Kelly Salchow MacArthur

Biography

Kelly Salchow MacArthur is a Professor of Graphic Design in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design with Honors from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design Magna Cum Laude from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. Before joining the faculty at MSU in 2006, she was Program Head of Graphic Design and Assistant Professor at Kansas City Art Institute. Other previous teaching experiences include RISD and The College of New Jersey.

Salchow MacArthur’s teaching, design, and research have focused on environmental awareness, advocacy, and action. In 2019, she received MSU’s Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Service for her green mapping projects with Monroe County in Southeastern Michigan. Green mapping is used as a way to highlight natural, cultural, and other attributes that support healthy communities and help spur environmental and climate action.

Salchow MacArthur is a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission, as well as a two-time Olympic rower who balances her passion for design and education with miles of rowing on the Huron River. She is also a participant of the Olympian Artists Program, in which she led a series of community-based collage workshops with at-risk youth in the lead up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In 2021, Salchow MacArthur was an Olympian Artist-in-Residence for the Olympic Agora in Tokyo, Japan. Her series of five Noren curtains celebrating peace, joy, hope, honor, and sport hung in the Nihonbashi neighborhood during the Olympics.

In 2023, the University of Cincinnati established the Kelly Salchow Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sport to be granted annually to a selected alum.

Salchow MacArthur is President Emerita of the international design organization, United Designs Alliance (UDA), and is a former member of the University & College Designers Association (UCDA) Design Educator’s Advisory Committee and College Art Association (CAA) Committee on Intellectual Property. From 2009-2011, Salchow MacArthur also served as President of the Detroit Chapter of AIGA, the Professional Association for Design, which followed five years of service as Education Director for the Detroit and Kansas City Chapters.

In 2020, Salchow MacArthur initiated the AIGA “Get Out The Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote” poster initiative to commemorate 100 years of the women’s vote. She and Nancy Skolos partnered with AIGA and the League of Women Voters, developing a collection of 65 posters created by 71 women in design and exhibited across the country along with being available for free download and usage. The campaign not only supported voter participation, but also served as a backdrop for dialogue and examination of the history of voting rights and women’s fight for equality. For that poster campaign project, Salchow MacArthur received the 2023 International Institute for Information Design (IIID) Editor’s Choice Award.

She has guest lectured at several universities and has presented at AIGA, European Academy of Design, IIID, International Design Principles and Practices, International Sport and Society, International Climate Change, CAA, UCDA, Foundations in Art: Theory & Education, and Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design conferences.

Salchow MacArthur’s design work has been exhibited internationally and selected by Graphis Poster and Design Annuals, Print, Creative Quarterly, GD USA, IIID, Emirates International Poster Festival, Plaster International Festival, B.I. International Poster Biennale, Graphis Designers for Peace, Type Directors Club, Society of Typographic Arts, American Alliance of Museums, United Designs, AIGA Kansas City, and AIGA Detroit competitions.
 
Her work is included in the permanent collections of The Museum of Avant-garde (Switzerland), the Japan Olympic Museum (Tokyo), The Cultural & Scientific Association Poster Collection (Dubai), UDA Collection (South Korea), The Susan C. Harp Collection of Graphic Design (New Hampshire), and UCDA Design Collection (Tennessee).