Terresa Moses

she/her

Associate Professor, Graphic Design

McKnight Presidential Fellow

Director of Design Justice

Event Director of the UMN Juneteenth Celebration

Terresa Moses is a proud Black queer woman dedicated to the liberation of Black and brown communities through art and design. As a designer and illustrator, her work focuses primarily on race, identity, and social justice. She advocates for positive change in her community using creativity as tools of community activism and organizing like her solo intersectional exhibition, Umbra, and her community distro project, Stop Killing Black People.

Terresa is the Creative Director at Blackbird Revolt, a social justice-based design studio. She is also an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and the Director of Design Justice at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. As a community engaged scholar, her design research interests include; Project Naptural, which creates spaces to educate, connect, and empower Black women about their natural hair and self-identity, and Racism Untaught, a curriculum model that reveals ‘racialized’ design and helps students, educators, and organizations create anti-racist concepts through the design research process. She has multiple publications including two books through MIT Press, Racism Untaught and An Anthology of Blackness. She is currently working on research that centers Black liberatory and abolitionist ideologies and curriculum and pedagogical approaches in graphic design education.

She earned her BFA in Fashion Design and African American Studies at the University of North Texas in 2008. In 2015, she earned her MFA in Design Research and Anthropology. And in 2024, she earned her PhD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. In her promotion to a tenured associate professor in 2024, she became a McKnight Presidential Fellow.

As a community organizer, she serves on the advisory board of the Black Liberation Lab to co-create solutions that support Black liberation.

Credentials

PhD

Expand all

Selected Scholarship

Refereed Journal Articles

  • Mercer, Lisa, Angelica Sibrian, Nekita Thomas , and Terresa Moses. "Designing Collective Racial Healing Spaces." The International Journal of Diversity in Education (2023): 67-86. doi.org/10.18848/2327-0020/CGP/v23i01/67-86
  • Moses, Terresa. "Amplifying the Black Voice Through Design." Diseña #21 (2022): 3-13. doi.org/10.7764/disena.21.Article.1
  • Moses, Terresa. "Who Holds Knowledge?." The International Journal of Diversity in Education (2022): 23-40. doi.org/10.18848/2327-0020/CGP/v22i02/25-39
  • Moses, Terresa. and Lisa E. Mercer. “Examining the Influence of Positionality on the Facilitation of Design Processes.” Dialectic 3.1 (2021): 97–122. doi.org/10.3998/dialectic.14932326.0003.105
  • Mercer, Lisa E., and Terresa Moses. “Identifying Racialized Design to Cultivate a Culture of Awareness in Design.” The Design Journal 22, no. 1 (2019): 1399–1407. doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2019.1594965

Books and Books in Progress

  • Mercer, Lisa E., and Terresa Moses. Racism Untaught: Revealing and Unlearning Racialized Design. Michigan: MIT Press, 2023. [In Print]
  • Moses, Terresa, and Omari Souza. An Anthology of Blackness: The State of Black Design. Michigan: MIT Press, 2023. [In Print]

Book Chapters

  • Mercer, Lisa E., and Terresa Moses. “Centering Anti-Racism in Design: From Theory to Practice.” In Designing Knowledge: Emerging Perspectives in Design Studies Practices edited by Dr. Bonne Zabolotney, et al. Bloomsbury, 2023. [Accepted: 2021]
  • Moses, Terresa. “The Strong Black Woman: Using the Racism Untaught Framework to Contextualize the Design of Misogynoir.” In The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression, & Reflection edited by Anne H. Berry, Kareem Collie, et al. Allworth Press, 2022. skyhorsepublishing.com/9781621537854/the-black-experience-in-design
  • Moses, Terresa. "Project Naptural: A Socio-Cultural Initiative for Naptural Living." In Navigating the Black Hair Phenomenon in a White World edited by Tameka Ferguson. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2023. [Accepted: 2020]

Teaching

  • GDES 8362 | Representation in Visual Communications
  • GDES 8361 | Color, Design, and Human Perception
  • DES 8114 | Graduate Design Studio
  • GDES 4401W | Racism Untaught
  • GDES 4362 | Senior Thesis and Exhibition
  • GDES 4361 | Senior Thesis and Writing
  • GDES 3353 | Packaging and Display
  • ART 4922 | Senior Design Studio I
  • ART 4897 | Visual Culture Internship
  • ART 3937 | Typography II
  • ART 3933 | Graphic Design III
  • ART 3922 | Graphic Design II
  • ART 2911 | Graphic Design I
  • ART 2907 | Typography I
  • ART 1002 | Introduction to Art

Professional, Institutional, and Community Leadership and Service

  • Design Justice Collective, August 2020–Present
  • UMN Undergraduate Student Equity Success Committee (USES), February 2023-Present
  • UMN Juneteenth Celebration Event Director, April 2022-Present
  • UMN Office of Equity and Diversity Leadership Council, August 2021-Present
  • UMN Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) Affiliate, May 2021-Present
  • Black Liberation Lab Advisory Board Member, June 2020–Present
  • University of Minnesota Duluth’s Campus Climate Leadership Team, August 2018–June 2020
  • University of Minnesota Duluth’s Queer, Trans, and Intersex, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Collective (QTIBIPOC) Co-Advisor, August 2018–June 2020
  • Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, Inc. Board Member, September 2018–April 2020
  • Duluth Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), August 2016–June 2020
    • 2nd Vice President, January 2018–June 2020
    • Young Adult Committee Chair, January 2017–June 2020
    • University of Minnesota Duluth College Student Chapter Advisor

Juried Exhibitions

Juried Exhibitions

  • Moses, Terresa. All Power to the People. Exhibited July 2022–June 2023. Digital illustration printed on cardstock, 91.44 cm × 60.96 cm (36 in × 24 in). 68th Awards Traveling Exhibition (TDC68), United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain and Taiwan.
  • *Moses, Terresa. Their Last Words [Why Are You Following Me?, I'm Unarmed, I Can't Breathe, ...]. Exhibited May 2021. Digital Illustrations. About Place Journal: Geographies of Justice Volume VI, Issue III, Ed. Alexis Lathem.
  • *Moses, Terresa. Umbra: Impossible. Exhibited January 2021–May 2021. Screen print, 66.04 cm × 66.04 cm (26 in × 26 in). Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois.
  • *Moses, Terresa. Umbra: Impossible. Exhibited December 2020–January2021. Digital illustration, 66.04 cm × 66.04 cm (26 in × 26 in). YAG/Garage: arte giovane, Exhibition of Artists from USA, online. https://www.yag-garage.com/artists-from-usa.
  • Moses, Terresa. 100-year Commemoration. Exhibited September 2020–April 2021. Digital illustration printed on canvs, 86.36 cm × 55.88 cm (34 in × 22 in). Obsidian Arts, Justice, Civic Engagement, and Bringing the Law to Life at the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse and Customhouse, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Why Are You Following Me? Exhibited September 2020–November 2020. 45.72 cm × 45.72 cm (18 in × 18 in). Augusta Savage Gallery, Breathing While Black, online. http://www.umass.edu/fac/flipPDF/BWB/BreathingWhileBlack.html.
  • Moses, Terresa. I'm Unarmed. Exhibited September 2020–November 2020. 45.72 cm × 45.72 cm (18 in × 18 in). Augusta Savage Gallery, Breathing While Black, online. http://www.umass.edu/fac/flipPDF/BWB/BreathingWhileBlack.html.
  • Moses, Terresa. I Can't Breathe. Exhibited September 2020–November 2020. 45.72 cm × 45.72 cm (18 in × 18 in). Augusta Savage Gallery, Breathing While Black, online. http://www.umass.edu/fac/flipPDF/BWB/BreathingWhileBlack.html.
  • Moses, Terresa. ... Exhibited September 2020–November 2020. 45.72 cm × 45.72 cm (18 in × 18 in). Augusta Savage Gallery, Breathing While Black, online. http://www.umass.edu/fac/flipPDF/BWB/BreathingWhileBlack.html.
  • Moses, Terresa. Eff It 3-Part Series. Exhibited March 2020. Digital typographic illustrations printed on canvas, 40.64 cm × 40.64 cm (16 in × 16 in). Feminist Action Collective, WTF (What the Feminist) Artist Exhibition, PrØve Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. CreateHer 3-Part Series. Exhibited March 2019. Digital illustrations and mixed media, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). Feminist Action Collective, WTF (What the Feminist) Artist Exhibition, PrØve Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • *Moses, Terresa. My Experience 3-Part Series. Exhibited January 2019–December 2019. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). Obsidian Arts, Minnesota Black Fine Art Show, Austin, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mankato, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Excuse Me Ladies 3-Part Series. Exhibited January 2019–December 2019. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). Obsidian Arts, Minnesota Black Fine Art Show, Austin, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mankato, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Gelevolution 3-Part Series. Exhibited January 2019–December 2019. Printed digital illustrations, 38.10 cm × 38.10 cm (15 in × 15 in). Obsidian Arts, Minnesota Black Fine Art Show, Austin, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mankato, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
  • *Moses, Terresa. My Experience 3-Part Series. March 2018. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), Phenomenal Woman Art Show, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • *Moses, Terresa. My Experience 3-Part Series. March 2018. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). Feminist Action Collective, WTF (What the Feminist) Artist Exhibition, 315 Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota.

Invited Exhibitions

  • *Moses, Terresa. Stages of Equity Featured Artist. Exhibited March 2023. 18 quantity, digital illustrations. North Hennepin Community College, Stages of Equity Festival 2023, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Glory. Exhibited January—March 2023. Digital illustration. Augsburg Galleries, To Illuminate Abundance, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Stop Killing Black People. Exhibited May 2021. Medium, 22.86 cm × 15.24 cm (9 in × 6 in). Prøve Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa and Lisa E. Mercer. Racism Untaught 16-Piece Exhibition. Exhibited January 2021–May 2021. Graphic design printed on fabric panels, 182.88 cm × 121.92 cm (72 in × 48 in). Goldstein Museum of Design, HGA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • *Moses, Terresa. Umbra: An Exhibition on Intersectionality 12-Part Series. Exhibited January 2021–March 2021. Screen prints, 66.04 cm × 66.04 cm (26 in × 26 in). Austin ArtWorks Gallery, Solo Exhibit, Austin, Minnesota.
  • *Moses, Terresa. Umbra: An Exhibition on Intersectionality 12-Part Series. November 2019. Screen prints, 66.04 cm × 66.04 cm (26 in × 26 in). Zeitgeist Arts Gallery, Solo Exhibit, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Project Naptural, 6 Pieces. Exhibited November 2018–December 2018. Printed digital illustrations, 101.6 cm × 62.74 cm (40 in × 24.7 in). Purdue Black Cultural Center, West Lafayette, Indiana.
  • *Moses, Terresa. My Experience 3-Part Series. Exhibited February 2018. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). School of Fine Arts, Fine, Refine, Define Faculty Art Show, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Project Naptural 24-Part Series. Exhibited July 2017. Printed digital illustrations on foam core, 101.6 cm × 62.74 cm (40 in × 24.7 in). Zeitgeist Arts Atrium, Duluth, Minnesota. 
  • *Moses, Terresa. My Experience 3-Part Series. Exhibited May 2017. Printed digital illustrations, 60.96 cm × 45.72 cm (24 in × 18 in). AIGA Minnesota, Design Impact Series, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Project Naptural 12-Part Series. May 2016. Printed digital illustrations, 101.6 cm × 62.74 cm (40 in × 24.7 in). University of North Texas, Union Art Gallery. Denton, Texas.

Curated Exhibitions

  • LaShae, Tiffany [researcher] and Terresa Moses [designer and curator]. The Soil and the Story. Exhibited January 2024–May 2024. Graphic design printed on panels with soil monoliths and Soil Chromatography panels. Goldstein Museum of Design, HGA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. The Life, The Work, The Fight: Black Duluth in History 23-Part Series. February 2018. Printed digital designs, size varies. Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Committee in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society and the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, Zeitgeist Arts Atrium, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. Project Naptural 30-Part Series. Exhibited September 2018. Printed digital illustrations, 101.6 cm × 62.74 cm (40 in × 24.7 in). American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), Project Naptural Symposium, Duluth, Minnesota.
  • Moses, Terresa. NEXUS. Exhibited July 2018. 16 artist, medium varies. Zeitgeist Arts Atrium, Duluth, Minnesota.

Refereed Presentations

International Keynotes

  • Moses, Terresa. “Abolitionist Design.” Presented at the DesignThinkers 2022 Toronto Conference: Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), Toronto, Ontario, October 2022.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Centering Abolition in the Paradigm of Pedagogy.” Presented at the Design Educators Conference: Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), Vancouver, British Columbia, May 2022.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Abolitionist Design.” Presented at the DesignThinkers 2022 Vancouver Conference: Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), Vancouver, British Columbia, May 2022.

National Keynotes

  • Moses, Terresa. “Disrupt, Dismantle, & Destroy,” Presented at the 2023 Ripple Symposium: Movement of the Mind at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, April 2023.
  • Moses, Terresa and Lindsey Vance. “Disrupt, Dismantle, & Destroy,” Presented at the 2022 American Art Therapy Association Conference, November 2022.
  • Moses, Terresa and Lisa E. Mercer. “Racism Untaught: Revealing and Unlearning Racialized Design.” Presented at the  University of Illinois. Champaign, Feb. 2022.
  • Moses, Terresa and Lisa E. Mercer. “Racism Untaught: Revealing and Unlearning Racialized Design.” Presented at the Big Design Designing for Dignity Conference, online, October 2021.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Designing in Pursuit of Liberation.” Presented at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2021 Symposium Toward Inclusive Learning Design: Social Justice, Equity, and Community, online, July 2021.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Design for Liberation,” Presented at the AIGA Cincinnati, AIGA Louisville, & AIGA Indianapolis Midwest Design Week, online, September 2020.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Blackness & Socially Conscious Design.” Presented at the Design + Diversity, Chicago, Illinois, August 2019.

Local Keynotes

  • Moses, Terresa. “Black Liberation X Design” Presented at Knock, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2023.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Asante 'Thank You' Celebration and Awards!” Presented at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs by the Black Faculty and Staff Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 2023.
  • Moses, Terresa. “National Coming Out Day.” Presented at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Program, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2022.
  • Moses, Terresa. “The Justice of Intersectionality.” Presented at the League of Women Voters of Duluth, 2021 Annual Meeting, online, May 2021.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Queer Creatives: A Discussion on Identity, Activism, and the Arts.” Presented at the Sexualities and Gender Diversity Programs Queer Creatives Talk, Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, February 2021.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Abolition and Intersectionality.” Presented at the Duluth NAACP Branch Juneteenth March for Floyd, Duluth, Minnesota, June 2020.
  • Moses, Terresa. “The Mistakes That have Made Me Distinct.” Presented at the YWCA Women of Distinction Award Ceremony, Duluth, Minnesota, October 2019.
  • Moses, Terresa. “Celebration of Community Peacemakers.” Presented at the Men As Peacemakers Celebration of Community Peacemakers, Duluth, MN, June 2018.
  • Moses, Terresa. “2018 Women’s March, Keynote Speaker,” Presented at the Feminist Action Collective Women's March, Duluth, Minnesota, January 2018.

Blogs

  • terresamoses.com
  • blackbirdrevolt.com
  • racismuntaught.com
  • projectnaptural.com
  • umbraexhibit.com

Selected Honors and Awards

Juried Design Awards

  • Certificate of Typographic Excellence in the Design for Social Good Category for 'All Power to the People,' Type Directors Club, The World’s Best Typography®, April 2022
  • American Graphic Design Award for ‘Maji ya Chai Branding,’ Graphic Design USA, November 2021
  • Design Show Award for ‘Stop Killing Black People,’ AIGA Minnesota, November 2021
  • Design Show 2021 Award for ‘Umbra,’ AIGA Minnesota, November 2021
  • Regional Design Award for ‘Heart Strings,’ PRINT Magazine, October 2018

External Awards

  • Vanguard Accelerator Grant Awardee, Center for Economic Inclusion, June 2023
  • The Top 50 Women Leaders of Minnesota for 2022, Women We Admire, May 2022
  • Award for Transformative Work in our Arts Community, $1000, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, April 2020
  • Drum Major for Peace Award Nomination, Organizational Category for Blackbird Revolt, Duluth NAACP, January 2019
  • Women of Distinction Award, YWCA Duluth, October 2018
  • 20 Under 40 Award, Duluth News Tribune, August 2018
  • The Community Empowerment Awards, Outstanding Achievement in Academic Equality, Superior African Heritage Community, May 2018
  • Drum Major for Peace Award, Duluth NAACP, January 2017

Internal Awards

  • 2024 McKnight Presidential Fellow Award, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
  • 2023 College of Design Outstanding Outreach Award, College of Design Honors & Awards Committee, May 2023
  • 2023 Community Service Award, Black Faculty and Staff Association, Awards Committee, April 2022
  • Spring 2022 Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award, University of Minnesota's Office for Equity and Diversity, April 2022
  • 2022 College of Design Outstanding Contributions to Equity and Diversity Award, College of Design Honors & Awards Committee, April 2022
  • Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Public Service Award, $2500, University of Minnesota Duluth, April 2019
  • 2019 Linda Larson Faculty Woman of the Year, University of Minnesota Duluth, Commission on Women, April 2019
  • Magna Cum Laude, University of North Texas, December 2015

Terresa Moses

Terresa Moses headshot

Specialties & Expertise:

Race and Racism, Black Liberation, Black Women and Social Identity, Black Women and Natural Hair, Anti-Racism in Design Curriculum, Design as a means of protest and culture change, Design Justice

Contact

CV
Website
Address
240 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
Map address