Feb. 24, 2021 — NKU School of the Arts and the Cincinnati American Institute of Graphic Arts continues the virtual Interconnected // Design Lecture Series on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

Maurice Woods, Executive Director and Founder of the Inneract Project, serves as the guest speaker and will deliver his keynote address "Black Voices In Design." Born and raised in Richmond, CA, Woods began his career as a basketball player, playing professionally worldwide for seven years to graduating from the University of Washington with a BFA and MFA in Visual Communication Design.

Woods created Inneract Project to bring design and youth from underserved communities together and ensure that people of color are supported and represented in design fields. What began in 2004 as a grassroots effort to teach design has become an organization, unwavering in its mission.

Since then, Woods has served as Co-Chair of Education for the AIGA San Francisco and nationally as a Board of Advisor for the Diversity Archive Collection Exhibition, receiving the AIGA San Francisco Fellow Award in 2016 and the Jefferson Award. Professionally, Maurice has worked as a designer at the world’s largest independent design consultancy, Pentagram Design. He designed extensive identity, retail, exhibit and interactive programs for Nike, Greyhound, Symantec, Priceline.com, and Google. In addition, He currently works full-time as a Principal Designer at Microsoft.

Interconnected — a new design lecture series for the 2020-21 academic year — is a collaboration with the design & art programs at Eastern Kentucky University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Louisville, in partnership with AIGA Cincinnati, AIGA Louisville, and AIGA Nashville. This year’s focus — Black Voices in Design — aims to diversify and decolonize our pedagogical practices and design curricula.

Each university hosts one speaker for a live, virtual lecture free for interested students, faculty, and professionals in the design community across the region. This line-up features exceptional talent across the field of art and design.

For more information and to register, visit NKU SOTA's website.