Meet Cyrill Reyes and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project NECROZOIC

This is one in a series of online interviews with MIAD seniors, who share their thoughts about their 2026 Senior Exhibition project and their MIAD education.

Cyrill Reyes ’26 (Illustration) is a President’s (Honor) List student from the Greater Chicago area and a recipient of a 2026 Alumni Thesis Award.

What is your “elevator pitch” for your senior exhibition project?

My thesis is game concept art and visual development of the world of NECROZOIC, a prehistoric fantasy that retells the extinction of the dinosaurs. In this hidden era of the titans, the great meteor not only rendered the dinosaurs extinct but contained microorganisms that turned the dinosaurs into zombie-alien dinosaurs. The goal for this project is to flesh out the narrative and the stage of this unusual era and to do the work now to create, or to pitch the game, post-graduation. 

Cyrill Reyes

Anything you’d like to share about yourself or MIAD?

I’m extremely proud of myself for making the risky decision to study in a new city, meet creative peers, but, most importantly, pursue my dreams of becoming a great illustrator and concept artist. Despite the ups and downs, I am forever grateful for the support of the professors in Illustration and beyond, my bosses and coworkers in Admissions and Youth Community programs, my peers and classmates, my girlfriend and friends, and many unsung workers who’ve maintained and cultivated so many good memories and opportunities in just one building. MIAD won’t be the last risky decision I’ll ever make, as post-graduation I aim to work in a studio for media from games to animation and working my way up to create unique stories of my own.

Read more about the 2026 MIAD Senior Exhibition, on view April 17 – May 9. 

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