School of Art Newsletter Fall 07 vol. 2 issue 1

NOW: Professor Ellen McMahon

Ellen McMahon, Associate Professor of Visual Communication, was invited to speak at the International Council of Design Associations’ World Design Congress 2007 to discuss her work with The Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO) and the student mural projects on the Morua Estuary in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. The theme of the 2007 congress was design-culture and McMahon spoke to 500 delegates from 57 countries as part of a two day emphasis on design education.

The session was titled Design Education and Culture: Social Responsibility and Sustainable Practices as Factors in Curriculum Development. McMahon’s talk, Incorporating a Bi-National Conservation Project into the Visual Communications Curriculum, was about the project in Mexico and the importance of such projects supporting the long term health of the environment and increased cultural understanding. Due to rapid globalization this is a critical topic for the design community.

McMahon is currently on sabbatical, having received the J. William Fulbright US Scholar Grant, and is working in collaboration with graduate student Heather Green and Erin Moore, a faculty member from the School of Architecture, to create an eco-corridor to preserve the area’s natural resources and to support local economic development through sustainable ecotourism projects. McMahon will return to the University for the spring semester and will be working with her Viscom Capstone Class and Illustration II class to design and paint a mural for a second oyster farm on the Morua Estuary that is going to start to give kayak eco-tours.