By Megan Nash and Sarah Moore
VCU is pleased to announce Berwyn Hung as the Director of The Creative Circus at VCU. Hung brings a wealth of experience, a creative mindset, and a tried-and-true devotion to student success to this new program. Hung is a valued member of the VCU School of Business, where he has been teaching at the Brandcenter at VCU since 2011. VCU acquired The Creative Circus last fall with generous support from full-service integrated agency McKinney and announced plans to relaunch the Atlanta-based portfolio school as a new hybrid program.
With his career experience and unique insight from over two decades of teaching in advertising education, Hung is the ideal candidate to helm The Creative Circus at VCU. Hung previously played a pivotal role at the portfolio school during its early years in Atlanta, where he taught and helped develop programs from 1998-2011.
“Before he left Atlanta to become a professor at VCU, Berwyn created some of the most innovative [and] successful classes for the [Circus] school,” said Carol Vick, co-founder of The Creative Circus. “He has the mind and heart of a great leader who will nurture his students and create a great curriculum.”
Hung started his professional career as a visual artist. His works reside in prestigious museum collections including MoMA, Victoria and Albert in London, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, as well as artist book collections around the country. He’s contributed to international exhibitions like Daumenkino (The Flip Book Show) and publications like Harper’s. From 2004 -2013, Hung founded and ran his own letterpress studio, Praxium Press.
Education has always been one of Hung’s passions. He holds two degrees in Printmaking and Book Arts, a BFA from the University of Georgia (UGA) and an MFA from the University of the Arts (UArts) in Philadelphia. His affinity for teaching and mentoring emerged during his undergraduate years at UGA, then flourished as a graduate student. At UArts, Hung refined his educational skills by conducting extra lessons and teaching undergraduate students.
After completing his master’s degree, Hung returned to Georgia and began teaching at peer institutions and portfolio schools The Portfolio Center (now Miami Ad School Atlanta) and The Creative Circus. He quickly became a full-time instructor at The Creative Circus, then Director of Program Development. In over a decade of working at Circus, Hung not only taught and mentored many cohorts of students, but he also played a pivotal role in the Design and Art Direction programs, established the Interactive Developer program, and introduced new courses annually.
In 2011, Hung joined the Brandcenter at VCU, initially overseeing the Creative Technology track, now the Experience Design concentration. For the past 13 years, Hung has worked with second-year students as a Professor of Creative, cultivating innovative thinking methods.
Vann Graves, Brandcenter Executive Director, expressed excitement about Hung’s appointment, commenting, “I could not think of a better person to help continue the legacy of The Creative Circus. With his first-hand experience in curriculum development, Berwyn deeply understands the opportunities that will add value to Circus programs and create an environment where students will thrive.”
The Creative Circus at VCU will offer a new entry point into advertising education with plans for open enrollment classes and certificates. If you’d like to keep in touch and learn more about courses and enrollment as the program develops, please fill out this form.