Digital Art and Design: An Introduction

In 1973 John Antoine Labadie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Painting. Almost immediately he moved into the world of statistics and computer programing in industrial engineering. After nearly a decade in this field John transitioned into graduate work in perceptual psychology and visual arts education. After receiving his masters degree in 1980 he began working with an international academic journal just as computing began to drive the printing industry. After several years in publishing Labadie moved into an interdisciplinary doctoral program. In the late 1980s he began working with archeology projects as a photographer and illustrator. John completed his doctoral work in 1994 and began work as a tenure track Professor of Art just after the Internet became commonly available. Digital tools have driven his work ever since. John Antoine Labadie currently serves as a Professor of Art in the Art Department at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He is also Coordinator of the Digital Art studios and also the Media integration Studies program. At UNCP J.A. Labadie founded the Digital Arts studio program, was co-founder Media Integration Studies minor and also the interdisciplinary UNCP Digital Academy. His visual art works have been in more than 500 national and international exhibitions and are held in numerous private and museum collections. His creative work also includes the authorship of previous book on digital art, book chapters, journal articles, editorships with art journals, as well as graphic design and interior art works for numerous books and journals. Dr. Labadie’s regularly serves as a visiting artist/scholar. Labadie was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in digital art at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. Other similar activities include: The National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India; National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan; Beijing Film Academy in Beijing, China; Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China; Kanpur University in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; Troy University in Troy Alabama, USA; Lucknow University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and The Jaipur Art Summit in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Margie Beth Labadie earned her undergraduate degree in Art from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA and Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy in 1982. Twenty-one years later, she earned her Masters of Fine Art (MFA) from East Carolina University in 2003 so she could teach. Her years between degrees were spent first in the world of fine art sales, then the graphic arts and publishing industry, and then in international tourism. Working in business and industry she experienced the introduction of digital technologies and the paradigm shifts they caused. As a VP of customer service in the late 1980s, she saw how digital technologies increased the expectations of both clients and employers who expected faster turnaround times, higher quality and increased sales, all while she was learning the ins and outs of computer hardware and software. In the early 1990s moving into the travel industry, she watched as her tour company morphed from paper and phone communication, to needing a website and email. Communication between countries was lurching forward and companies weren’t considered real, unless they were on the Internet. But when John showed her a few things in Photoshop in 1997, there was no turning back. After a decade in travel to Central and South America, she went to graduate school for art, but the digital kind. Now she is a lecturer in the Art Department at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke where she has been teaching for 14 years in the digital area. Internationally, she has taught in universities and provided workshops on art, photography and creativity in India, China, Taiwan, Germany, and Canada. Margie Labadie uses a seamless flow of digital and traditional techniques to create her fine art and illustration. Her life in art and teaching reflects her commitment to cultural preservation, social justice, and environmental conservation. Her artwork has been exhibited in more than one hundred international and national exhibitions in the Americas, Asia and Europe. In 2017 Margie Labadie and author Tonya Holy Elk Locklear (Lumbee/Oglala Lakota) co-published Women of the Red Earth. In this cross-cultural book (and exhibition) Margie Labadie’s artwork presents visually striking, Native American objects that entice viewers to read Locklear’s new stories and poems of untold histories of Native Americans who continue to struggle in an overwhelmingly non-indigenous United States. Margie Labadie is the Publisher of the Journal of Creative Arts and Minds (JCAM) and serves as President of the non-profit arts organization Jumbo Arts International in North Carolina.