GDES Professor Explores History Through Human Connection

A group of students sit around a table listening to a man speaking at the front of a classroom with a whiteboard and TV on the wall.

For Robert Finkel, graphic design education is about putting people at the heart of every project.

Recently promoted from Assistant to Full Professor, Finkel has served as the Graphic Design Program Chair in the School of Industrial and Graphic Design (SIGD) in 2021. His teaching, research and service continue to strengthen the university’s nationally recognized Graphic Design (GDES) program.

Since joining the faculty 13 years ago, Finkel has taught across the professional sequence, including graphic design history and studio. His courses emphasize the connection between concept, craft and cultural context while preparing students for professional practice. In Graphic Design History, he intentionally integrates underrepresented design histories alongside the traditional Western canon.

Two women stand in an industrial space, closely viewing and photographing images and text displayed on a chain-link fence.
Last fall, Finkel created an exhibition identity, print collateral and interpretive signage for an exhibition entitled “Joe Minter is Here.”
A printed flyer displays a man holding a decorated staff on the front and project information about “Joe Minter is Here” on the back, both set against a gray background.
Joe Minter is a Birmingham artist who creates works from metal and found objects to chronicle the Black experience in America.

Finkel’s creative scholarship focuses on design’s intersections with history, community and material culture. Supported by a Cauthen Fellowship from the Alabama Folklife Association, he is currently researching and writing about rural Alabama artist James “Buddy” Snipes, one of the last living African American folk artists in the Chattahoochee Valley.

A man in a plaid shirt and jeans sits in a wooden shed doorway, holding colorful handmade sculptures: a car and a bird.
Finkel is currently researching artist James “Buddy” Snipes, an African American folk artist who uses found materials.
A man stands outdoors holding two tall, colorful, abstract wooden sculptures featuring faces and patterns, with trees in the background.
Snipes’ work blends identity, imagination and community history.

“Snipes’  inventive use of found materials and storytelling traditions makes his art a unique blend of personal imagination and community history,” Finkel said, mentioning a forthcoming article set to be published in Tributaries. “I hope this research sparks renewed interest in his legacy and encourages individuals and institutions to preserve his archive for future study.”

He also continues his collaborative work with the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation (WCAR), where he and Associate Professor Elijah Gaddis of the Department of History are leading a history harvest and developing a collections policy with narrative studio 1504, using grant funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

A vintage photo of a seated person with the words Out of Whole Cloth is projected onto a worn, beige wall near a staircase and an open door.
Finkel and Gaddis’ “Out of Whole Cloth” exhibition debuted earlier this year.
Onlookers observe a cyanotype piece from the exhibition
The exhibit presents historical documents translated into stitched compositions using cyanotype printing.

“Snipes’  inventive use of found materials and storytelling traditions makes his art a unique blend of personal imagination and community history,” Finkel said, mentioning a forthcoming article set to be published in Tributaries. “I hope this research sparks renewed interest in his legacy and encourages individuals and institutions to preserve his archive for future study.”

He also continues his collaborative work with the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation (WCAR), where he and Associate Professor Elijah Gaddis of the Department of History are leading a history harvest and developing a collections policy with narrative studio 1504, using grant funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

For Finkel, teaching is a reciprocal exchange.

“I’m constantly learning from my students—their curiosity and enthusiasm for new techniques and fresh sense of what’s possible remind me to stay open and not grow too comfortable in old habits,” he said. “What I really want them to learn from me and from the design process is that although we use design to address a variety of visual communication needs, design is a transferrable skill that can be used to tackle any problem.”

A stack of six hardcover books titled Selma Is Now with a black-and-white cover image of people marching, neatly arranged on a white surface.
Finkel also recently completed the design of the “Selma Is Now” book that follows the Civil Rights movement through the photographs of James “Spider” Martin.
Black-and-white photo in a book showing police officers facing a group of civilians standing in a line; cars and trees are visible in the background.
The book documents voting rights protests from “Bloody Sunday” to the march to Montgomery.

As the SIGD marks its 80th anniversary, Finkel’s leadership reflects its ongoing commitment to excellence, innovation and the integration of design with Auburn’s broader mission of community engagement.

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Robert Finkel