Recent News
Robert Densham - Art & Design Professor Emeritus
Nov 14, 2020
The Art & Design department was saddened to hear of the passing of Emeritus Professor Robert Densham. Densham was a professor of Art & Design at Cal Poly for over 25 years and served on the Graphic Design Vocational Education Advisory Committee at Cuesta College.
He earned a BA in Fine arts at Cal State Long Beach in 1967. He practiced freelance art in commercial graphics and worked in package design at Southern California Carton Company for almost a decade. He began teaching at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 1976. He was appointed Associate Professor at Cal Poly after earning his MFA at CSLB in 1980. He retired in 2002.
In 2003 the Cal Poly Art Gallery held a retrospective of Densham’s artwork including photographs of his illustrations and graphic designs reformatted into photographic montages. The exhibit also included original sketches, designs and drawings.
His later work in 2013 includes poster art, typography, and graphics for the San Luis Chamber Orchestra and Mothers for Peace. His thesis, Posters and Drawings for the Theatre are available at CSU Long Beach.
Densham was a respected colleague. We remember him for his decades of service and contributions to the students, the Department and Cal Poly. His estate has generously donated his library of graphic design and art books to the Department of Art & Design.
Cal Poly Art and Design Student Wins First Place in the AmeriStar Packaging Competition
Nov 13, 2020
Recent Art and Design graduate, Amber Chiang (Graphic Design concentration, class of 2020), and her teammate, John Dizon (Industrial Technology and Packaging, class of 2020) were awarded first place in the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) 2020 Student AmeriStar Packaging Awards. The Student AmeriStar Package Awards Competition honors the most innovative packages developed by students enrolled in college, university or vocational/technical school programs (undergraduate or graduate) throughout the United States.
The project, Centauri, is an innovative solution that addresses sustainability and safety concerns identified in current packaging for N95 respirators. Using a coating of silver nanoparticles as a virucidal agent, these masks' cellulose-based containers double as a storage unit with Coronavirus-cleaning properties. Centauri provides an out-of-this-world user experience and brand positioning unlike anything seen before. The project was completed in spring 2020, when Cal Poly transitioned to online delivery of all classes due to COVID-19. In spite of the challenges of collaborating virtually on the design and prototyping of a 3-dimensional package, Amber and John were able to successfully develop an elegant and functional design informed by research, creativity, and design thinking. They recently submitted the project to WorldStar Packaging Awards Competition, one of the major events of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) and the pre-eminent international award in packaging.
Laura Krifka at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
Nov 12, 2020
Assistant Professor of Painting, Laura Krifka, currently has work on display at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Unreachable Spring, a group exhibition, is on view through the end of the year. Participating artists also include June Edmonds, André Hemer, Kambui Olujimi, Edra Soto, and Peter Williams.
Lana Z Caplan's films - November Screenings
Nov 10, 2020
Lana Z Caplan's films are showing at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Moviate Underground Film Festival this weekend and will be streaming for the month of November as part of CutLog's November Moving Image Artists Video Showcase.
Art and Design Students at CSU Media Arts Festival 2020
Nov 1, 2020
2020 CSU Media Arts Festival
We are pleased to announce that Cal Poly SLO was well represented at the 30th Annual CSU Media Arts Festival.
Elizabeth Folk at LAUNCH LA
Oct 27, 2020
Logical Mutations with Elizabeth Folk and Colin Roberts at LAUNCH LA
October 24th – November 21st 2020
RSVP to info@launchla.org
Submissions now open for .RAW Journal of Art and Design
Oct 27, 2020
Submissions this quarter are FREE!!!
Submissions accepted now until Sunday, November 8 at 11:59pm
Submission Form with details: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCSA-0_lIl_DEiJIHKvj-u5xqJa8BAxrT3a4-r7-LvjSKhPw/viewform
All mediums, all Art and Design majors and minors welcome, including moving image submissions. (see our Vimeo page)
Announcing the 2020 Art and Design Student Scholarship and Award Recipients!
Jun 30, 2020
We are pleased to announce the well deserved 2020 Student Scholarship and Award winners!
Congratulations to all!
Lana Z Caplan Featured on Lenscratch.com
Jun 13, 2020
Lana Z Caplan's photographic series Postcards from the Hanging: Sites of Public Execution featured on the prominent Fine Art Photography Daily website Lenscratch.com.
Watch Cal Poly Short Cuts on Zoom - 6/14/20
Jun 10, 2020
Please join us to watch
"Cal Poly Short Cuts - Zoom Edition"
Sunday June 14th from 5-8pm
Cal Poly Short Cuts are a collection of films made in collaboration between students in ART 483 Advanced Digital Video and ISLA 341 Cinematic Process during this quarter.