Marius Valdes, Professor, University of South Carolina, won the 2022 SECAC Award for Excellence in Graphic Design. This award is given to recognize a designer or group whose sustained creative activity (within the last two years) is considered exemplary. The award was presented on October 26, 2022, at the annual awards luncheon in Baltimore, MD, during the 78th meeting of SECAC, formerly the Southeastern College Art Conference.

Valdes’ letters of nomination highlighted his achievements, including being the recipient of numerous competitive national and international juried awards and more than $50K in grant funding in the last two years. Valdes has been recognized by American Illustration for three consecutive years and also appeared on the shortlist of the 2021 World Illustration Awards in London, UK for Site Specific Illustration. His nominators praised both his talents as a designer and the many qualities that make him a superb colleague, with one nominator stating, “What makes Marius so deserving of this award is the way he lifts everyone up around him. He is one of the kindest and most generous designers that I have the privilege of knowing.”

SECAC is a national non-profit organization devoted to education and research in the visual arts. Founded in 1942, SECAC provides advocacy and support for arts professionals and engenders opportunities for the exchange of scholarship and creative activities through an annual conference and publications. Though founded initially as an organization of artists, scholars, and arts professionals from the southeastern states, SECAC has grown to include individual and institutional members from across the United States and around the world, becoming the second largest national organization of its kind.