Mount Saint Mary College’s CMA Gallery will host an opening reception for its newest exhibition, 8: A Visual Communication Graphic Design Show, on Thursday, March 26 from 6 to 8 p.m.
The CMA Gallery is located on the first floor of Aquinas Hall on the Mount campus, 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh. The reception and gallery are free and open to the public. After the opening reception, the gallery will be open Monday through Friday during normal business hours, or by appointment, through May 12. Email cma-gallery@msmc.edu for more information.
The exhibition will feature the unique works of eight regional commercial artists and examine a wide range of design work and visual styles. It will showcase original art along with reproductions and one-off pieces in posters, music, typography, editorial, marketing, and more.
The following artists are participating:
- Angela Lian: A Chinese and Taiwanese-American multidisciplinary artist based in the Hudson Valley, Lian explores pain, memory, and ecology through movement, video art, and analog techniques. Currently a graphic designer and video artist at BAGGU, her work has been recognized by It’s Nice That, TYPE01, and Canvas Rebel.
- Philippe Safire: A French-Armenian artist and Art Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Safire’s recent projects include the award-winning short film SPELL and the public installation nightcolors. His work has been exhibited at LACDA and NYU, and featured in VICE Magazine, The Creators Project, and Make: Magazine.
- Jesse Ragan: A typeface designer and partner at XYZ Type, Ragan specializes in fonts and logotypes for clients like Rolling Stone and the New York Public Library. A RISD graduate, he helped create the typeface Gotham and co-founded Type@Cooper, a postgraduate program at Cooper Union where he taught for four years.
- Josh Mckible: Mckible’s style is characterized by clean lines and flat colors, heavily influenced by the “manual” aesthetic of inflight safety instructions. Transitioning from print to motion design, his art focuses on explaining how things work through systematic storytelling. He explores the intersection of machines, drawing, and digital design.
- Brock Daves: Originally from Georgia and now based in the Hudson Valley, Daves is a largely self-taught creative who refined his process through studies at General Assembly and Shillington Education. He develops freelance work that pushes conceptual boundaries while staying rooted in the unique, authentic voice of each individual client.
- Casey Morris: A Highland-based director and designer at KDD Marketing, Morris transitioned from theater at SUNY New Paltz into graphic design and marketing. She founded Callback Design in 2020, and her multidisciplinary work ranges from brand identity systems to directing original theater pieces, recently appearing in the Winter 2026 Queens Short Play Festival.
- Jason C. Otero and Emily Garcia-Otero: Co-founders of the Newburgh-based Art and Anthropology Press, the Oteros specialize in branding, publication design, and editorial systems. Built on a foundation of typography and design thinking, they collaborate with artists and cultural organizations to shape layered content into clear, resonant, and resonant visual narratives.
The CMA gallery was created in 2019 as a professional artist space to exhibit media picked by Mount faculty from among the rising population of artists who live and work in Newburgh, Beacon, and throughout the Hudson Valley.
The Mount’s Communication, Media, and Art (CMA) programs encompass the study of digital media production and graphic design. CMA also offers minors in each of these disciplines, as well as in art, journalism, and film studies. CMA programs prepare students for both traditional and emerging professions.