Illustration + Design
The Illustration + Design program (I+D) encompasses a diverse faculty with expertise in graphic design, illustration, letterpress, book arts, visual narratives, animation, motion graphics, information design, and interdisciplinary collaborations with the environmental sciences. These specializations are reflected in a broad array of curricular offerings including: field trips, team projects with community clients, internships, and study abroad programs. Through an exploration of the relationship between authorship, personal expression, visual problem solving, and communication, students develop a body of self-authored work consistent with the breadth of the expanding profession. With a high quality portfolio and web presence, students are prepared to go directly into the field and/or apply to graduate programs.
Student animation work can be found here: https://vimeo.com/user27476192
Miles Fujimoto, Animation
Bella Maria Varela, a 2021 graduate of the Photography, Video and Imaging MFA program, has been named the 2021 summer resident at the Border Art Residency (BAR) in El Paso!
Founded by El Paso artists Ray Parish and Becky Hendrick in 1999, with support from the El Paso El Paso Community Foundation, the BAR has become an internationally competitive opportunity. Over the last 20 years the BAR has hosted numerous artists of national and international renown including Kumi Yamashita, Philip Zimmerman, and Alejandro Almanza Pereda.
Congratulations, Bella!
#uarizona #arizonaarts #summerresidency #border #borderartists
Amazed by work from Alumna Khaffi Beckles' series "Where you welcome me." Thanks to the Small Axe Project for featuring Khaffi and her work!!!
Find out more about Khaffi and this series of paintings at smallaxe.net/sxvisualities/emerging-artist
Edith Enters (2020), 40"x24", acrylic and mixed media on chipboard
New Ground (2019), 20"x17", acrylic and mixed media on chipboard
Finding Rest (2019), 20"x20", acrylic and mixed media on chipboard
Congrats to Mariel Miranda for earning the 2021 Marcia Grand Centennial Sculpture Prize!
Mariel will be using the award to bring a dead bird back to life using a taxonomic spell and visual arts.
"My aim in this project is to create an allegorical device to speak about the small and the silent. For the last 12 years I have lived the embodied experience of the daily threat of a narco-state that operates with impunity in my home country Mexico. Before coming to Tucson, I wondered about all those years now of the pain of death that passes through all of us. But also, and above all, I wondered about the immeasurable beauty of the small and silent acts of courage and love that are applied as tactics against all that terror ---- acts that will never get to know."
Want to get involved??? Post a comment with your favorite three birds in this carousel before Aug. 23 (first day of fall classes). Mariel will use your feedback to help chose which of these birds will come back to life!
We will share final project and installation site once Mariel is finished!
Images:
Untitled 1
Untitled 2
Untitled 8
Untitled 14
Untitled 18
Untitled 19
Untitled 20
If you haven't already checked out the 2020 MFA Alumni Exhibition, you should! Today we're featuring @erin_digiovanni 's installation "Excuse the Mess"
See the full exhibition and artist statement at the link 🔗 in our bio!
Excuse the Mess is an exhibition of works which replicate function, catalogue and display the commonplace, and combine domestic and recreational. The title is a familiar disclaimer offered to mitigate the potential embarrassment and unease when one enters the intimate dwelling of another, making way for the work itself to investigate and challenge the social and self-stigmatization of addiction and mental illness within domestic settings and American culture.
25% of American children grow up in households where substance abuse is present.1 Studies suggest that up to half of a person’s risk of becoming addicted to substances (nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs) depend on their genetic makeup. Along with hereditary disposition, a person’s environment and learned behaviors, values, habits, and communication styles can put one at risk of self-medicating tendencies as a means of coping with physical and emotional pain.
1 https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/genetics-epigenetics-addiction
We are so incredibly happy to announce the 2020 MFA Alumni Thesis exhibition! During the last year of their coursework, graduates were poised to exhibit their thesis research when we were hit with campus closure because of the pandemic. As a result, these students missed out on one of the most intrinsic components of their academic studies, presenting a fully developed body of work to the public in the form of an exhibition. Slowly as the world begins to open we are able to host these artists and reflect on the work they completed in those last months of their degree pursuits. Please join us in celebrating our graduates in the 2020 MFA Alumni Exhibition!
This year, we are saying farewell and good luck to our brilliant and dynamic Curator Brooke Grucella. If you’ve ever entered the Joseph Gross and Lionel Rombach Galleries, you’ve seen her expertise first-hand. Some students have even taken a class with her, whether it was learning The Art of Sub-Culture or Gallery Management, or even a gallery internship. Reflecting on her time in the galleries, “There are a few shows I have curated over the years that I just feel really made me ‘Curator,’” said Brooke. We will miss you!
@brookegrucella
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1-3. Sunshine on Cast Shadow- David Choong Lee, 2009 (one of the first exhibitions I curated in the space)
3-5. Gregory Euclide- Real, Natural, and Unsustainable, 2010
6-9. Culture Cache, 2014
Last week we did something that was not possible for the past year. We hosted a celebration with real humans! Here are just a few photos from the spring 2021 commencement ceremony in Arizona stadium. Congratulations, Class of 2021!
Check out some excellent work from the Illustration + Design Capstone course with @shinchliffe67 this spring! You can find their work at the link in our bio!
Part II - A huge thank you to Yellow Images for making these projects possible! These images are from students working with Simon Hinchliffe in the ART 365 Identity and Systems Design class creating airline branding using #yellow mockups!
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Artwork by: Mayra Taborda, Meghan Hazeltine, Montessa White, Nick Daniels, Riley Hodge, Sophie Baygents, William Vaughn, Xuxian Zhang, and Zachary King
A huge thank you to Yellow Images for making these projects possible! These images are from students working with Simon Hinchliffe in the ART 365 Identity and Systems Design class creating airline branding using #yellow mockups!
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Artwork by: Abigail Moon, Anahi Berrellez, Daniela Gonzalez, Jake Polishhook, Jamie Rodriguez, Joey Miscio, Julia Roth, Kat Mcgee, Kathie Heidler, and Lourdes Gomez
These amazing aluminum sculptures belong to a collection titled “Lebenswelt” by School Of Art MFA Candidate Abigail Coleman!
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“Lebenswelt is a collection of cast aluminum sculptures to be installed on multiple sites on the grounds of The Land With No Name Sanctuary for Homeless Sculpture, a non-profit organization founded and operated by University of Arizona alumni Ted Springer and Kate Hodges. The pieces are made from materials foraged from the final installation sites and amalgamated together to connect the viewer to the sculptures, the sites, and the landscape of the organization. The work is an expression of the concept of Lebenswelt. Popularized by nineteenth century German philosopher Edmund Husserl, the term relates to the intimate connection of the human and non-human world. This project has been made possible by donors to the College of Fine Arts Fund for Excellence.”
Thank you all for a successful reception last week celebrating our amazing MFA graduates— you can still check out the entire exhibition including 2021 MFA graduate Trent Pechon’s “From What Lies Outside It” pictured here! Link in bio!
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Senses heighten, eyes adjust as clouds pass overhead, smells of decomposing cottonwood leaves and moist soil, cool mountain spring water, and the taste of its nourishing minerals, the dawn chorus of songbirds, a cool breeze rustles tall grass and leaves in the shade of twisted trees; an understanding of my essential, primal needs rises.
My work involves transforming objects and moments of everyday life into something new and strange through meticulous craftsmanship and unexpected scale and presentation. I’m interested in how objects can communicate in ways that words cannot and help us feel and see the contradictions in our habitual ways of thinking and being. - @trentpechon
Congratulations to Gia del Pino for being selected as a #crossinglatinidades @mellonfdn Creative Writing Fellow! Gia is a doctoral student in our Art & Visual Culture Education program, a visual artist, activist, and artist-teacher who is committed to a socially engaged art praxis. Her research examines systemic/systematic violence and trauma related to immigration policy and its long-lasting and intergenerational effects on families.
@arizonaarts @uarizonasbs
Congratulations to Karlito Miller Espinosa for his feature in Arizona Illustrated! This beautifully produced story by Andrew Emery Brown was aired earlier this week on Arizona Public Media— Check out the full video at the link in our bio!!
📸: @aemerybrown
We are so proud of @uarizonaphoto Professor @sama_alshaibi being named one of the 2021 @guggfellows !
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Her Guggenheim Fellowship project, “To Speak of Silence,” will use images, video and text to shed light on the ways in which Iraqi women are affected in wartime.
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"I am honored to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography. I am also deeply grateful to my colleagues, students and the community at the University of Arizona for their creative and intellectual engagement over the years. Our collaborations and conversations have greatly benefited my research and artwork."
This great installation titled, “Palimpsest” is a part of 2021 MFA Graduate, Lauren C. Steinert’s Traces collection in the 2021 MFA
Exhibition. You can check out his piece along with the entire 2021 MFA exhibition at the School of Art Galleries website galleries.art.arizona.edu!
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Traces is a combination of printmaking, glass, and light projection which present the marks and history from the communal printmaking lab at the University of Arizona. The literal, translated and reflected marks are presented in tandem to question notions of what is ephemeral or everlasting. - @lauren.c.steinert
“Onward” is an impressive, 15 feet long, graphite drawing by 2021 MFA graduate Daniel Maxwell— you can check out his piece along with the entire 2021 MFA exhibition at the School of Art Galleries website galleries.art.arizona.edu!
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“My work is produced through processing the ceaseless undercurrents of grief into visual forms that mimic clouds and ash. The forms emerge while I apply additive and subtractive mark making drawing techniques to paper. My drawings are linked to my imagination and are anchored in my research of the supernatural. Drawing is a crucial part of my grieving process. It serves as a safe place for me to mourn. The marks bring to substance an ambiguous space. The drawing acts as a mental and visual record, perhaps fragments of paranormal worlds.” - @dhmxwll
The UArizona School of Art MFA Thesis Exhibition is officially live! Congratulations to all of our featured artists for their incredible installations — you can check out the entire exhibition at the School of Art Galleries website galleries.art.arizona.edu!
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Pictured is Danielle Jones’ “What is Left,” using tarpaulin, dropcloth, canvas, paper, thread, ink, acrylic, latex, charcoal, bungee cord, metal grommets, nylon netting, coffee, salt, dirt, sandbag, barnacles, and river water.
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“What is Left responds to collisions between predisposed psychological and physical tensions; mental instability and natural disaster. I am interested in the human response to prepare for what can not be prepared for, protect what can not be protected, and fix what can only be momentarily restored. A cycled response to cycled conditions.” - @danielle__jones_
“Tucson, My Home” is an incredible two-layer watercolor by 2021 BFA Exhibitor Chrysanthe Kapuranis, See this piece and many more at the 2021 BFA Exhibition (bfaexhibition.art.arizona.edu) and join us for the Virtual Reception, Friday, April 23- 4 -5 pm! Zoom link in bio!!
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I question what connects us to a particular place. The spirit of place creates the ingredients of community and belonging. Viewing an aerial image on Google earth, we are blind to the details of man’s life and history down on earth. In the topography, we see shadows and elevations of mountains, lakes, hills, and desert. In contrast, as we zoom in further and further, we go on a more profound journey. Our eyes are opened to life, nature, and details of the built environment– man’s impressive handiwork.
These drawings are brief extracts of what makes Tucson unique and special and answer why I connect here. Tucson, My Home, inspires me to grow and learn, observe the moon, planets, and stars, and explore places while respecting spiritual and human creation gifts. - @chrysanthekapuranis
Thank you to @trentpechon for sharing this photo of his Art 287 Sculpture Class; they are making spoons as a warm-up in preparation for their Wood Projects! 🪵
The School of Art houses excellent facilities including studio spaces, computer labs with Wacom Cintiq Touch screens and animation stations, a digital imaging lab with large format printing, mounting and other services, letterpress equipment, photopolymer platemaking equipment, metal and wood type collections, binding equipment, darkrooms, wood and metal shops, sculpture foundry, ceramics labs, and external resources such as: the Center for Creative Photography, the University of Arizona Museum of Art and the Poetry Center as well as an excellent library that houses an extensive book art collection. The campus also houses the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive and the extensive Children’s Literature Collection.
Visit our Resources & Facilities page to learn more about the excellent facilities available for instruction in Illustration + Design.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) student chapter
Visit the AIGA website
Book Art Collective
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UA Illustration + Design News
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Persona Magazine
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College Book Arts Association
Visit the website
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Illustration + Design Emphasis
- Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Illustration + Design Emphasis
Contact an academic advisor or set up an advising appointment to learn more about School of Art programs and admissions
Spring 2021 Undergraduate Illustration + Design Portfolio Review
Accepting applications from Friday, March 12 at 9:00 a.m. until Monday, March 15 at 9:00 a.m.
This annual Spring Portfolio Review accepts 18-22 students in the Illustration track and 18-22 students in the Design track. We also work with students interested in both illustration and design on an individual basis upon acceptance to one of the tracks.
Eligibility Checklist
- I have taken the majority of my First Year Experience (FYE) classes.
- I have taken or am currently enrolled in Art 265/Art 266. It is best to take at least one of these classes in the Fall before the review. But there is no penalty for going through the review multiple times so you should apply even if both required classes are being taken during the review semester. (Transfer students should make sure they have had the equivalent of Art 265/266. Check with the Division chair to confirm).
- A completed Visual Assignment (see below).
- Submit 10–12 art works in your portfolio. The Visual Assignment counts as one of these pieces.
Portfolio Review Procedures
- This Online Review will go live at 9:00 a.m. Friday, March 12 and be open until 9:00 a.m. Monday, March 15.
- Follow this application link starting 9:00 a.m. Friday, March 12.
- I+D Faculty will review and rank the applications. This procedure may take a few days.
- You will be notified via email of your acceptance and the required classes for your track. Please note that if you do not register for the required classes in the Fall, you will forfeit your place in the I+D program.
- You will also be notified via email of you are not accepted to the program. You will be able to sign up for advising appointments to discuss your next steps and get feedback on your portfolio.
Portfolio Review Guidelines
- 10–12 pieces of work including the Portfolio Review Visual Assignment (see below). The answer to the assignment will be the first piece in your portfolio. Other pieces should include projects from Art 265 and Art 266, but may be supplemented with work from other studio areas including self-initiated work. Transfer students should include work from transferred courses.
- Motion and Web design pieces can also be uploaded as well. It is best to upload a still and a hyperlink to online viewing such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Evaluation, Acceptance, and Advising
- The work submitted should: Show an eye for composition and application of formal principles (scale, balance, weight, texture, direction, etc.); Communicate an understanding of form and sensitivity to materials; Show a clear understanding of color relationships; Demonstrate excellent skills and attention to detail; Show a facility with software. Ideas embodied in the work should be innovative and strong. Digital uploads should be clear and readable.
- If you have been accepted into I+D, your name will be placed on a list allowing you to register for the required Design or Illustration courses* online. Register on time to get a seat in fall classes. You will only be guaranteed courses in the sequence indicated on the I+D grid (included with acceptance). If you do not register for the required classes in the fall semester, you forfeit your place in the program. If there are extenuating circumstances, contact I+D Program Chair Kelly Leslie (kleslie@arizona.edu) to discuss.
*You must maintain a 3.0 GPA in I+D classes in order to be guaranteed admission into these classes.
The Visual Assignment
The below poem is a prompt for your Visual assignment. Choose any stanza of the poem or the poem as a whole for inspiration. You may choose to include text but it is not required. Some approaches to consider:
- Book/Book Cover
- Typographic Composition
- Sequential Narrative/Comic
- Poster
- Photography
- Drawing/Illustration
- Animation
A Map to the Next World
By Joy Harjo
In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map for
those who would climb through the hole in the sky.
My only tools were the desires of humans as they emerged
from the killing fields, from the bedrooms and the kitchens.
For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet.
The map must be of sand and can’t be read by ordinary light. It
must carry fire to the next tribal town, for renewal of spirit.
In the legend are instructions on the language of the land, how it
was we forgot to acknowledge the gift, as if we were not in it or of it.
Take note of the proliferation of supermarkets and malls, the
altars of money. They best describe the detour from grace.
Keep track of the errors of our forgetfulness; the fog steals our
children while we sleep.
Flowers of rage spring up in the depression. Monsters are born
there of nuclear anger.
Trees of ashes wave good-bye to good-bye and the map appears to
disappear.
We no longer know the names of the birds here, how to speak to
them by their personal names.
Once we knew everything in this lush promise.
What I am telling you is real and is printed in a warning on the
map. Our forgetfulness stalks us, walks the earth behind us,
leaving a trail of paper diapers, needles, and wasted blood.
An imperfect map will have to do, little one.
The place of entry is the sea of your mother’s blood, your father’s
small death as he longs to know himself in another.
There is no exit.
The map can be interpreted through the wall of the intestine—a
spiral on the road of knowledge.
You will travel through the membrane of death, smell cooking
from the encampment where our relatives make a feast of fresh
deer meat and corn soup, in the Milky Way.
They have never left us; we abandoned them for science.
And when you take your next breath as we enter the fifth world
there will be no X, no guidebook with words you can carry.
You will have to navigate by your mother’s voice, renew the song
she is singing.
Fresh courage glimmers from planets.
And lights the map printed with the blood of history, a map you
will have to know by your intention, by the language of suns.
When you emerge note the tracks of the monster slayers where they
entered the cities of artificial light and killed what was killing us.
You will see red cliffs. They are the heart, contain the ladder.
A white deer will greet you when the last human climbs from the
destruction.
Remember the hole of shame marking the act of abandoning our
tribal grounds.
We were never perfect.
Yet, the journey we make together is perfect on this earth who was
once a star and made the same mistakes as humans.
We might make them again, she said.
Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.
You must make your own map.
Ready to join our community of dedicated artists, educators and scholars? Visit our Admissions page to start your application.
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