Introduction of CC 2018
Welcome to the Cross Connections 2018 International Exhibition of Design & Illustration
The Cross Connections 2018 International Exhibition of Design & Illustration is a global invitational exhibition and juried competition. The exhibition promotes creativity, innovation, and the trends of international visual communication design and aims to inspire and educate through a global engagement.
Hosted and curated by School of Art, College of Fine Arts, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, and coordinated by graphic design faculty from all participating institutions, ten higher education institutions from around the world accepted the invitation to join the exhibition and competition.
The exhibition consists of a selection of 96 artworks from total 251 entries, including 80 print-based works and 16 screen-based works, in a wide range of visual art forms. All selected artworks showcase a fusion of cross-country, cross-culture, cross-discipline, and cross-conceptual contemporary design.
The selected artwork has been curated for exhibition by a professional jury committee (Professor Robert Grame from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and Professor Dane Webster from University of Colorado Denver) and will be on display in ten institutions of higher education around the world in the Fall of 2018.
The exhibition will be on display at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art from September 5 to October 24 with an opening reception on September 5 at 6:00 PM, and then continue the exhibition from November 5 to November 20 with an opening reception on November 7 at 6:00 PM at UTRGV School of Art.
The Local Peer-review Committee
In order to have the richest pool of work and to ensure the credibility of the process, each participating institution’s local peer-review committee selects at least twenty works from students and faculty, and then send the submission folder to the College of Fine Arts of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before April 25, 2018 for further selection by two jurors from the academic field.
The Global Advisory Committee
The global advisory committee is in charge of global communication and collaboration for the Cross Connections 2018 International Exhibition. Each committee member is responsible of reviewing the exhibition guidelines and funding proposals for respective institution.
Dr. Steven Block, Dean of College of Fine Arts
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)
Dr. John Bowers, Chair of Dept. of Visual Communication Design
School of The Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
Prof. Xiang Qun Li, President
China Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA)
Prof. Yuri Nazarov, Rector
National Design Institute Moscow, Russia (NDI)
Prof. Robert Hower, Chair of the Department of Art & Art History
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
Prof. Jun-Cheng Ma, Associate Dean of College of the Urban Design
China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)
Dr. Agassi Chang, Chair of the Department of Digital Media Design
Taiwan Ming Chuan University (MCU)
Dr. Qiuxia Chai, Deputy Dean of College of Digital Arts
Shanghai University (SHU)
Dr. Dra. Lorena Noyola Piña, Director of Design Faculty
Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, Mexico
Prof. Marijke Dirickx, Course Leader, Department of Visual Communication
LUCA School of Arts, Belgium
The Global Exhibition Committee
The global exhibition committee is in charge of organizing the Exhibition and the installation of Exhibition. Each exhibition committee member, assigned by respective institution, work with Exhibition’s Curatorial Committee members in the United States to make sure the exhibition in respective institution will go live as it was scheduled. The members of the committee are as follows:
Prof. Cheryl Mitchell, Asst. Professor in Practice of Museum Studies, The University of Texas at Arlington;
Prof. Donald Pollack, Asso. Professor, Visual Communication Design, School of The Art Institute of Chicago;
Prof. Nikolay Shtok, Chair of Dept. of Visual Communication Design, National Design Institute, Russia;
Prof. Ting Chu, Assoc. Professor of Design and Director of Foundations, Central Academy of Fine Arts, China;
Prof. Poshu Teng, Asst. Professor, Department of Digital Media Design, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan;
Prof. Johny Van de Vyver, Visual Communication Design, LUCA School of Arts, Belgium;
Prof. Lizandra Cedeño, College of Design, Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, Mexico;
Prof. Ya Xuan Liu, Studio of Branding & Communication, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, China;
Prof. Pu Xie, Assoc. Professor of Virtual Reality, Shanghai University, China;
The Curatorial Committee
Associate Professor
School of Art
Email: robert.gilbert@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 665-2214
Special Thanks
- Office of Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Office of Global Engagement (OGE), The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Dean's Office of College of Fine Arts, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- School of Art faculty colleagues, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Prof. Robert Grame (Juror), Associate Dean of Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
- Prof. Dane Webster (Juror), Director of The Digital Animation Center, University of Colorado Denver
- The Global Advisory Committee member in each participating institution
- The Global Exhibition Committee member in each participating institution
- Brownsville Museum of Fine Art
- CopyZone