Prof. Elio L. Arteaga, MFA; photo from April 2024
Associate Professor, Web/Graphic Design
Miami Dade College, North Campus, School of Entertainment & Design Technology
305-237-1672
A.S., A.A., Miami Dade Community College; Graphic Design, 1987
B.S., Florida International University; Advertising and Mass Communication, 1996
M.F.A., Florida Atlantic University; Graphic Design, 2003
60 graduate credits, Florida International University; Curriculum & Instruction, 2012–18
Certification, Association of College & University Educators (ACUE), Effective Online Teaching Practices, 2022
Certification, Quality Matters (QM), Teaching Online Certificate, 2023
Elio L. Arteaga, MFA is an accomplished graphic designer and educator with over three decades of experience in teaching and professional development. Born in Cuba in 1965, Elio immigrated to the United States with his family at age three.
He pursued his passion for the visual arts, studying Commercial Art and Advertising Design at Miami Dade Community College, under the tutelage of Paul R. Gillespie and Don W. Ink, a renowned watercolorist, whose paintings of Florida Keys wildlife grace the walls of offices and homes throughout South Florida.
At Florida International University, Elio completed a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Mass Communications, studying under professors Pat Rose and Margo Berman, the author of Street Smart Advertising (2007), The Brains Behind Great Ad Campaigns (2009) and The Copywriter’s Toolkit (2012).
He then went on to complete a Master of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from Florida Atlantic University. His FAU professors Stephanie Cunningham, Walter Delaney, Linda Johnson, Andrei Kulawik and David Hochstadter were among Elio’s most influential role models in his growth as a designer and design instructor.
Elio completed 60 graduate credits toward a Ph.D. in Art Education, Curriculum & Instruction with a concentration in Language, Literacy and Culture. His professors, Linda A. Spears-Bunton, Ed.D. and David Y. Chang, founding director of FIU’s Academy of Portrait and Figurative Art, shaped Elio’s teaching philosophy and practices.
Recently, Elio completed ACUE’s comprehensive seminar on Effective Online Teaching Practices and Quality Matters’ (QM) rigorous certification for online and blended teaching, formalizing and optimizing many of the teaching strategies he employs in his teaching practices, as well as learning new ones.
Elio was promoted to Associate Professor in 2024 and has received several accolades, including the 2024 Miami Dade College Alumni Association Endowed Teaching Chair and a District Award for 30 years of service.
In addition to his role at Miami Dade College, Elio serves as an adjunct instructor at both Florida International University and Broward College, where he teaches courses in visual design.
Elio lives in Hialeah, Florida, with his wife, Francis, their son, Josué, and their two dogs, Ruby and Roky. He remains passionate about fostering creativity and digital literacy in his students, while contributing to the South Florida design community.
Design brings order out of chaos. It establishes a structure, and creates visual hierarchy. Design improves and facilitates communication. Pattern, repetition and playful details dot my work, yet strike a balance between order and visual appeal.
My tools are type, color, shapes and images. I find elegance in the classic typefaces: Garamond, Bodoni, Futura, Helvetica and Century. I experiment with their placement, scale, and gestalt relationships with and among other illustrative elements.
I place the student at the center of the learning process, having them construct knowledge by inquiry, experimentation, and practice. I feel the most concrete and tangible experiences support effective learning outcomes, so my courses apply Problem-Based Learning, by having students create projects that challenge them to apply their instruction, focused on process, driven by their own inquiry, and involving collaboration with classmates and me to create projects with real-world applications that can be shared in a portfolio. Students write metacognitive reflections on their own learning, so they not only understand “the how,” but also “the why.”
On Thursday, December 12th, I was honored at a ceremony at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus as a recipient of the 2024 Endowed Teaching Chair, the College's highest faculty distinction for excellence in student motivation, interpersonal skills, subject matter expertise, and teaching. More than 50 faculty members applied, with only 10 selected for this recognition. Since 1992, over 300 faculty have received the Endowed Teaching Chair. The award includes a monetary prize donated by a sponsor. I would like to thank the Endowed Teaching Chair Committee for their recognition and the Miami Dade College Alumni Association for their generous support of the honorarium.
A big “Thank You” to Billy Oliver, Professor of Television, Monica Minchala, Director of Program Development, and my students, Myrta Melendez and Shalam Yisrael, for their testimonies in my video that will appear soon on MDC’s YouTube channel.
In 2023, I completed a rigorous certification regimen from Quality Matters (QM), an international accrediting body for online and blended teaching, which helped me to refine my teaching philosophy, but most importantly to create a presence in my online courses.
In 2022, I completed the Association of College & University Educators (ACUE)’s comprehensive seminar on Effective Online Teaching Practices, earning a full credential. I formalized and optimized many of the teaching strategies I employ in my teaching practice, and I learned a few new ones, as well!
At the 2018 FIU Online Conference, I was honored with the Faculty Choice Award for Innovative Use of Open Content, for using Open Educational Resources in my VIC3400—Visual Design for Globalized Media via FIU Online (all my classes, actually).
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are high-quality materials freely available on the web, saving students hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars on expensive textbooks and other materials.
Elio has taught visual communications at FIU since 2005.