Women Graphic Designers: New Research

 

Wednesday, March 4

11:00 am - 12:15 pm

AB 110

 

Elizabeth Resnick, Professor Emerita and former Chairperson, Graphic Design Department, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston and Anne Berry, Professor and Director of the School of Design, University of Illinois Chicago, College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts will share examples of their recent publications, featuring the historical work of designers, including Jacqueline Casey, Lora Lamm, Bonnie MacLean, Sylvia Harris, Michele Washington, and Folayemi Wilson, among others.

 

Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon is a book of compelling illustrated stories examining the resilient and determined lives of 44 women graphic designers — from Europe, Asia, North America, South America, South Africa, and Australia — who worked professionally from the twentieth through the early twenty-first century. Written by a stellar cohort of international design academics, practitioners, and design historians, each of the 42 stories weaves the disparate threads from a hidden history of women in graphic design through rigorous research, unpublished and published first and second-person encounters, and interviews, with the subjects, family members, or close associates. Each story unfolds through a chronological order of biographical and autobiographical events, revealing the invisible and making it visible.

 

One of the relatively few black design practitioners who came to prominence in the 1990s, designer, strategist, and educator Sylvia Harris is remembered for both her career achievements—co-founding the public information design firm Two Twelve and serving as creative director for the 2000 U.S. Census among them—and opening doors for newer generations of black and brown designers. Driven by a commitment to improve the lives of others, she was the embodiment of a true citizen designer.

 

Elizabeth Resnick, ed., Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon (Bloomsbury, 2025).

 

Anne H. Berry, Kareem Collie, Penina Acayo Laker, Lesley-Ann Noel, Jennifer Rittner, and Kelly Walters, eds., The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection (Allworth Press, 2022).

 

Supported by the Elizabeth Allen Visiting Lectures in Art History Series

School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University

Free and open to the public. Contact: rhouze@niu.edu

Science, Education, & Leadership Expeditions for Positive Change

 

• Internship Expedition - provides free marine science and sailing programs to local children that are experiencing disadvantages and is open to all genders and majors. Interns, many of whom are college students, volunteer their time, and the position meets internship and service learning requirements.  There are four week and two week options. Here is a flyer that can be shared with students.

 

• Women's Leadership Expedition - an immersive, experiential program that is centered around leadership education and stewardship with a focus on providing women the knowledge to become the optimal version of themselves as a conscious leader. Here is a flyer that can be shared with students. 

Land-Grab Universities

 In 2020 a western U.S.  environmental publication, High Country News, published an in-depth study by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone of how the Morrill Act of 1962, which established land-grant universities in the U.S., was funded by states selling land expropriated from tribal nations.  The authors gathered extensive data on how these land-grant universities have benefitted, and many continue to benefit, from the sale and ownership of these lands.  

 

Tristan Ahtone  was interviewed yesterday on ”The 21^st  Show,” on NIU’s NPR station, WNIJ.  A YouTube recording of the interview is at the link below.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGI0Rw9ae7U

 

He will be speaking at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana on Feb. 19.

 

https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/events/event.php?ID=2683

 

The article is in the attached pdf of the January, 2020, issue of the publication. The link below is to an html version of that article.

 

https://www.hcn.org/issues/52-4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities/

 

2026 Stormwater Coordinator Internship

The Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) is seeking 1 intern to assist our planning, GIS and stormwater coordinator staff on a variety of tasks.

The successful candidate will spend time in the office and field under the guidance of SMC staff and will be involved in several phases of SMC’s programs in support of watershed workgroups, grant inspection coordination, education and outreach, site inspections, MS4 coordinator support and GIS tasks.

Examples of office activities may include, but will not be limited to 1) Watershed Workgroup support by updating the websites, taking and organizing meeting minutes, assisting with lining up presenters and organizing panels, and helping with meeting notes, 2) coordination with other Lake County departments/divisions for educational videos and outreach opportunities 3) updating an SMC funding source spreadsheet, 4) reporting on Watershed-based Plan milestones, 5) education and outreach support by creating project factsheets, coordinating stream clean-up requests, creating an inventory of project photos, assisting with Winter Best Practice workshops and events, 6) Central Permit Facility maintenance support, 7) GIS tasks to include filling data gaps in the SMC GIS Permit database.

Examples of field activities may include but will not be limited to 1) assistance with scheduling and coordinating best management practice inspections, 2) coordinating and performing field inspections and investigating discharges under the guidance of the SMC Stormwater Coordinator 3) field inspections on various construction projects under the guidance of the SMC Regulatory Staff, 4) other assigned field tasks as needed under the guidance of SMC Planning and Regulatory staff.

To be successful in this position, candidates must possess a high level of attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication skills, and intermediate level knowledge of Microsoft Office products. The candidate will also possess the ability to work both inside and outside in variable conditions and be willing to engage in limited to moderately strenuous physical activity. Successful candidate must also be highly motivated, be willing to take initiative and coordinate with project managers to ensure assigned work items are completed on schedule.

We are looking for candidates who are a graduate of, or current student in, a 2- or 4-year higher education program with an emphasis on water resource engineering, environmental science, urban planning, biology, or related field. Basic to intermediate level experience with the ESRI ArcGIS Suite, specifically ArcGIS Pro, is desired. Every effort will be made to provide County vehicles for field use; however, candidates must have their own transportation for traveling to and from field sites, if needed. The candidate must have a valid driver’s license and satisfactory driving record.

This is an office position with regular Monday through Friday work hours (for example 8:00am – 4:30pm). Alternative work schedules are available including varying start times with the possibility for remote work opportunities depending on assignment. Candidate will work approximately 40 hours per week for up to 25 weeks, not to exceed 1,000 hours. The desired start date is flexible. Class credit may be available for these internships; please check with your academic advisor. Questions should be directed to Jeff Laramy at jlaramy@lakecountyil.gov or 847-377-7709.

Visit our Prospective Employee page to get additional information on why you should work for Lake County! To learn more about the department you will be working for, visit the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission Website. To learn more about other services Lake County provides and to see some of our employees in action visit our website to view videos. If you need assistance writing your resume, we have some tools to help you at our Human Resources website.

Any offer of employment is conditioned on the successful completion of a background screening, drug and alcohol testing, and may include a pre-employment medical exam at a County-approved medical facility, at no cost to the applicant. Lake County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

To apply for this internship, visit https://tinyurl.com/3su4xv4y

Job Location Libertyville, Illinois, United States 

Position Type Intern 

Salary $18.00 USD 

Applications will be accepted until March 27, 2026

2026 SMC Project Internship

 The Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) is seeking 1 intern to assist our GIS, planning, and regulatory staff on a variety of tasks. The priority task will be gathering photographs and documentation for all existing SMC project sites.

The successful candidate will spend time in the office and field under the guidance of SMC staff. It is anticipated a large portion of this internship will be in the field photographing and documenting SMC projects sites. The successful candidate may also be involved in several other phases of SMC’s programs in support of GIS tasks, watershed workgroups, grant inspection coordination, education and outreach, site inspections, and MS4 coordinator support.

Office time will be spent updating the SMC project database and creating an inventory of project photos. Other office activities may include but will not be limited to 1) coordination with other Lake County departments/divisions for educational videos and outreach opportunities, 2) education and outreach support by creating project factsheets, coordinating stream clean-up requests, 3) Central Permit Facility maintenance support and 4) filling data gaps in the SMC GIS Permit database.

Field time will be spent photographing and documenting SMC project sites. Other field activities may include but will not be limited to 1) inspections on various construction projects under the guidance of the SMC Regulatory Staff, 2) inspections and investigating potentially illicit discharges under the guidance of the SMC Stormwater Coordinator and 3) other assigned field tasks as needed under the guidance of SMC Planning and Regulatory staff.

To be successful in this position, candidates must possess a high level of attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication skills, and intermediate level knowledge of Microsoft Office products. The candidate will also possess the ability to work both inside and outside in variable conditions and be willing to engage in limited to moderately strenuous physical activity. Successful candidate must also be highly motivated, be willing to take initiative and coordinate with project managers to ensure assigned work items are completed on schedule.

We are looking for candidates who understand the basics of photography, who are a graduate of, or current student in, a 2- or 4-year higher education program with an emphasis on water resource engineering, environmental science, urban planning, biology, or related field. Basic to intermediate level experience with the ESRI ArcGIS Suite, specifically ArcGIS Pro, is desired. 

Every effort will be made to provide County vehicles for field use; however, candidates must have their own transportation for traveling to and from field sites, if needed. The candidate must have a valid driver’s license and satisfactory driving record.

This is an office/field position with regular Monday through Friday work hours (for example 8:00am – 4:30pm). Alternative work schedules are available including varying start times with the possibility for remote work opportunities depending on assignment. Candidate will work approximately 40 hours per week for up to 13 weeks. The desired start date is flexible. 

Class credit may be available for these internships; please check with your academic advisor. Questions should be directed to

Jeff Laramy at jlaramy@lakecountyil.gov or 847-377-7709.

Visit our Prospective Employee page to get additional information on why you should work for Lake County! To learn more about the department you will be working for, visit the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission Website. To learn more about other services Lake County provides and to see some of our employees in action visit our website to view videos. If you need assistance writing your resume, we have some tools to help you at our Human Resources website.

Any offer of employment is conditioned on the successful completion of a background screening, drug and alcohol testing, and may include a pre-employment medical exam at a County-approved medical facility, at no cost to the applicant. Lake County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

To apply for this internship, visit https://tinyurl.com/5yvwjjwh

Job Location Libertyville, Illinois, United States 

Position Type Intern 

Salary $18.00 USD 

Applications will be accepted until March 27, 2026