International Designer Delivers Inaugural SIGD Lecture

While SIGD has welcomed visiting designers for decades, this is the School’s first official lecture series, which honors the teaching legacy of Professor Emeritus William Dunlop and establishes a formal platform for ongoing engagement with leaders whose work and teaching have shaped the discipline. Rather than following a predetermined theme, the series introduces students and faculty of the Graphic Design (GDES) program to designers who demonstrate exceptional achievement and diverse ways of thinking and making.

“I established the lecture series as a way to supplement the GDES program by featuring prominent individuals in the design field,” Dunlop said. “The series is just one gift to express my gratitude to the GDES program, faculty, students and the entire Auburn University community.”

Martin Venezky, an internationally recognized artist, photographer, designer and educator, gave the inaugural lecture on February 24. Known for his deeply process-oriented practice, Venezky is regarded as a compelling role model for students and educators alike.

“Campus visits, student meetings, lectures and workshops are how I stay connected to young designers and artists. I want to know where they experience design, and how it affects them,” Venezky said. “I hope my own career, with all its twists and surprises, acts as an example of lifelong learning and challenge.”

Venezky’s work explores relationships between objects, form, drawing and image, shifting in scale from intimate groupings of materials to expansive installations. A professor emeritus in the Master of Fine Art in Design program at the California College of the Arts, Venezky’s work is in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Denver Art Museum, Cranbrook Art Museum and San Francisco’s Letterform Archive.

Titled “Keeping Curiosity Alive,” his lecture surveyed recent creative practice while encouraging students to cross disciplines, collaborate and define what it means to be a creative individual.