Meet Geo Sipp | Professor of Art & Director of the School of Art and Design at Kennesaw State University

We had the good fortune of connecting with Geo Sipp and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Geo, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
The ability to adapt and be flexible with my creative career has been essential. The sin of pride can create stagnation and hubris, potentially limiting growth. My job involves creative problem solving and design thinking, with the intent of generating transdisciplinary opportunities for our programs. Having had a diverse creative career, the ability to share ideas and build consensus is all a part of the creative process.

What should our readers know about your business?

While my professional practice has always been focused on creative product, it has also been very peripatetic. I started my career doing window displays for Bloomindale’s in New York, and worked in their design department. I’ve worked in comics, produced advertising storyboards, been a creative director at several ad agencies, worked as a freelance illustrator, and have taught as a university professor, and served as an academic administrator in addition to my teaching responsibilities.

My career hasn’t necessarily followed a logical progression, yet it has been rewarding. What I’ve particularly enjoyed is the energy of building and creating collaboratively, of bringing people together to share ideas that when ultimately implemented, result in a positive experience for all involved. That can happen in an ad agency bullpen or in a studio classroom.

And at the core of it all is how one works with others. Listening, and treating people with dignity, respect, and empathy are critical to the effective application of my work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I live in Kennesaw. And my work at Kennesaw State University keeps me in the area, Yet, if friends are in town, I like to take them to East Atlanta Village.

Cooking at home and eating on our back patio or deck.

Hiking with our dog Callie at Kennesaw Mountain Park.

Coffee at the Lazy Labrador in Kennesaw.

Walking around Marietta Square and having lunch at one of the many restaurants located there.

Visiting the High Museum of Art and of course, visiting the Zuckerman Museum of Art at KSU.

And when our friends visit from our partner institution, ESA St. Luc Brussels, it’s always great to take them to a Braves game and have them experience an event they’ve not seen previously.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I’d had a long career in advertising and illustration when I decided I wanted to go to graduate school. My work had been concerned with solving design problems, selling product and building consumer loyalty. Going back to school after 18 years in industry focused my attention on developing a personal visual vocabulary. Throughout my professional career, my wife Carolyn has been my support and partner. Her sagacity and her grace have been enormously influential in how I live my life and work with my colleagues.

It was at Clemson University where I met Sydney Cross, a Professor of Art and a printmaker. She was instrumental in helping me think about the diversity of image development inherent in the discipline of printmaking, and the value of concepts that are multivalent. Yet, the most important thing she shared with me was her passion for teaching and working with students to develop their creative identity. It had a profound impact on my life and my career, so much so that I changed my career to pursue education.

And in academia, I have learned so much from Dr. Patricia Poulter, who was the Dean of the College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University, and hired me to be the Director of the School of Art and Design. Now the Provost at the University of Central Arkansas, she has been extraordinarily influential. And lastly, Mr. Carmon Colanagelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, has been an enormous support as I continue to learn how to effectively guide a large art school in the spirit of transparency and collaboration.

Website: http://www.geosipp.com

Instagram: Geo Sipp

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geosipp/

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