UMD News Releases

The Graphic Design Program at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) will premiere its first annual senior graphic design student exhibition in Minneapolis April 11 - May 2. The show will be held in the design studio of Oslund and Associates at 115 Washington Avenue (located in the Minneapolis warehouse district).

The exhibition is designed to showcase the work of UMD graphic design students and to present an opportunity for the Twin Cities professional design community and potential employers to view their creative work. The UMD Graphic Design Program has the largest graphic design curriculum in Minnesota. The Twin Cities is one of the major design centers in the United States.

The opening reception will take place on Friday, April 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30p.m. The show will then be open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through May 2. Invitations were extended to UMD art and design alumni in the Twin Cities area, and to numerous creative design firms and agencies throughout Minnesota. Duluth area residents are cordially invited to view the exhibition.

UMD Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin was a major force behind the creation of the Minneapolis exhibition. Before coming to UMD, Martin was Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and established a similar exhibition in Chicago. That exhibition has been occurring annually for the past ten years.

To qualify to participate in the show, graduating UMD seniors in the graphic design curriculum were invited to submit their design portfolios in a competition juried by the UMD design faculty. The selected student exhibitors will have their own flat space and pedestals in which their work will be displayed. The show will consist of printed works on panels as well as electronic interactive pieces to be viewed on computer screens.

UMD believes that through this experience, design graduates will be able to better pursue their careers from a university setting to the workplace in one of the country's major design centers. Students will have the opportunity to meet with potential employers, and members of the professional design community, in turn, will be able to view their collective work.

"The model for this exhibition is a traditional one, held by many art and design programs at universities and private art and design schools throughout the country, as a rite of passage; uniting future design practitioners with practicing professionals," said UMD Department of Art and Design Professor Thomas Kovacs. "UMD's hope is that this exhibition will assist students and the design community in creating a professional, as well as powerful and lasting, alliance."