Apr 14 - Apr 15, 2026
UCDA Creative Summit 2026
Live Virtual Event
2026 UCDA Creative Summit
Tuesday, April 14 & Wednesday, April 15, 2026
The 2026 UCDA Creative Summit is a two-day virtual event providing inspiration to refill your creative fuel tank. Programming is curated to spark your imagination and facilitate ideas that can help be a catalyst for your next project or even give you the inspiration to seek out and try new techniques or embark on a new creative path.
Attendees engage virtually in a casual, friendly setting with creative professionals across North America and beyond. Illustrators, photographers, designers, and creative thinkers will share their inspiring work and stories. We also include workshops and hands-on activities as well as time for open discussions to share experiences and ideas. The virtual format makes it easy to attend from your office, studio space, or home. Come prepared to learn, share, and grow your creative potential—you will walk away with new ideas, fresh perspectives, and inspiration to fuel your next creative endeavor.
The UCDA Creative Summit is an opportunity to discover, create, and connect.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
While UCDA’s programming is designed for creative professionals working in education, design faculty, and students, the Creative Summit is for anyone who needs a creative boost. If you’re a writer, marketer, creative manager, illustrator, photographer, or any other creative professional (or student), this event is for you!
TOP REASONS TO ATTEND THIS SUMMIT
Education: Carefully curated presentations and workshops over two half-days
Community: Connect and exchange ideas with the folks who do what you do
Affordable: Without the need for travel or lodging, the UCDA Creative Summit is budget-friendly.
AGENDA
The Creative Summit takes place over the course of two days. We start mid-morning (Central Time) and have a few short breaks scheduled between sessions, which wrap up in the early afternoon.
Each day features a keynote presentation with an opportunity for Q&A with the speaker, casual conversation with fellow attendees, and exercises to get your creative juices flowing. We’ll round out the day with a hands-on workshop to help you flex your maker muscles.
SCHEDULE
Preliminary schedule, subject to change.
Join us for two fulfilling days of creativity and inspiration:
Tuesday, April 14, 2026: 11 a.m.–2 p.m. (CDT)
Wednesday, April 15, 2026: 11 a.m.–2 p.m. (CDT)
TUESDAY, APRIL 1411:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. 12:15–12:45 p.m. 2:00–2:15 p.m. |
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1511:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. 12:15–12:45 p.m. 1:00–2:00 p.m. 2:00–2:15 p.m. |
SPEAKERS & SESSIONS
Nitashia Johnson | Keynote Presentation
The University of Texas at Dallas
The Magic of Creative Connection: Embodying Connection in the Work and Those You Meet
In my presentation, I explore how meaningful relationships with our work, our communities, and the people we encounter can elevate our artistic practice. Whether we are designers, photographers, videographers, or working in any creative field, I reflect on how connection becomes a powerful force that deepens creativity and strengthens collaboration. Through my experiences, I invite others to consider how they can embody connection in their own work and in the relationships they build along the way.
Nicole Fansler & Mathias Reed | Keynote Presentation
Oberlin College
Brand Revisited: How In-House Refinement Leads to Stronger Brand Alignment
Oberlin’s brand has evolved: learn how it started, how it’s going, and how we’re shaping our future in higher education marketing. Through in-house creative and marketing collaboration, we’ve refined our complex institution’s brand to align with our core values. We’ll share how refining institutional voice, visual language, and cross-platform systems has brought our academic excellence, creativity, and mission into sharper focus. Attendees will see how a contemporary, cohesive brand framework strengthens Oberlin’s performance and presence in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Michelle Lipira | Keynote Presentation
Adobe
Thriving Through Disruption: A Designer’s Guide to the AI Era
Design has always evolved alongside technology—and today’s AI shift is simply the next chapter. In this session, Michelle Lipira draws on nearly two decades of navigating creative change to explore how designers can move through disruption with clarity and confidence. Attendees will gain practical insight into where AI fits within real-world workflows, how to elevate storytelling through intentional experimentation, and how to adopt new tools without compromising craft, ethics, or creative voice.
Steven White | Workshop
Virginia Tech
Where 'Ideas' Come From: A Short and Sketchy Chat with Virginia Tech's Daily Doodler
What does it take to create an original illustration—every single day? Hear from Steven White, the creative mind behind the artwork in Virginia Tech's university-wide email. Since becoming the Daily Doodler in 2020, Steven has produced more than 1,200 original illustrations, and in this session he'll pull back the curtain on his process.
Michelle Lipira | Workshop
Adobe
Designing With Disruption: Craft, Context, and AI
AI is reshaping how designers create and iterate. In this hands-on digital workshop, participants will explore how emerging tools support ideation and refinement across text and visuals. Through guided exercises and live demonstrations, attendees will practice directing AI strategically—learning when to push it further, when to rein it in, and how to keep craft, context, and creative authorship in their control.
REGISTRATION
| SUMMIT PASS (all prices in USD) |
Live Event ONLY | Digital Recording Add-on* | |
|
Early Bird |
Standard |
Order with your live event registration by April 10. |
|
| UCDA Member | $150 | $50 | |
| Non-member | $250 | $50 | |
| Student | $50 | $25 | |
Join UCDA to qualify for member pricing
*Digital recording available as an add-on to live event registration only.
See UCDA’s Cancellation Policy
See UCDA’s Inclusiveness, Code of Conduct, and Anti-harassment Policy.
Featured Speakers
Nicole Fansler is a creative director and brand strategist who combines strategic clarity with visual storytelling to help higher education brands reflect the boldness and thoughtfulness of their institutions. As Creative Director, Brand Strategy & Stewardship at Oberlin College, she leads the college’s brand evolution by translating complex ideas into cohesive, design-focused systems that are authentic and meaningful. She believes in the power of creative courage, helping institutions articulate who they truly are and empowering teams to express that identity with confidence and craft. Nicole is committed to ensuring creative work has a voice at the leadership table, where brand and design shape culture, alignment, and long-term impact.
Michelle Lipira is a seasoned design professional with nearly two decades of experience spanning mobile, consumer hardware, and digital product design. She began her career in mobile design at Motorola (back when the Razr was still cool) before going on to shape the visual and industrial design of the iconic GoPro camera—work deeply informed by her passion for travel, sports, and adventure. For the past six years, Michelle has been a key contributor to the Adobe Fonts team, where she has led and collaborated on initiatives spanning typography systems, font discovery, and AI-driven creative workflows. She is currently focused on the generative text capabilities of Adobe Firefly, bringing a forward-thinking perspective to the intersection of typography and artificial intelligence.
Nitashia Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer, filmmaker, and educator based in Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and holds a BFA from Texas Woman’s University, an MAT from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from The University of Texas at Dallas. Johnson currently works as a Digital Media Specialist in a university setting while maintaining an active freelance practice in photojournalism, filmmaking, design, and creative arts education. Her photographic and film work has been featured in major national and international publications, including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, and D Magazine.
At the core of Johnson’s practice is a belief in art as a transformative force,one capable of healing, preserving memory, and creating pathways for change. In 2019, she founded The Smart Project, a Dallas-based nonprofit after-school program serving youth artists and aspiring mentors across North Texas. Through photography, digital media, and visual storytelling, the program empowers youth to discover their voices, build creative confidence, and engage meaningfully with their communities. Johnson’s commitment to mentorship and leadership continues to shape her work as both an artist and educator.
Her long-term photographic series, The Self Publication Series, challenges stereotypes placed on the Black community by centering beauty, dignity, and lived experience. What began as casual portrait-making evolved into a powerful book series, now expanding into a forthcoming short documentary project following past participants as their stories unfold. Johnson’s recent projects include The Beauty of South Dallas, a visual archive documenting the rapid socio-economic transformation of a historic neighborhood, and The Faces That Face, a documentary project addressing environmental injustice in West Dallas and the resilience of communities impacted by industrial pollution.
In Body & Earth, Johnson explores the often-overlooked relationship between Blackness and the natural world. Working across photography, ink transfer, wood, fabric, and sculpture, she uses Black muses to embody the elements.
Johnson has received numerous honors for her work, including being named one of the first artists selected for the Sony Alpha Female Creator-in-Residence program in 2019, serving as the inaugural recipient of the Juanita J. Craft House Artist Residency Project in 2020-2021, participating in the Talley Dunn Gallery Equity in the Arts Fellowship, and receiving the Artist Disruptor Award from The Center for Cultural Power. Her short films have been recognized and featured in Communication Arts Photography in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Through storytelling, education, and community-centered practice, Nitashia Johnson continues to create work that preserves history, amplifies voices, and makes space for collective healing and growth.
Mathias Reed is passionate about storytelling that creatively connects audiences with ideas and experiences. As Director of Marketing Strategy at Oberlin College, he leads integrated marketing efforts that advance visibility, enrollment, and engagement. From coordinating multimedia campaigns to cultivating content governance and social strategy, he works at the intersection of concept and creative execution. With more than a decade of experience across arts, education, and media, Mathias is committed to cultivating creative teams that make a difference.
Steven White is Virginia Tech’s Daily Doodler and produces original daily art and illustration content for the university’s official daily email. He is a self-taught sketch artist, painter, and location sketcher and has kept a pocket sketchbook for more than 20 years. In addition to his daily content responsibilities and outreach activities, Steven supports an annual advancement calendar campaign, Giving Day fundraising, and makes an original “Doodle” submission for Virginia Tech Magazine. Steven produces a "Doodle" every day that Virginia Tech publishes its daily university-wide email and has produced more than 1,200 original pieces of art since becoming the full-time “Doodler” in 2020. In 2022, Daily Doodles received a gold CASE Circle of Excellence award.
The Daily Doodle Archive can be visited at news.vt.edu/doodles.
Addons
2026 Creative Summit Digital Recording
| Price | $50.00 |
| Options | 2026 Creative Summit Digital Recording |
Event Files
Speaker Files
Date and Time
Tue, Apr 14 - Wed, Apr 15, 2026
Location
Live Virtual Event
A Zoom link will be sent to all registered attendees.
Map
Pricing