November 11–13, 2026
Chavón La Escuela de Diseño, Santo Domingo
and Altos de Chavón, La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Since 2005, DEL, focused on emerging topics in art, design, and higher education and has been a collaborative, international gathering of educators, researchers, artists, and designers exploring how art and design education can evolve within and beyond the digital age.
This year’s conference embraces the idea of Global Networks — Redes Globales, a recognition that art and design education transcends physical, cultural, and disciplinary borders.
At the intersection of local traditions and global practices, DEL 2026 will explore how educators, students, and practitioners in art and design re-create forms of learning, teaching, and community across geographies, languages, and ways of knowing.
Sub-themes
Exploring innovative models of art and design teaching that bridge geographies, languages, and disciplines.
Examples: Collaborative projects and networks between universities across different countries; bilingual/multilingual approaches to teaching; curriculum models that address local-global dynamics.
Engagement with local and regional contexts—how art and design education responds to place, culture, heritage, and identity, including issues of access and inclusive learning.
Examples: Community-led design projects, accessibility and access, neurodiversity in studio teaching, decolonial and indigenous approaches to art and design, underserved communities.
The role of making, craft, and material experimentation in art and design education.
Examples: Integrating craft traditions into contemporary design studios; sustainable materials; intersections between digital fabrication and artisanal practices.
Using systems, archives, and networks for innovative teaching and professional practice.
Examples: Curatorial practice, online systems, archival research, machine learning, data collection, or visualization.
Critical engagement with digital pedagogies as they intersect with art, design, and education.
Examples: Artificial Intelligence and machine learning in creative practice; VR/AR in the classroom; networked collaboration across borders.
