Recent News
2021 Graphic Design Senior Showcase
Jun 9, 2021
The Graphic Design Senior Showcase website features the work of our graduating seniors, who faced the unimaginable challenge of finishing their degrees during a global pandemic.
Department of Art and Design Spring Commencement 2021
Jun 4, 2021
2021 Graduation Celebration
About the Event
The Department of Art and Design warmly invites students, friends, and families to an online Zoom graduation celebration for our graduating seniors on Friday, June 11th, at 2:30 PM.
The ceremony will include a welcome from the Department Chair, awards, the reading of the names of graduating seniors, and the turning of the tassel tradition. We look forward to seeing you on zoom as we celebrate this momentous accomplishment.
Congratulations Class of 2021!
2021 BFA Virtual Exhibition: Strength In Vulnerability
May 28, 2021
View the work of our impressive class of 2021
This event is free & open to the public. No Registration Required.
About the Event
The BFA exhibition consists of work from eight individuals, who have navigated through an entirely virtual school year. Due to recent events, this has led to both growth and struggle in their personal and artistic lives, which is evident in this body of work.
Identity Collage Digital Workshop
May 20, 2021
Join us for the Identity Collage Digital Workshop!
Monday, May 24th & Wednesday, May 26th from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM.
This event is free & open to the public. No Registration Required.
Click here to join the event now!
Meeting ID: 212 156 6364
VALERIE CASSEL OLIVER in conversation with HOWARDENA PINDELL
Mar 9, 2021
PLATFORM presented by ConSortiUm presents:
VALERIE CASSEL OLIVER in conversation with HOWARDENA PINDELL
Thursday, March 11, 2021, 5:30 PM (PST) - FREE
Webinar Registration link:
https://csudh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8wsFUgoYRXSAge5sesqaSw
Shortcuts: Cal Poly Student Shorts Premiere at SLO International Film Festival
Mar 2, 2021
Shortcuts: Short Films by Cal Poly Students at SLO International Film Festival
Please join us for a special limited outdoor screening of the films at the SLO Brew Rock! If you cannot make the event in-person you can access the films virtually from March 9th-14th!
Outdoor Screening March 11, 2021, 6:30pm at SLO Brew Rock
Tickets: https://slofilmfest.org/events/cal-poly-short-cuts-at-the-slo-brew-rock/
Virtual Screenings available March 9 -14, 2021
Tickets: https://slofilmfest.org/events/cal-poly-short-cuts/
Program details and website:
https://calpolystudentfilm.wixsite.com/cpslofilms
.RAW Journal of Art & Design Winter Submissions Now Open
Feb 19, 2021
SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO .RAW Journal of Art & Design
Winter 2021
FREE to Submit
Submission Form Here
Submissions due
Sunday February 28, 2021, at midnight.
Work from students in all concentrations and all media welcome.
- Full digital issues can be viewed and downloaded here:
- Videos featured can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/rawjournal
- Follow us on Instagram @artmag.raw
Established in 2017, .RAW Journal of Art & Design is a student-run quarterly digital and print magazine published by the Art & Design Department students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo showcasing current student work in photography, video, graphic design and studio art. .RAW’s mission is to inspire, inform and facilitate a collaborative opportunity for students to self-publish their work and create portfolio building materials and experiences. Annual issues are published with the support of the College of Liberal Arts Department of Art & Design and University recognition for Instructionally Related Activities at Cal Poly.
https://artdesign.calpoly.edu/raw
featured image (detail) by Hannah Travis
Team led by Dr. James Werner awarded PIT-UN Grant
Feb 10, 2021
An Interdisciplinary Team of Cal Poly Researchers Led by Associate Professor Dr. James Werner Receive Public Interest Technology Grant to Utilize Virtual Reality in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Trainings
An interdisciplinary group of faculty members has been awarded a $45,000 Public Interest Technology University Network(PIT-UN) Challenge grant to further support the critical new field of public interest technology. This funding will go toward a project that incorporates immersive virtual reality (VR) components into sexual and gender harassment, and LGBTQ+ affirming training. Working with partners, including Cal Poly Safer, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast(GALA) and the San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Department, the researchers hope to understand where VR can be added to existing trainings in order to improve inclusion and equity at Cal Poly and in the community. The project will be led by James Werner, associate professor of media arts; Christine Hackman, associate professor of kinesiology and public health; Coleen Carrigan, associate professor of anthropology and science, technology, and society; and Jay Bettergarcia, assistant professor of psychology and child development. The project also will involve several student research assistants, who will help develop scenario scripts, conduct research activities and serve as liaisons between researchers and community partners.
More about PIT-UN: https://pitun2020.org/about-pit-un/
from the Cal Poly Report
Ava Werner Profiled in SLO Life Magazine
Feb 8, 2021
Art and Design lecturer and artist Ava Patterson Werner's paintings were profiled in SLO Life Magazine this month.
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.