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The VCFA MFA in Graphic Design Program Blog

Still Tipping’ Driving Foward Design and Culture

August 16, 2025

Still Tipping’ Driving Foward Design and Culture

Hosted by the State of Black Design in collaboration with AAGD PVAMU, Panthers G.A.M.E., and the Digital Media Arts Program. Now in its sixth edition, the State of Black Design Summit returns with Still Tippin’: Driving Forward Design and Culture, a celebration of creativity, resilience, and cultural power in motion. Hosted at the historic Prairie View A&M University, this year’s theme draws inspiration from Houston’s signature design swagger, where tradition and innovation collide in unforgettable ways.

October 30th 1pm to November 1st, 2025
Prairie View, TX
Early registration link here.

The Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design is one of the nation’s first low-residency programs in graphic design that is built around a student’s individual interests and goals.

The MFA in Graphic Design is an immersive two-year graduate program that synthesizes five intense, one-week residencies with four six-month semesters of independent study with a range of faculty mentors. We educate students towards the broader context of design in order to investigate and reveal relationships. We see Graphic Design as a social tool and design education as a process of social transformation.

Our innovative, highly effective pedagogical model has its roots in the progressive educational philosophies of John Dewey. Our student-centered approach allows students to develop individualized study plans, addressing design issues that support their particular interests, values, and goals.

MFA students in our Graphic Design program will develop skills in form, content and craft, deepen and expand critical ability, build fluency in contemporary design discourse, and expand their ability to drive content with their work.

Graduates emerge with new research methods, critical acumen, and a body of design work that is personal and relevant; one which enhances their professional and academic path. They will have learned to continuously rethink design by considering cultural context, relationships between designers and their work, and the nature of education within design.