Dear MCAD Community,
Please join me in welcoming Merick Reed as Associate Professor of Product and Furniture Design. He will begin in this role on August 18, 2025.
Merick has served the MCAD Design Department with special distinction as Visiting Faculty since 2023, playing a pivotal role in developing the new Product and Furniture Design curriculum. He is a contemporary artist whose work spans sculpture, photography, and design. Based in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, Merick’s artistic practice is rooted in a modern minimalist sensibility that marries simplicity with a sense of playful assertion. His creations balance the precision of geometric form with a subtle expressiveness that invites exploration and reflection.
Merick's sculptural work often takes the shape of wall-mounted pieces, where he combines minimalist design with gestural expression, creating dynamic visual compositions. These works function as an exploration of visual language—each piece engaging in a dialogue between shape, space, and the viewer's perception. Influenced by his deep engagement with graphic and architectural design, Merick brings a sharp sense of structure to his work while allowing for a quiet, almost meditative quality to emerge through the use of negative space and restrained color palettes.
Throughout his career, Merick has been immersed in the world of design. Since 1985, he has worked with multiple design firms and led his own environmental design studio. His career in design has had a profound impact on his fine art practice, offering him a unique perspective on the interplay between art, architecture, and functional design.
Merick is currently focused on his fine art practice, where he continues to explore new ways of integrating design principles into sculptural forms. In addition to his work as an artist, he continues to design, collaborating with clients across industries to bring a thoughtful, minimalist aesthetic to a range of projects. Whether through his art or his design work, Merick’s approach remains deeply rooted in the idea of simplicity—allowing complex ideas to emerge from the most basic elements of form and composition.
Merick’s art has been exhibited in a variety of settings, and his multidisciplinary approach continues to inspire a diverse audience, drawing from his extensive experience in both the fine arts and the design world.
Thank you to all community members who participated in the search process and especially those who served on the search committee, including Erik Brandt, Professor and Chair of Design; Kindra Murphy, Professor of Graphic Design; and George Mahoney, Associate Professor of Product and Furniture Design.
All of my best,
Robert