Faculty

Cheryl Beckett, Associate Professor

BFA, MFA, Western Michigan University

Beckett has served as the Creative Director at Minor Design Group since 1987. The firm remains committed to the community. The client base includes a wide array of corporate and cultural institutions including museums, theatre and arts organizations; educational institutions and libraries; Fortune 500 companies and startup ventures, the architectural community; and public space environments. Beckett has received numerous design awards from AIGA, HOW, New York Type Director’s Club, Print, UCDA, STA 100, ADCH, and Texas Association of Museums. As an educator, Beckett presented design pedagogy at AIGA Schools of Thoughts I and 2 in L.A. and Intent/Content in Nashville. Writings on design education appear in Design Education In Progress: Process And Methodology, published and distributed by the VCU Center For Design Studies; Teaching Graphic Design: Course Offerings and Class Projects from the Leading Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, edited by Steven Heller, and the Academic Exchange Quarterly. Beckett served on the board of the Texas Chapter of the AIGA between 1990-1995 and on the founding board of AIGA Houston where she served as education chair from 1997-2001. Beckett has been co-honored as AIGA Houston’s first Fellow in 2007.

Beckham Dossett,
Associate Professor

BFA, University of Texas at Austin
MFA, Cranbook Academy of Art, Michigan

After completing a degree in painting from the University of Texas at Austin, Beckham Dossett returned to the university to study design. This experience led her to Cranbrook Academy of Art where she earned an MFA in Design. In 2000 she founded Small Project Office, a studio focused on working with educational and arts organizations. Her clients include the contemporary art quarterly Art Lies, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, and The International Graphic Arts Education Association.

Sibylle Hagmann, Assistant Professor

BFA, Basel School of Design, Switzerland
MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

Hagmann founded her Houston based design studio Kontour in 2000. She works for clients such as the CORE Program of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art; and the Fisher Gallery of the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, among others. Before relocating to Houston she was the art director of the USC School of Architecture, and taught at several southern Californian schools. In 1999 she completed the typeface family 'Cholla' originally commissioned by Art Center College of Design and released by the digital type foundry Emigre in the same year. Her work has been featured in several publications and recognized by the Type Directors Club of New York.

David Hickman, Professor

BA, DePauw University
MA, MFA, Northern Illinois University

7 Tulips

Nocturne

Professor Hickman came to the University of Houston in 1969, and developed the Masters of Fine Arts program which began in 1975. In addition to his service to the Department and the University, he has served as president of the MidAmerica College Art Association, curated exhibitions, juried numerous shows, and been an examiner for the International Baccalaureate Programs in Texas. He recently completed a term as president of the Houston Society of Illustrators and was elected to the Board of Directors of Artists Bookworks Houston.

Since 1963, Hickman has exhibited his paintings and illustrations extensively in solo and group shows. His work may be found in many private and public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the McAllen International Museum, and the Byer Museum, Evanston, Illinois. His awards include those from the Houston Area Exhibition (1974), the Houston Art League (1971), and the Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago (1967).

Fiona McGettigan,
Associate Professor &
Area Coordinator

BA, Mercyhurst College
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art

McGettigan, a partner in CORE Design Studio, has worked on projects for Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County; Rice Design Alliance; METRO; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. She and her partner, Alan Krathaus have been awarded grants for public art projects at three of the future METRO Light Rail Stations in Houston. Her designs have been cited in Communication Arts, International Design Magazine, and Cite.