Elio L. Arteaga, MFA was born in Cuba in 1965, and came to the United States with his parents three years later. He excelled in school, but especially enjoyed art class. Eventually, he turned his talents into a successful career.

Elio studied 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.

In 2022, Elio completed ACUE’s comprehensive seminar on Effective Online Teaching Practices, formalizing and optimizing many of the teaching strategies he employs in his teaching practices, as well as learning new ones. In 2023, Elio completed a rigorous certification regimen from Quality Matters (QM), an international accrediting body for online and blended teaching. This helped him to refine his teaching philosophy, and to create teaching presence in his online courses, which his facilitator, Kay Daigle, expertly modeled.

Elio has provided training in desktop publishing technology to such South Florida companies as Avanti Press, BrandsMart USA Art Department, Miami Herald Cuba News Section and the National Newspaper Press Photographers Association’s Digital ’94 conference. Elio’s freelance graphic design clients include Florida International University, Dade County Public Schools, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, Golden Key National Honor Society, Zoological Society of Florida and the March of Dimes.

Elio loves to share his talent and knowledge with others by teaching courses in graphic design and web design. In August 2015, he joined the faculty of Miami Dade College, as graphic design/web design instructor, and he was promoted in 2020 to Assistant Professor. Elio lives in Hialeah with his wife Francis, their son Josué, a Pomeranian named Ruby, and a Yorkie named Roky.