2023 SEGD Graffiti to Graphics - Part 1

Infusing over two decades of design excellence into her role as CEO of SEGD, Cybelle Jones is not just a leader but a passionate advocate for the transformative power of experience design. Firmly grounded in the conviction that design has the capability to engender positive change, Cybelle drives her multidisciplinary community to create experiences that intimately connect people with places. As the helm of SEGD, a non-profit member organization, Cybelle champions education, innovation, and design excellence. She works tirelessly to inspire the design of more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments, reflecting her belief in the pivotal role design plays in shaping our world. Before taking the reins at SEGD, Cybelle etched a notable career as Principal of G&A. Her 25+ year tenure saw her lead several acclaimed design projects, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. These high-profile undertakings not only attest to her design prowess but also her ability to infuse creativity with strategic insights. Cybelle’s influence extends beyond SEGD. As a thought leader, she has addressed audiences at prestigious forums like AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, and MuseumNext. Her active involvement on various boards sees her push the boundaries of experience design, contributing to the evolution of the profession. Driven by passion, guided by experience, and committed to innovation, Cybelle Jones is a beacon in the realm of design, illuminating the path to a more user-centric, equitable, and sustainable future.

Dayton Schroeter is a Vice President and National Design Director at Smithgroup, and SEGD Board Member. He is an Architect, social activist, exhibition designer and artist with over 20 years of experience championing ‘Design Justice’ advocacy. As a leader of the firm’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, his charge is to lead design projects that address the systematic injustice that architecture and planning have perpetuated on historically disenfranchised communities of color. Leveraging his tenacious passion for design justice with authenticity and creativity, he is currently leading Antiracism efforts in design projects at all scales and typologies including cultural spaces, mixed use residential/commercial, higher education/science & tech and healthcare. One of his core beliefs is that design should avoid the traps of trend and fashion in exchange for a profound authenticity of time and place. Dayton Schroeter's formative years were profoundly influenced by the raw and unapologetic narratives brewing from revolutionary Hip Hop. A culture born in the wake of the civil rights movement, less than 10 years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The powerful messages delivered by the likes of Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, and Melle Mel, imparted a sense of urgency and a call to action that would echo throughout his career. This early exposure to Hip Hop's blend of artistry and activism instilled in him a conviction that every form of expression, including architecture, has the responsibility to address and rectify social injustices.

A product of the 1990s Bay Area, Andy Outis has been steeped in hip hop culture for most of his life. Andy has been putting type in environments since he was 15 years old—first as a graffiti writer—and later, a designer. He was also a member of the Nameless & Faceless, an underground Bay Area rap group from 1995–2000. Andy is now the Principal and Creative Director of Shift7.Studio, working across branding, motion, environments and storytelling for brands, non-profits, and individuals. He was previously the Creative Director of marketing and events at New York Magazine, where he led a team responsible for revenue-driving creative across brand marketing, events and custom content for New York Magazine and its digital verticals including The Cut and Vulture. Andy has amassed a deep experiential portfolio, having designed environments for The Vulture Festival, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, The Breakthrough Prize, Related Companies, and the upcoming Field of Light at Freedom Plaza. Andy is a graduate of the MFA Designer as Entrepreneur program at the School of Visual Arts and teaches at SVA and Pratt Institute. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Dayton Schroeter is a Vice President and National Design Director at Smithgroup, and SEGD Board Member. He is an Architect, social activist, exhibition designer and artist with over 20 years of experience championing ‘Design Justice’ advocacy. As a leader of the firm’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, his charge is to lead design projects that address the systematic injustice that architecture and planning have perpetuated on historically disenfranchised communities of color. Leveraging his tenacious passion for design justice with authenticity and creativity, he is currently leading Antiracism efforts in design projects at all scales and typologies including cultural spaces, mixed use residential/commercial, higher education/science & tech and healthcare. One of his core beliefs is that design should avoid the traps of trend and fashion in exchange for a profound authenticity of time and place. Dayton Schroeter's formative years were profoundly influenced by the raw and unapologetic narratives brewing from revolutionary Hip Hop. A culture born in the wake of the civil rights movement, less than 10 years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The powerful messages delivered by the likes of Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, and Melle Mel, imparted a sense of urgency and a call to action that would echo throughout his career. This early exposure to Hip Hop's blend of artistry and activism instilled in him a conviction that every form of expression, including architecture, has the responsibility to address and rectify social injustices.

Gamynne Guillotte is the newly appointed Leanne and George Roberts Chief Education and Community Engagement Officer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). She is responsible for anchoring the institution’s efforts to connect with a wide range of audiences through educational and public programs, in-gallery experiences, community partnerships and offsite collaborations. Previously, she was the Chief Education Officer at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), where she was responsible for interpretation, public programs, education, and public engagement. Prior to this, she was a designer at Los Angeles-based Narduli Studio, an interdisciplinary design firm with commissions in public art and architecture and developed public programs at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture. Guillotte has served on the Affiliates Board for the Program in Museums and Society at Johns Hopkins University, currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of Art Museum Interpretation (AAMI), and as a project contributor to the Museums as a Site for Social Action (MASS Action) initiative. Guillotte holds an M.Arch. from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and a B.A. with areas of concentration in Art History and Architectural History from Sarah Lawrence College.

Andréa Purnell, audience development manager and co-curator of “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century,” joined the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2017. As the audience development manager, Purnell works to spearhead cross-departmental initiatives and engagement strategies designed to increase and expand the museum’s audience profile. Her major contributions at SLAM include the development of the award-winning Staff Programming Opportunity Team, a program that encourages staff input and promotes diverse thinking using institutional collaboration with fresh perspectives. In addition to her public relations duties, Purnell has maintained a successful artistic career as an actor, writer, director, and stage manager. Her acting credits include theater, commercials, industrial films, and movies. She has appeared in numerous local broadcasts and continues to be actively involved in media relations. For these accomplishments, she has received the DELUX Magazine Power 100 Award, Grand Center Visionary Award, North County Incorporated 30 Leaders Award, Ferguson-Florissant School District Outstanding Alumni Award, and ALIVE Magazine Buzz Listing. Purnell holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication studies from Fontbonne University, a master of fine arts in arts management and leadership from Webster University, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion certificate from Cornell University. Purnell serves as the appointed 2023 board chair for the Regional Arts Commission of Saint Louis and on the Florissant Disability Awareness Commission.

Kaleena Sales is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Chair of the Department of Art and Design at Tennessee State University, an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in Nashville, TN. Her research and writing are rooted in racial justice and equity, with a specific focus on the ways culture informs aesthetics. Kaleena is co-author of the book, Extra-Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Non-Binary Field Guild for Graphic Designers, alongside Ellen Lupton, Farah Kafei, Jennifer Tobias, Josh A. Halstead, Leslie Xia, and Valentina Vergara. Through her service on AIGA's Design Educators Community Steering Committee, Kaleena advocated for a more inclusive view of design history through her Beyond the Bauhaus writing series, which served as inspiration for her new book, Centered: People and Ideas Diversifying Design, published by Princeton Architectural Press. Kaleena is an active illustrator, with award-winning work featured in the 2021 Communication Arts Illustration Annual and is currently researching the intersection of Black culture and design as a doctoral student at North Carolina State University.

coleman a. jordan [ebo] is an assistant professor at Morgan State University's School of Architecture & Urban Planning in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the principal of studio caj.e and also serves on the boards of the US Africa Collaborative in Washington D.C., and We Want Green Too in Detroit, Michigan. Jordan specializes in researching the spaces of the Black Atlantic, and Pan-African influences on design. In 2004, he curated the landmark exhibit, "HARLEM SPEAK: street signs and soapboxes," at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In 2021, he curated "We the 7" at the Venice Architecture Biennial and will exhibit "ReCall and Response" at the 2024 Venice Art Biennial, in Venice, Italy. Jordan's designs are inspired by Bebop, the political raps of Public Enemy, and George Clinton's P-Funk sounds. He blends these contexts within his designs with the historio-graphics of the Black Atlantic. Jordan hails from Cleveland, Ohio, where DJ Cochise was celebrated during his era of Hip Hop, while Bone Thugs-n-Harmony expanded their lyrics from the region, and Kid Cudi continues to represent the city's talent today.

Fitgi Saint-Louis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Queens, NY. She received her BFA in Design at the School of Visual Arts in 2011 and has been an adjunct professor at the school since 2020. Fitgi’s work considers the layered and intertwined legacies of the African diaspora influenced by her Haitian American heritage. She utilizes color and form to visualize subjects at rest, in dreamscapes, in movement and mediation. Her abstracted figures honor the multifaceted ancestry of the Black experience and her work formats are influenced from her expertise in experiential graphic design. Currently an artist in residence at Art Crawl Harlem - Governors Island, her debut solo exhibition was held at Underground Gallery, New York (2022). Select group exhibitions include Kente Royal Gallery, New York (2023); The Africa Center, New York (2023); She also has a public mural on Long Island. Fitgi has collaborated on design and advocacy projects, was awarded the Rising Star Award from Interior Design Magazine and is a true multi-hyphenate. She is an accomplished dancer, and choreographer who has taught internationally, and at the Alvin Ailey Extension Program. She is an organizer in the Design as Protest Collective, Urban Design Forum, National Organization of Minority Architects and Dark Matter U. Fitgi is dedicated to the accessibility of art education, sponsoring workshops for young artists.

L’Rai Arthur-Mensah is a Project Director with Local Projects. Credits include The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, The Fashion For Good Experience in Amsterdam, Netherlands and building an online 3D rendering of Kara Walker’s Sugar Baby with Creative Time. Her goal is always to contribute to works that facilitate conversations and experiences that place Truth-telling and Reconciliation at the forefront. L'Rai holds a B.S.E in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

A product of the 1990s Bay Area, Andy Outis has been steeped in hip hop culture for most of his life. Andy has been putting type in environments since he was 15 years old—first as a graffiti writer—and later, a designer. He was also a member of the Nameless & Faceless, an underground Bay Area rap group from 1995–2000. Andy is now the Principal and Creative Director of Shift7.Studio, working across branding, motion, environments and storytelling for brands, non-profits, and individuals. He was previously the Creative Director of marketing and events at New York Magazine, where he led a team responsible for revenue-driving creative across brand marketing, events and custom content for New York Magazine and its digital verticals including The Cut and Vulture. Andy has amassed a deep experiential portfolio, having designed environments for The Vulture Festival, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, The Breakthrough Prize, Related Companies, and the upcoming Field of Light at Freedom Plaza. Andy is a graduate of the MFA Designer as Entrepreneur program at the School of Visual Arts and teaches at SVA and Pratt Institute. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Julian Alexander is a visual artist, GRAMMY-award winning art director, and founder of Brooklyn-based design studio Slang Inc. His iconic album artwork can be seen on packages that have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. In 2020, Julian started the Supremacy Project which addresses the systematic oppression and violence BIPOC communities are fighting to end through art.

From Manchester England, Wilson came from a family of graphic designers but carved out a 35 year career as an interior photographer in NY, with the last three shoots for his long-term clients the NY Times, LVMH and Victoria’s Secret. Wilson is regarded as the first photographer to specialize in the digital manipulation of images, using the infamous Quantel Paintbox from 1985 and still owns one of the last working Paintboxes in the world. His vast archive of Paintbox art includes unseen work created by David Hockney and Keith Haring. Wilson has curated several exhibitions and is the world authority on a pioneering machine which first brought the world into the Digital Age and was used by many hip-hop artists for music videos and record sleeves. His photography career self-funds his several other creative outlets, including a museum quality collection of 10,000 vintage branding labels and 2,000 Victorian printing blocks, with which he gave a talk at TypeCon and opened an award-winning free store in the Lower East Side in 2015 called The Inutilious Retailer. He created a fake Elon Musk Office and Art Gallery in a derelict building on Rivington Street and opened the first art gallery in Jean-Michel Basquait’s former studio and home at 57 Great Jones Street. Wilson is a prolific graffiti and street artist who never sells or signs his work but you have likely seen his viral transformations of street signs and subway station tributes to people who have passed such as “David Bowery” and “Aretha Franklin Street”. Jerry Saltz contacted Wilson to come up with ideas and artwork, renaming The Met Koch forecourt to “Climate Denier Plaza.”

Infusing over two decades of design excellence into her role as CEO of SEGD, Cybelle Jones is not just a leader but a passionate advocate for the transformative power of experience design. Firmly grounded in the conviction that design has the capability to engender positive change, Cybelle drives her multidisciplinary community to create experiences that intimately connect people with places. As the helm of SEGD, a non-profit member organization, Cybelle champions education, innovation, and design excellence. She works tirelessly to inspire the design of more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments, reflecting her belief in the pivotal role design plays in shaping our world. Before taking the reins at SEGD, Cybelle etched a notable career as Principal of G&A. Her 25+ year tenure saw her lead several acclaimed design projects, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. These high-profile undertakings not only attest to her design prowess but also her ability to infuse creativity with strategic insights. Cybelle’s influence extends beyond SEGD. As a thought leader, she has addressed audiences at prestigious forums like AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, and MuseumNext. Her active involvement on various boards sees her push the boundaries of experience design, contributing to the evolution of the profession. Driven by passion, guided by experience, and committed to innovation, Cybelle Jones is a beacon in the realm of design, illuminating the path to a more user-centric, equitable, and sustainable future.