ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø will celebrate the connections and career successes of graphic design alumni—including a presentation by an award-winning Marvel film artist and an exhibition by a nationally known illustrator and designer, both originally from the Pittsburgh region—as part of the first, to-be-annual, “Slenkfest” April 11 to 13.
Slenkfest, named in honor of the late Robert “Bob” Slenker, IUP’s first graphic design professor, “is all about connecting alumni in the industry with current students and with one another,” associate professor and coordinator of IUP’s Graphic Design and Illustration program Tony DiMauro said.
Public events for Slenkfest include a presentation by 1988 IUP graduate and 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient and Marvel Cinematic Universe graphic designer Susan Burig; an exhibition in IUP’s University Museum by 1988 IUP graduate and 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient John Ritter: “Energy and Color, Thirty Years of Illustration by John Ritter;” and an IUP Graphic Design and Illustration Alumni Open House.
In addition to Burig’s presentation and Ritter’s exhibition, more than 60 artists—including 40 alumni of the graphic design and illustration program—will be part of an Alumni Open House, which offers networking and the opportunity for alumni to review student portfolios and for students and alumni to share their work.
“Slenkfest, at its core, is a celebration of the program and the relationships between our alumni and our students, which are key to the ongoing successes of the graphic design and illustration program,” DiMauro said.
“There’s so much demand for graphic artists, and our program prepares our talented students to be career-ready,” DiMauro said. “Our enrollment continues to grow, and in fact, has been identified as a program with potential to grow even larger,” he said. “It’s a very exciting time for our program.”
“One of the things that makes our program unique is our alumni, who hold top positions in the graphic design field and who are actively involved in helping our students and graduates find meaningful career opportunities,” DiMauro said. “Our alumni stay connected to the program and to one another, and are always offering opportunities to our students and graduates,” he said.
DiMauro and Ritter—a 1988 IUP graduate, 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and nationally known graphic designer who is the head graphic designer in IUP’s Marketing and Communications Office—developed the idea for Slenkfest as a celebration of the program, its students, and program alumni.
“As we started talking about our experiences, we realized the incredible interconnectedness of our alumni, and how instrumental they continue to be in helping our students along their career paths,” Ritter said.
“We also realized how impactful Robert Slenker was for us and for hundreds of students, and his critically important role in shaping the program and encouraging the close connections and relationships between alumni and IUP,” he said. “It just felt right to recognize the foundation that he laid for the program and alumni success—including my own success—by naming the event in his honor.”
The Slenkfest events are free and open to the community.
Slenkfest Events
- “From IUP to the MCU: The Secret World of Graphic Design for Filmmaking,” presented by Susan Burig, April 11, 6:00 p.m. McVitty Auditorium in . Burig will discuss her career as a lead graphic designer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Special Marvel film swag will be given away at the conclusion of her presentation.
- “Energy and Color, Thirty Years of Illustration by John Ritter,” an exhibition in the IUP University Museum, located on the first floor of . The opening reception for the exhibit is April 12 at 7:00 p.m. The show closes on May 3.
About Susan Burig
Burig was born in California and grew up in Allison Park. Burig is a multitalented graphic designer and producer with a career that spans more than 30 years in the entertainment industry.
She has almost 60 feature films to her credit, including Avengers: Infinity War; Avengers: Endgame; Guardians of the Galaxy II; Captain America: Winter Soldier; The Amazing Spiderman; Ant-Man; Austin Powers; The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift; Transformers: Dark of the Moon; and Django Unchained. She also has done design for the television series She-Hulk.
As a film designer, Burig designs many elements in every film, from large details to small, from billboards and posters to books and matchbooks. Elements in films that are highly visible but are accepted as real such as the “Smart Tech” store logo in The Forty Year-Old Virgin, the Pym Tech logo in Ant-Man, the ESD (Earth Space Defense) logo in Independence Day: Resurgence, all of the huge neon on the planet Contraxia in Guardians of the Galaxy II, and the Amazing and Painless Dr. King Shultz Dentist’s horse-drawn wagon as well as all of the wanted posters in Django Unchained.
She is a member of the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). Academy membership is a privilege offered to only a select few within the global community of filmmakers who have achieved excellence in the field of motion pictures. She won an Art Directors Guild Award in 2019 for Excellence in Production Design for Endgame after being nominated twice before for earlier work.
She is an avid horsewoman and is currently producing a docuseries involving equestrian show jumping.
“I’m incredibly honored to be invited back to IUP for the Distinguished Alumni Award celebration, and so excited to talk with students about my work and my career,” Burig said.
“IUP was a great experience, not only for the strong foundation it provided, but for the people that I met—mentors like Robert Slenker, who helped me to think outside the box of ‘traditional’ art; James Nestor, my sculpture teacher, who helped me to really look at and feel art in a more personal way; my classmate John Ritter, who continues to inspire me with his talent, unwavering passion, and strength to move to California and pursue his art; and my classmate Scott Blasey, lead vocalist for the Clarks, who believed in my talents and pushed me to pursue my dreams.
“I’ve continued to draw on this foundation and inspiration throughout my life. This is the message that I want to share with students, that we are a community that supports one another. I’m very impressed with the growth of the graphic design and illustration program at IUP, and I want to support it in any way that I can. I’m really looking forward to Slenkfest 2024.”
About John Ritter
Ritter, raised in Export and now a resident of Indiana and Ligonier, is a nationally known illustrator and designer. The show is a comprehensive exhibition of his 30-year editorial illustration career. He has created award-winning artwork for the New Yorker, Time, Harper’s, Oprah, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Honda Motor Company, and Rolling Stone and was a designer for Adobe Systems, Inc.
He was an invited artist-in-residence at IUP for the 2021 academic year before joining the university’s Marketing and Communications Office as the senior graphic designer.
Outside of his professional studio practice, Ritter’s personal work explores the intersection of photography, digital technology, and traditional printmaking techniques through large-scale works on paper and canvas. Throughout his career, he has also had the rewarding experience of teaching and mentoring others.
About Robert Slenker
Slenker, a 1953 graduate of IUP who earned a master’s degree and professional diploma at Teachers’ College, Columbia University, taught at IUP for 36 years, retiring in 1998. He passed away in 2001.
He was a well-known artist in western ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and an active exhibitor with the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, the Community Art Center of Cambria County, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh, Community Arts Center of Johnson, Associated Artists of Butler, and US Bank Gallery. His work is part of numerous private, university, and corporate collections; he is best known for his unique creations which he called assemblages, made from a variety of found objects assembled into a framed work of art.
About Tony DiMauro
DiMauro is a 2006 graduate of IUP; prior to his current work as a professor, he was a graphic designer and art director at a design agency in New York City. He joined the IUP faculty in 2012.
His clients included Rolling Stone Magazine, the New York Times, Dungeons and Dragons, Chicago Magazine, the Deal Magazine LLC, and major video game companies such as Capcom and Square Enix. His work has appeared in international juried publications such as Communication Arts, American Illustration, 3x3 Magazine, and the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators, as well as major exhibitions across the United States.
He continues to work as an entrepreneur and freelance designer while teaching at IUP.
In addition to his IUP degree in art with a minor in art history, DiMauro graduated from the MFA: Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
About IUP’s Graphic Design And Illustration Program
IUP’s Graphic Design and Illustration program is part of the Department of Art and Design.
With a focus in both graphic design and illustration, the program is designed to provide students with a diverse, marketable portfolio as a creative professional. IUP’s faculty are working designers and illustrators with real-world experience.
The program includes about 80 undergraduate majors.