July 15-18, 2026 at MICA, Baltimore, US
Conference
Call for Submissions
Conference
15–18 JULY 2026,
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, US
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, US
Prisms: The Illustration Education Symposium at ICON13 brings together educators, professionals, scholars, and students to interrogate connections between history, research, and practice in the field of Illustration.
ICON The Illustration Conference brings together top illustrators, designers, educators, representatives, and art buyers to explore the past, present, and future of illustration. Since 1999, we have produced conferences in Santa Fe, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Providence, Portland, Austin, Detroit, and Kansas City. ICON is committed to providing a diverse forum for an ongoing dialogue that serves the illustration, design, publishing, advertising, and academic communities. ICON13 will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, from July 15th until July 18th, 2026. The first two days of the conference are devoted to Prisms, the Education Symposium, and workshops; the second two days of the conference consist of Mainstage events with speakers, panels, and presentations representing a broad range of specialties from the fields of illustration and design.
Call for Submissions
We invite abstracts for 20 minute presentations that broaden the understanding of how illustration is changing in the classroom, practice, and research. Unusual avenues of practice and inquiry are encouraged, including both theory and practice-based research. Academics, illustrators, typographers, designers, painters, artists, and multidisciplinary practitioners are welcome to submit. Abstracts submitted for consideration should fall under one of the following areas:
Graduate students* are also invited to submit abstracts for 10 minute presentations about illustration research, pedagogy, and practice.
* Accepted students must be currently enrolled in a graduate program OR have graduated from an MFA or MA or masters program between 2025 and 2026.
- Illustration Pedagogy & the Classroom
- Education through Museums, Archives & Special Collections
- Translating Research Interests into Teaching & Practice
- Envisioning Illustration Futures
Graduate students* are also invited to submit abstracts for 10 minute presentations about illustration research, pedagogy, and practice.
* Accepted students must be currently enrolled in a graduate program OR have graduated from an MFA or MA or masters program between 2025 and 2026.
Possible topics could include, but are not limited to:
• Articulating Research Methods
• Unpacking ‘Process’
• Making and Using Archives
• Research Beyond Reference
• Meaning and Representation in Visual Language
• Unpacking ‘Process’
• Making and Using Archives
• Research Beyond Reference
• Meaning and Representation in Visual Language
• Visual Culture and Visual Literacy
• Cultivating Conceptual Depth
• Critique and Criticality in the Classroom
• Broaching Difficult Topics with Students
• Theory and Research Based Illustration Projects
• Cultivating Conceptual Depth
• Critique and Criticality in the Classroom
• Broaching Difficult Topics with Students
• Theory and Research Based Illustration Projects
• Pedagogy in Action: Assignments, Exercises, Workshops
• Teaching Writing to Illustrators
• Defining and Emphasizing ‘Craft’
• Grappling with AI
• Integrating Authorship and Audiences
• Teaching Writing to Illustrators
• Defining and Emphasizing ‘Craft’
• Grappling with AI
• Integrating Authorship and Audiences
Format & deadlines
Important Dates:
June 30, 2025 Receipt of the Abstracts
August, 2025 Notification of Acceptance
January 1, 2026 Receipt of Draft Presentation (with presentation notes)
May 31, 2026 Final Presentations Due
July 15–16, 2026 Presentation Dates
With permission of the authors, abstracts will later be archived and shared online.
Submit your abstract via this Google Form
June 30, 2025 Receipt of the Abstracts
August, 2025 Notification of Acceptance
January 1, 2026 Receipt of Draft Presentation (with presentation notes)
May 31, 2026 Final Presentations Due
July 15–16, 2026 Presentation Dates
With permission of the authors, abstracts will later be archived and shared online.
Submit your abstract via this Google Form
Initial submissions should take the form of an abstract of up to 300 words, submitted through this Google Form.
Submitted proposals and selected presentations will be juried by ICON13’s panel of peer reviewers, including Prisms Co-Chairs Shreyas R. Krishnan, Washington University in St. Louis, and Ryan Hartley Smith, SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology. If accepted, in lieu of a paper, presenters will need to submit a draft presentation with presentation notes or script for review. Final presentation files will be collected at least a month prior to the symposium.
Submitted proposals and selected presentations will be juried by ICON13’s panel of peer reviewers, including Prisms Co-Chairs Shreyas R. Krishnan, Washington University in St. Louis, and Ryan Hartley Smith, SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology. If accepted, in lieu of a paper, presenters will need to submit a draft presentation with presentation notes or script for review. Final presentation files will be collected at least a month prior to the symposium.