016-17. Through the residency I was selected to show my work at EXPO Chicago this September 2017 curated by Janine Mileaf, Director of The Arts Club of Chicago. After BOLT, I used my time this summer to travel and complete two residencies to prepare for my solo show at EXPO. I was invited to join The Fountainhead Residency in Miami, FL and I just came back from the ACRE Residency in Steuben, WI. This summer has been an exciting time to experiment with a portable studio and expand my research.
My current research is focused on the American Dream, specifically using my father's crossing as a fundamental influence in my identity. I am interested in exploring games and American pop culture in order to recreate spaces through installation that can allude to the excess in the consumerist America and to unpack how capitalism prevails in immigrant's homes and bodies. I have been interested in how ceramic objects and ornamentation become collected in order to signify a certain attainment of class status and decadence within immigrant homes. Using Baroque Rococo architectural interiors, my current work displays the imaginary recreation of the excess, and displays the state violence on the bodies that attempt to attain the American Dream. I am interested in the ways in which architecture poses restrains on brown bodies, specifically recreating my childhood home in order to point towards class status in relation to architecture.
Best memory of your time at UIUC?
I will never forget the moment Ron Kovatch asked our Drawing class to cut up our drawings we had spent hours on. I was so upset and frightened at the idea of tearing up one of my works. That was a fundamental moment for me as an artist, I learned to let go and not be afraid to take risks/cut/paste/add/subtract.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
I am overall overwhelmed and thankful for 2017 and the opportunities that have presented themselves. I am proud of where my work has taken me, but specifically I think the year (2014) I was accepted into grad school was my proudest accomplishment. I was juggling preparing work for my BFA thesis while also documenting work for my grad school application, I took a risk and only applied to one school (SAIC). I was accepted and was proud of myself for taking the next step in my career when I felt ready to do so.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I am excited to have the opportunity to show work at EXPO Chicago this September. I will be showing in group shows across the country lined up for 2017 and 2018. In October I will be showing work in Miami, FL through the Young Artist's Initiative, "Design and its Dimension." In November I will be a part of LACMA's Pacific Standard Time in LA and will be showing work at Charles White Gallery for the group show, "A Universal History of Infamy," curated by Vincent Ramos. In 2018 I will be a part of the group show, "Out of Easy Reach," curated by Allison Glenn at Gallery 400 here in Chicago.
A few words of advice for those about to graduate?
Don't be afraid to make work about your identity, if you want to be excessive go full force. Apply to internships, go to grad school in the city you want to live in, always update your CV and website, make exciting business cards, and help out other artists in your community because in the end your community will sustain you when no one else will.
yvettemayorga.com |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
For the past fifteen years I have lived in Toronto, the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, the Métis, and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. In 2009 relocated to San Francisco, the traditional lands of the Ohlone and Coast Miwok peoples, where I completed an MFA in Social Practice at California College of the Arts. Since then I have been making interdisciplinary art and working in art education, administration and curation. I see a lot of intersections between these different aspects of my life, particularly in my art practice which often manifests as a confluence of pedagogy, organizing, research, and creation.
What brought you here? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I decided to pursue a PhD in Art Education at UIUC because I was looking for a program that was open to interdisciplinary scholarship and which would support my sustained investigation into socially engaged art. It was important to me that the program is situated in an art school because I’m interested in being in conversation with makers and being in an environment that believes in artistic practice as a form of knowledge generation. I was also drawn by the incredible faculty expertise within the school and to the Krannert Art Museum.
What does your research or current practice focus on?
I am currently researching the institutional mediation of socially engaged or participatory artwork at museums and art galleries in Canada and the United States.
I came to this particular focus because of my interest in learning and sharing information about the collaborative processes between artists, institutions and the public when they generate projects together. I am also working towards developing mechanisms for studying and talking about socially engaged art that mirror or share some of the same aims as the form itself. This investment comes both from my experiences as an artist and from my love of museums and galleries.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
My doctoral research has been made possible through the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship and a four-year doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. During my studies I have also undertaken additional projects that I am proud of, including the curation of Greeks for Greece—an art exhibition that sought to respond to the disparity between on campus “Greek life” and daily life in Greece during the overlapping financial and refugee crises.
This year I will be travelling to different museums and art galleries in the US and Canada where I will spend between two to four months following the lifecycle of different participatory art projects from beginning to post-project debriefing as a component of my dissertation. I am also working on a number of art projects including a video collaboration with a geologist and a yet formless exploration of American colonialism, accountability and reparations. |
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Tell me about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
Before attending UIUC I went to Savannah College of Art and Design where I studied Fiber and Sculpture. After graduating I moved back to Kansas City where I grew up. I spent 7 years making work and working for various art not-for-profits as well as teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute in the Fiber Department. When I first moved back to Kansas City I got involved with an amazing organization for artists called the Charlotte Street Foundation (CSF). Right after undergrad I applied for a year-long residency there, which included a free studio in downtown and support for my practice in the form of exhibitions, introductions to curators and a studio mentor. I met a lot of artists in Kansas City during that time and in 2011, myself and four other artists decided to start a space called PLUG Projects. Our focus at PLUG was to exhibit artists that didn’t live in Kansas City as well as help Kansas City artists find exhibition opportunities outside of the city. PLUG went on to start several programs besides the exhibition program including a regional art publication and an annual book fair featuring artist publications from across the US. Currently, PLUG is still operating in Kansas City and run by seven artists that live in the city.
What brought you here? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I found out about the studio program through a couple studio alumni that I had gotten to know during their time in Kansas City, Paul Shortt and Samantha Persons. During their time at UIUC I followed their practices and was always impressed by their comments about the school and the professors. I also found the location of the University pretty interesting. The school is located near several cities that I was interested in becoming more familiar with, St. Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis. My fiancé lives in Kansas City and we wanted to make sure I selecting a school that was close enough that we could still visit each other.
What does your research or current practice focus on?
Currently, I am focused on making site specific installations that play off of the architecture of the spaces that the work is installed in. The ceiling, walls and floor act as the frame for the work creating an immersive space for the work to be viewed. This past summer I went on road trip that stopped at many of the 1970s land art sites, including Spiral Jetty, Sun Tunnels, Double Negative and Amarillo Ramp. I am interested in how scale and perspective shift depending on the space, with interior spaces it is more dependent on the architecture and with outdoor spaces it becomes more dependent on the buildings and surrounding landscape.
What led you to this specialization?
I have always been drawn to more three-dimensional ways of working and over the last few years my work has continued to grow in scale. I think this has to do with my love of pattern and repetition. Which I also believe is a major reason why I am interested in more fiber-based ways of working. Most fiber practices involve repetitive movements that come together to create pattern and structure. For example knitting, weaving and sewing, it’s the same movement over and over again that then creates structure. This interest combined with my love of architecture and curiosity about spaces has resulted in a series of site specific or site sensitive installations.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Up to this point I would say my proudest accomplishments would be the collaboratives I have co-founded and been involved with that create new opportunities and funding for artists. These projects include PLUG Projects and Say Uncle (a current project started at UIUC by three MFA students). As well as my art focused collaborative projects, my partner, Craig Howard, and I have opened a grocery store and a restaurant/catering business in Kansas City. This is not directly related to what I make in the studio but it is a huge part of life and influences how I exist in the KC community and how I can engage with the city.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
Currently, I have a solo exhibition, Notes on Sculpture, at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia which runs through October 15. The exhibition is informed by Robert Morris’ 1966 essay of the same name, and consists of a site-responsive installation of ribbon, wood and ratchet straps and a new series of photographic collages.
I am also part of a two-person online exhibition, Suspended, which is on view at PLEAT Gallery during the month of August. PLEAT Gallery was started by an amazing artist and curator named Bethanie Irons, in Columbia, MO. Each month she curates a two-person online exhibition between two artists as well as interviews each artist about their practice.
When I return to school at the end of the month Dulcee Boehm, Benjamin Cook and I will continue working together on our collaborative project, Say Uncle. Say Uncle is an experimental residency and nomadic exhibition program. The co-directors invite artists from around the country to come and work in Champaign-Urbana Illinois. During their stay artists are commissioned to make temporary public art works, which could take a variety of forms from more experimental to more traditional. Once the work is created Say Uncle travels the work around the region, exhibiting it at galleries, alternative spaces and community events. Say Uncle documents each of the projects through publications that are produced during and after the work tours.
What are your plans after UIUC? Five year plan? Dream job?
After I leave UIUC I plan to move back to Kansas City and start teaching again at the Kansas City Art Institute. If that doesn’t end up working out, I would like to start an organization providing artists opportunities and funding for a studio residency in Kansas City connecting them to curators and artists in the city. Ideally I would like to do both of these things at some point as well as maintain my studio practice and be an active part of our restaurant. Craig and I have a shared plan to have a family, work together to accomplish each of our goals, and be active members of the Kansas City community. We love doing what we can to help the organizations and community groups that we support. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
I am from Peoria IL and I’ve been doing freelance design for the past 2 years.
What brought you here? What attracted you to design/art history/art education/studio?
I initially came to U of I to study mechanical engineering, however, after my first semester I had to take a hard look at what I really wanted to do with my life with the help of a mentor I was able to discover which path was right for me. Switching majors and becoming an artist has been one of the best decisions of my life.
What does your research or current practice focus on?
My research and practice is currently focused on story-based/experience-based design. I view art within its many facets as one of the many primal forms of communication and subsequently understanding. I use this perspective in all of my technical disciplines which in themselves range from Filmmaking and Cinematography Design and 2D/3D Motion Design and Animation to Music production and sound design to Illustration to Game Design, and Digital Interactive and Digital Kinetic Interactive Design. I apply the philosophy of creating a world, and through a story endeavor to immerse the audience in said world in this immersion I hope to bridge a gap in understanding that words alone cannot reach.
What led you to this specialization?
I began to approach these concepts after my junior year (being my sophomore year in the GD program due to switching majors). I believe a succinct point of emphasis for me was working on my first infographic project at the end of the first semester of my sophomore year. I decided to do my project on the “Kardashev Scale” a concept that explores the ranking of theoretical galactic civilizations based on their management and access to usable energy. I chose my style based on an infographic titled “How books are made.” The style used an isometric perspective, simple but modular character and environment design to create it’s world and subsequently tell it’s story. I illustrated the whole thing in a open source program called GIMP and told the story of the Kardashev Scale. The work eventually ended up being one of the top image searches on google for “The Kardashev Scale”
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
I actually have to say that being selected for my first film festival being the New Art Film Festival in Champaign-Urbana and seeing my short film “Labyrinth” on the “big screen” has to be one of my proudest moments.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
I am currently working on my first feature film called “Greene”. This is a film I’ve written, directed, and am starring in. It follows the story of an African American gallery owner struggling with depression. I am almost finished with the editing process which is very exciting, it’s looking like the final cut will come out to a strong concise hour which I will b e happy with. My plan after this is to scour film festivals for distributors in order to bring the story to a larger audience and hopefully get investors for future film based projects.
What are your plans after UIUC? Five year plan? Dream job?
I would love to go to grad school at UCLA to continue my research for the time being and endeavor to keep learning and creating within and outside my specialization. Ultimately I want to stay independent and artistically free in my creation efforts. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
I am originally from Manchester in the UK, where I was a freelance product designer and had a glass studio, supplying Harvey Nichols exclusively with a line of branded glassware. As a pewter designer I was awarded recognition from the Worshipful Company of Pewterers in London. My business was supported by the Prince of Wales Business Trust that supports start-up companies.
Continuing to design for companies, I began a Masters in Science in User Centred Design at Salford University, which led me into academia and discovered my passion for research.
After 6 years as faculty at Loughborough University (UK) I joined the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign, and fell in love with the Midwest.
What attracted you to design/art history/new media (etc.) What brought you here?
I really wanted to live and work abroad, and thought America would not provide any language issues. I now understand that we often speak the same language but use very different words!
What does your research focus on?
We fill our environments with artifacts that we have collected throughout our lifetime and they should meet a functional need (help us complete a task, such as a chair, kitchen knife) or a supra-functional needs (family photographs, certificates of achievements, mementoes of travelling). The problem arises when our abilities change.
My research focuses specifically upon the needs of individuals from both a functional and an emotional perspective. If the products we surround ourselves with are not enabling us to complete daily tasks they may be striping us of our dignity and eroding our independence. For example, how many of us struggle with television remote controls or basic food packaging.
By responding to emotional needs of individuals they can enjoy their independent living for longer, age in an environment of their choice and we sustain the value of our treasured belongings.
What led you to this specialization?
The realization that the products we handle everyday were not designed for women from an anthropometric perspective. This raised my concern and at the same time highlighted an opportunity. Industrial Design has been numerically male dominated, but with our graduating designers that is now changing.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
Obtaining my PhD in Industrial Design: Empathic Design Research from Loughborough University in the UK. I started it while I was in the UK and completed it while teaching in the USA.
What do you enjoy the most about teaching/and or mentoring students?
The students are amazing. They age you and yet keep your spirit youthful at the same time. Pushing the students outside their comfort zone and observing their growth is a one of the most satisfying parts to teaching.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
We have just finalizing a dog wheel chair project that involved 50 sophomores in Industrial Design. The main challenge being the dogs with mobility issues could not be interviewed to express their functional or emotional needs. Quite a challenge!
Working with Amanda Henderson (graduate student of Industrial Design) we are reimagining the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology to encourage more collaborative working spaces. We are hoping to instill the playfulness of the design studio into the space of scientists, engineers and technologist.
Personally I am preparing to write a book that will help people make sense of the products that they fill their homes will. Making sense of our surroundings becomes increasingly more important as we age, and especially as we need to downsize later in life. The book will be easy to read, leading to actionable outcomes for the reader and a new direction for me as a writer.
Best advice for prospective historian/educator/designer/artist?
Be yourself. If others do not understand what you are doing, try to communicate clearer. Be fearless if you need to venture into unchartered territory. |
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Tell us about yourself—where are you from, prior teaching or professional experience, education, etc.
After completing a master’s in music composition at UIUC, I worked at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology as director of the Imaging Technology Group. I left that position to get an MFA in New Media at UIUC.
What attracted you to design/art history/new media (etc.) What brought you here?
I love the way that art—as a method, strategy, and/or field of study—not only enables but encourages (requires?) a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the world. As an artist, I can dramatically shift my approach to subjects of interest in terms of form, process, or perspective. This means my roles often vary, taking on the form of new media studies scholar, computational agency coder, interface designer, or Silicon Valley culture researcher. I code apps, edit video, write theoretical texts, build robots, direct teams, or analyze data, all depending on the specific project I’m working at that moment. Having worked in multiple fields before I came to art, I’ve found that such flexibility can be elusive.
What does your research focus on?
I focus on the cultural, social, and political effects of software. What does it mean for human creativity when a computational system can paint its own artworks? How is an interface that foregrounds our friend count changing our conceptions of friendship? Why do we become emotionally attached to software systems and what does this attachment enable for those who made them? To examine questions like these, I create interactive experiences, machines, and systems that make the familiar unfamiliar, revealing the ways that software prescribes our behavior and thus, how it changes who we are.
What led you to this specialization?
From the moment we wake up until we close our eyes at the end of the day, we interact with and through software-based systems. We use software to find new information, to communicate with friends, or to shop for clothes. At the same time, software is used by others to decide if we can get a loan, to suggest our next “friend,” or to algorithmically determine if we are a risk to the state. In other words, software drives our world. I’m interested in how the designs of this software have broad and dramatic effects on human culture, and how the ideologies of software designers affect us in seen and unseen ways.
Proudest accomplishments? (Professional and/or personal?)
These would include recent exhibitions in Paris, London, Lisbon, Berlin, Athens, and New York; regular discussion of my work in periodicals such as Wired, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Atlantic; analysis of my art in books and anthologies like Digital Art (Thames & Hudson) and The New Aesthetic and Art (Institute of Network Cultures); and publications of my writing in journals such as Computational Culture and Big Data and Society. Further, I was honored to win First Prize in VIDA 16, an international award from Spain that recognizes works investigating art and artificial life.
What do you enjoy the most about teaching/and or mentoring students?
I enjoy helping our new media students to see, question, and manipulate the technological systems that surround us every day. Further, I love getting to watch (and help) them grow intellectually and technically during their time here. Finally, I appreciate the interchange that happens when we discuss the culture of technology in the classroom; they have a different life experience of technology than I do, and thus I learn from them just as they do from me.
Upcoming or current projects that you’d like people to know about?
Amongst my ongoing projects are: 1) Autonomous Video Artist: an artificially-intelligent self-navigating video capture robot that employs computational agency to create its own video art, 2) Music Obfuscator: an online tool to manipulate audio signals as a way of understanding how content identification algorithms on sites like YouTube and Soundcloud “hear,” and 3) Eyetracking Race and Cultural Difference in Videogames: a collaborative project with Jodi Byrd (English) to examine the effects of race-based visual data on videogame player action.
Best advice for prospective historian/educator/designer/artist?
If your work isn’t making someone upset, it probably doesn’t matter much. Make work that matters. |
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Emeritis faculty member, Thomas George Kovacs of Urbana passed away from complications due to pneumonia and the sudden onset of a rare form of leukemia on Monday, March 20, 2017. He was 77 years old.
Tom was born on Sept. 8, 1939, in Budapest, Hungary. In 1944, during World War II, Tom fled Hungary with his family to Germany. They lived in Fischen before immigrating to America in 1951, where Tom made his home in Lakewood, Ohio.
Tom was a high school All American swimmer. He received a full scholarship to Ohio State University, where he received his Master of Arts as an artist and graphic designer. He was an NCAA and Division 1 All American Breaststroker for Ohio State, rated one of the best in the nation, also swimming on the NCAA champion medley relay. He was co-captain of the Ohio State NCAA champion swimming team in his senior year. He missed swimming in the 1960 Olympics by a fraction of a second.
Tom and his wife Susan moved to Champaign-Urbana in 1965, where Tom was a professor, and later chairman for many years, in the Art and Design Department at the University of Illinois. He retired from the Art and Design Department in 1999, though taught for the Honors Program for years after his official retirement. He loved traveling during his teaching years to Poland, Japan and Duluth.
Tom's personal artwork spanned many styles: pencil and charcoal drawings, paintings, wood and linocuts, poster making and computer imaging, to name a few. He was passionate about his family, swimming, fishing, bird watching, camping, hiking, biking and the Japan House in Urbana.
Most recently, Tom and Sue retired to Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana. He was loved by everyone who knew him. He was an extraordinary man of kindness and strength, humor and intelligence. Friends often referred to him as a courtly gentleman with a sharp, dry wit.
Donations in his name can be made to the Japan House in Urbana or the National Audubon Society. |
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Spotlight on Alumni Support: William Stumpf Student Research Fund
With a lead gift from alumna Gretchen Gscheidle, BFA Industrial Design 1991, and Director, Insight and Exploration, R+D Leadership Team at Herman Miller, Inc., the William Stumpf Student Research Fund was established in the fall of 2016. This endowed fund will support the work, in perpetuity, of industrial design students in the School or Art + Design and the collaborative work of student teams in the Siebel Center for Design that include A+D students from any discipline.
William Stumpf, himself an 1959 alumnus of the School of Art + Design industrial design program, worked for Herman Miller, Inc. from 1970 until his death in 2006, initially as an on-staff researcher, then for three decades as a design consultant. It was at Herman Miller, working with fellow designer, Don Chadwick, during the development of Stumpf’s iconic Aeron® chair, that Gretchen met Bill. They shared the University of Illinois industrial design education experience and a passion for the great research-based design embraced by Herman Miller, Inc. and inherent in all of Bill’s work.
Bill was described as a key figure in the company’s transformation into a research-based, problem solving innovator, according to Max De Pree, his friend and mentor, former CE0 and member of Herman Miller’s founding family. Bill was awarded the nation’s highest honor for product design, the 2006 National Design Award, presented to him posthumously by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. His products have collectively generated more revenue for Herman Miller than any other designer’s work in the company’s storied history of design.
Gretchen, appreciative of design history, Bill Stumpf’s career contributions in design, and Bill’s mentorship, felt it very important to find a way to secure his legacy at their alma mater and have his name connected to the School of Art + Design as a way of inspiring and encouraging students to think originally, define unanswered questions, and do foundational research with an emphasis on the long view and future impact. She has accomplished this by establishing this student research fund in Bill’s name.
This is the first student specific research fund established in the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois. Our goal is to continue to work to raise a minimum of $200,000 to provide annual funding that will allow students to push process, research, marketing, manufacturing, and creativity “to the edge”, the place where Bill flourished. We thank Gretchen for initiating this great tribute and memorial to Bill, highlighting his positive and innovative relationship with Herman Miller, his distinguished career as a designer, his love for teaching and students, and for his impact on innovative design. Joining Gretchen in supporting this effort financially are members of the Stumpf family and numerous colleagues of Bill’s from Herman Miller, Inc., including Max De Pree.
In addition to providing the lead gift to establish this endowment fund, Gretchen has also hosted the annual industrial design job fair/portfolio review at the Herman Miller Showroom in Chicago since 2013. She has provided invaluable council and feedback, which has enabled the ID student organizers to plan and implement this event in a highly professional manner.
We extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Gretchen for her involvement, support, and mentorship. She personifies “giving back” and we are most appreciative.
For more information about this fund, or other funds that support our students, please contact Brenda Nardi, Director of Development in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
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Thursday, February 8, 2018
Visitor Series: Stacey Jessiman de Nanteuil
“Jewish and Indigenous Looted Treasures: Comparing Legal and Ethical Approaches for Research and Restitution”
Time: 5:30 p.m., Room 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 S. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Visitor Series: Megan Strickfaden
“Embedded Connectivity through Dementia Care by Design” film screening and lecture
Time: 5:30 p.m., Room 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 S. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Visitor Series: Allan deSouza
“Through the Black Country and Beyond”
Time: 5:30 p.m., Room 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 S. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Visitor Series: Amanda Browder
“Artist Talk”
Time: 7:30 p.m., Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Visitor Series: Matthew Steinke
“Scoring Sculpture: Telling Stories with Machines, Electronic Music, Robotics, Pianorolls, and Automata”
Time: 5:30 p.m., Room 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 S. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Visitor Series: Basel Abbas + Ruanne Abou-Rahme
“Artist Talk”
Time: 5:30 p.m., Room 62 Krannert Art Museum, 500 S. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Time: 5:00 p.m.
MFA Exhibition Opening Reception
(Exhibition runs through Saturday, April 28, 2018)
Friday, May 4, 2018
A+D Awards Ceremony
Time: 11:00 a.m.
School of Art + Design Link Gallery, 408 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign IL
Saturday, May 5, 2018
BFA Exhibition Opening Reception
Time: 5:00 p.m.
(Exhibition runs through Sunday, May 13, 2018)
Sunday, May 13, 2018
School of Art + Design Convocation
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL |
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