Schedule

Day One: Sunday, June 28

Drawing Textiles: Quilting for Illustrators


Alanna Stapleton @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

What can illustrators learn from quilters? In this workshop we will look to both traditional and contemporary textile artists to teach us about color and composition, pattern mixing, and working with constraints. We will touch some quilts, look at even more, and practice interpreting and depicting textiles with a variety of mixed media. No sewing skills required - we will be drawing quilts, not stitching them! This workshop is for drawers and designers interested in exploring the possibilities of using quilts as visual metaphor, narrative device, or decorative inspiration. We will discuss how quilting and illustration can be complementary, and the benefits of nurturing interdisciplinary creative practices.

Expand Your Business Mindset—From Freelance Creative to Art Brand


Betsy Cordes, Jill Kittock, Carlos Carmonamedina, Meenal Patel @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Explore the transformation that happens when you expand your business mindset, moving beyond definitions like 'freelance illustrator' or 'graphic designer,' toward the concepts of 'artist' and 'art brand.' This workshop begins with a panel discussion featuring Art Brand Alliance (ABA) members Meenal Patel, Jill Kittock, Carlos Carmonamedia, and ABA director Betsy Cordes. Their stories will help you see how you can apply the 'art brand mindset' to your own endeavors, bringing more authenticity and personal satisfaction to your work while expanding your impact. Then we'll take time for individual reflection, with imagination exercises that encourage you to tap into your own unique story, passions, and values. We'll conclude by breaking into smaller groups, sharing insights, suggestions, and encouragement toward next steps. In the process, we'll help you think more expansively about your role as a creator and the opportunities that are in your power to define and pursue."

SEO: The Secret Sauce for Illustrators


Nate Padavick & Salli Swindell @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Do you want more art directors to visit your website? Do you want more commission requests? We all know that the internet is the primary platform for promoting your creative talents. As a freelance illustrators, you can benefit from harnessing the power of search engine optimization (SEO). Wait—keep reading—it's not as boring as it sounds!!! In this workshop, Nate and Salli will show you how SEO works and describe how enhancements to your website can improve your online presence and help you reach a wider audience.

Wine-CON Workshop


Katie Kirk @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Create a small set of one-color spot illustrations/icons for a wine brand. This hands-on workshop walks you through our process for iconography, taking you from inspiration to final creation. We'll dig into layout, style, setup, plus tips and tricks — and all while holding a refreshing morning mimosa... for 'inspiration.'

Curiouser & Curiouser: Theatre of Imagination


David Terrill @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Inspired by cabinets of curiosities, this assemblage-based workshop will explore multimedia materials to create unique theaters of imagination. Curious participants are encouraged to engage in playful exploration using their own diverse art materials: found 3D objects, collaging ephemera material, drawings, and paintings. The work is assembled in the provided wooden box, acting as the theater, showcasing the interdisciplinary work. Participants will choose their own ideas and themes to explore while providing their own unique found objects and materials.

ICON12 Welcome + PRISMS Opening Remarks


Shreyas R Krishnan & Robyn Phillips-Pendleton @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Translating Research Interests into Teaching I

Evolving Wordless Illustration as a Preventative Tool in the Discussion of Child Exploitation


Richard Johnson @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

This paper presents ongoing material from a practice-based PhD, researching the potential for wordless illustration through critically evolving traditional approaches of visual storytelling into immersive spatial contexts. The author contends that by deconstructing the bound book, opportunities for multi-linear storytelling arise which challenge the ways in which narrative experiences might be designed and understood. The author argues for the benefits of these ‘unrestrained’ readings which encourage deeper engagement and learning opportunities through group discussion.

Translating Research Interests into Teaching I

What's Old is New: Illustration and "The Three Perfections"


DB Dowd @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

The defining characteristic of illustration is an association with reading from 1830. Illustration contributes to reading in partnership with other visual elements in the mise-en-page across all modern print cultures. Reading has changed. The ancient scroll was replaced by the codex but has returned in electronic form. Publishing has receded; newspapers and magazines are disappearing. Fewer commissions are on offer. Today, illustrators are embracing authorship. But creating an entire work transcends the binary of "word and image." An ancient version of transcendence was captured in the expression "the three perfections," attributed to Wang Wei (699-759), referring to poetry, painting, and calligraphy. The triad has been updated and reinvigorated to encompass copywriting, illustration, and typesetting or lettering. This presentation will use Wang’s concept and episodes in the history of illustration to address the integration of writing, illustration, and design to reclaim illustration as a practice worthy of emphasis in liberally-minded curricula.

Translating Research Interests into Teaching I

Exploring the Intersection of AI and Human Creativity: Empowering Agency in an Age of Uncertainty


Paul Laidler @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

This paper will present the development of a research inquiry that explores the integration of AI image generation methods within narrative based practice. The research seeks to question the nature of creative exchanges, iterations beyond the screen and the implementation of AI within module teaching.

Translating Research Interests into Teaching I

Session Moderated Q&A


Shreyas R Krishnan & Robyn Phillips-Pendleton @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Break


Developing a Proposal for a Publisher


Louise Baird-Smith @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Specifically focused on academic book projects (those for students, scholars or practitioners), this interactive workshop session will include tips and advice on framing book proposals, how to choose a publisher, what to consider when developing your ideas and time for questions. The event will showcase real-life examples, and there will be activities for participants to get involved in.

Lunch Break


Portfolio Review


@ Minneapolis Institute of Art

If you have a ticket, please go to the MacMillan Atrium at the Minneapolis Institute of Art for your portfolio reviews.

Be Your Own Archivist: A How-To Guide


Grace Danico @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Need to get your physical papers and digital files in order? Get organized with professional archivist and multidisciplinary artist Grace Danico! She will teach the ins and outs of creating a personal archive, and topics will include basic care of paper and digital materials, file structure organization, and the importance of metadata.

Costumed Figure Drawing


Ted Michalowski @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Join Savannah College of Art and Design Professor Ted Michalowski in this high energy live drawing session, with lively music to amplify this enthusiastic drawing atmosphere. Discussion on drawing, on the music, on the direction of the session is encouraged. However, the session is kept free of disruptive chit-chat, so that all can focus on energetic drawing. Attendees are encouraged to bring their sketchbooks and their favorite drawing tools.

Sketchbooks: Looking In, Looking Out


Matt Curtius & Gina Triplett @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Sketchbooks are an important way for illustrators to develop material to call upon later within a job context. Sketchbooks are free from expected outcomes and time constraints, an open space for exploration and contemplation. There's no right way to maintain a sketchbook practice, but we're going to explore ways it can be used. Sketchbooks can look inward, visually manifesting your inner dialogue. Sketchbooks can look outward, a tool to understand the world around you. They sometimes fall somewhere between these two approaches, a dialogue between your imagination and surroundings. We'll share examples of illustrator's sketchbooks, including Gina's and Matt's inward and outward facing approaches. Then it's a drawing party for sketchbook exploration together. We'll have lots of visual stimuli, but feel free to bring your own. Similarly, we'll have some ink, pens, paint markers, and gouache on hand, but bring your favorite stuff too. Then, of course, bring your sketchbook!

What Does AI Mean for Copyright?


Chuck Cordes @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

In this workshop, San Francisco arts lawyer Chuck Cordes will look at how AI image-generating programs are creating some brand-new issues for illustrators and other visual artists that copyright law wasn't 100 percent intended to deal with. We'll talk about government efforts to regulate AI; lawsuits aimed at AI giants like Open AI, Microsoft, and Stability AI; and look at how courts are treating claims of mass copyright infringement of artists' works. And we'll touch on other theories that plaintiff-artists are relying on, like right of publicity and unfair competition. We'll explore the copyright status of AI-generated art and what that means for makers and users of AI generated images. Audience questions are invited and it is hoped this will be equal parts lecture and dialog. This is a quickly evolving area. If other important matters relating to artists' rights and AI arise, we'll look at those, too.

Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom I

Envisioning A Collaborative Studio: Illustrators, Designers, Artists & Community Partners


Rebecca Bradley & Sandra Maxa @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Imagining education through the prism of collaboration, MICA faculty Rebecca Bradley and Sandra Maxa developed the graduate-level course, Graphic Design/Illustration Collaborative Studio, to fill a void in the curriculum. The course guides students through team-based, multi-disciplinary projects for non-profit clients and community partners. This presentation will share project case studies, workshops and lessons from 3 semesters, as well as stories of success and failure along the way. Collaboration and communication are the key outcomes — amongst the students, the co-teaching faculty and the clients. Students from diverse backgrounds and majors such as Curatorial Practice, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Social Design and Design Leadership learn the challenges and the give-and-take of collaboration, and how, when engaged fully in teamwork, a project can be doubly rewarding. Students form a new understanding of professional practice that builds an appreciation for others and a process that is foundational.

Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom I

Research and Writing in the Illustration Classroom


Robert Young & Caitlin Downs @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Where and how are BFA illustration students taught about research and writing in their practice? In this talk we will discuss the implementation of research and writing outcomes in the PCAD Illustration program including scaffolding, resources, successes, and areas for improvement.

Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom I

How Critical Reflective Methods Can Inform Studio Practice


Brian Cairns @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

For over ten years, the Masters in Illustration program at The Glasgow School of Art has developed critical reflective methods to inform students' studio practice. The program requires students to identify their position in communication design practice within a broader historical, social, and political context. The program has been transformational in helping students identify and locate their practice in this landscape, resulting in graduates pursuing careers as practitioners, researchers, curators, and art activists. I will reflect on the range of approaches employed by the team over this period, their effectiveness in supporting students to reflect critically on their studio practice, and how the program has enabled students to transform their practice. Examples of student work will provide context alongside graduate feedback on how the critical reflective methods have informed their studio practice. Keywords: Illustration research, authorial practice, critical reflective methods.

Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom I

Worldbuilding in the Classroom


Michael Hirshon @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

With recent technological advancements, it is becoming increasingly important to train illustrators who are thinkers first and foremost. Worldbuilding, the process of creating both the visual language and imagined inner-workings of an environment, encourages students to create constraints based on an internal logic, and practice working within them. Worldbuilding further adds authorship to the design process, and opens dialogues on ecology, culture, history, and representation while giving students a channel in which to find and develop their visual voice. In this presentation, I will outline a working model for integrating worldbuilding into illustration curriculum. Illustration: World and Voice, an undergraduate course I have taught for the past two years, centers around a comprehensive, semester-long project exploring a simple prompt: create a travel journal for a world that doesn’t exist.

Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom I

Session Moderated Q&A


Shreyas R Krishnan & Robyn Phillips-Pendleton @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Break


Education through Museums, Archives, Special Collections

Home Truths: Folk Illustration as a Lens to Explore Place and Identity


Andrew Selby @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Folk Art values tradition, simplicity and honesty as a reflection of ‘shared cultural aesthetics and social issues’ (Museum of International Folk Art) forming models of cultural heritage. Often associated with settler communities, Folk Art has historically enabled much-needed identification and generated a sense of belonging for migrant peoples displaced from their original homelands, sometimes through choice, but often through necessity of seeking asylum or claiming refugee status as a result of political estrangement or persecuted for minority religious or gender beliefs. These transitory peoples and communities often recognise Folk Art as providing a welcome and comforting sense of relief from persecution, by establishing and nurturing communities who share memories and tales of their collective pasts and promote hopes for their new lives and futures. This paper explores what the term ‘Folk Illustration’ might mean through a negotiated relationship between contemporary interpretations of folklore text and images.

Education through Museums, Archives, Special Collections

Let's get physical: the use of Archives and Special Collections in supporting Undergraduate Illustration students at Edinburgh College of Art to develop and communicate richer and more varied personal research methodologies


Lucy Roscoe @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Edinburgh offers the luxury of an unusual wealth of Museums, Archives and Special Collections. On the Illustration programme at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), we use Archives and Special Collections in supporting Undergraduate students to develop and communicate richer and more varied personal research methodologies. This paper draws together reflections of students, staff on the Programme, Curators, Archivists and broader scholarship on the use of Collections in Higher Education pedagogy. In doing this I seek to map out ways of nurturing rich and sophisticated research methodologies when working with Illustration students. In reflecting on how students actually learn to undertake research, this presentation considers how effectively the pathway model in use at ECA guides students to explore, question and value a broader variety of materials in much more depth.

Education through Museums, Archives, Special Collections

Drawing Connections: Developing Special Collections Curriculum for Illustration Pedagogy


Joy Novak @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Launched in Fall 2019, Washington University in St. Louis’ MFA in Illustration and Visual Culture (IVC) program offers students a multidisciplinary illustration education that not only aims to develop their illustration practice but also the research and critical analysis skills necessary for academia. The IVC program required curriculum includes over studio courses and research seminars, as well two Special Collections courses taught by Washington University Libraries staff. As the program has developed, the Special Collections courses have adapted to better complement and connect to the rest of the IVC program. This paper will provide an overview of this curriculum development as well as the challenges and successes of this instruction from the perspective of the library faculty.

Education through Museums, Archives, Special Collections

Session Moderated Q&A


Shreyas R Krishnan & Robyn Phillips-Pendleton @ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Motion Commotion


@ Lumber Exchange

Motion Commotion is a curated screening of animation and motion shorts.