IVLA’s annual conference has a long history of bringing together academics, teachers, scientists, artists, and other professionals working in the field of Visual Literacy. For forthcoming conference information, visit the Conference page.
Previously, conferences have taken place at:
| Year | Dates | Location City/State/ Host | Conference Programs | |
| 1 | 1969 | April 1969 | Rochester, NY | |
| 2 | 1970 | April 18-20, 1970 | Chicago, IL | |
| 3 | 1971 | March 7-10, 1971 | Asilimar, CA | Program |
| 4 | 1972 | March 2-5, 1972 | Cincinnati, OH | |
| 5 | 1973 | February 28 – March 3, 1973 | Boston, MA | Program |
| 6 | 1974 | May 2-5, 1974 | Toronto, ON, Canada | |
| 7 | 1975 | May 7-11, 1975 | Portland, OR | |
| 8 | 1976 | March 10-14, 1976 | Nashville, TN | |
| 9 | 1977 | May 11-14, 1977 | Iowa City, IA | |
| 10 | 1978 | November 7-11, 1978 | Rochester, NY | |
| 11 | 1979 | October 31 – November 3, 1979 | Anaheim, CA | |
| 12 | 1980 | November 5-8, 1980 | Washington, DC | Program |
| 13 | 1981 | October 31 – November 3, 1981 | Lexington, KY | |
| 14 | 1982 | November 17-20, 1982 | Vancouver, BC, Canada | Program |
| 15 | 1983 | November 14-16, 1983 | Bloomington, IN | Program |
| 16 | 1984 | November 8-11, 1984 | Baltimore, MD | Program |
| 17 | 1985 | November 1-3, 1985 | Claremont, CA | |
| 18 | 1986 | October 30 – November 2, 1986 | Madison, WI | |
| 19 | 1987 | October 28 – November 1, 1987 | Tulsa, OK | Program |
| 20 | 1988 | October 19-23, 1988 | Blacksburg, VA | Program |
| 21 | 1989 | October 25-29, 1989 | Scottsdale, AZ | Program |
| 22 | 1990 | October 17-20, 1990 | Normal, IL | Program |
| 23 | 1991 | October 9-13, 1991 | Washington, DC | |
| 24 | 1992 | September 30 – October 4, 1992 | Pittsburgh, PA | |
| 25 | 1993 | October 13-17, 1993 | Rochester, NY | |
| 26 | 1994 | October 12-16, 1994 | Tempe, AZ | |
| 27 | 1995 | October 18-22, 1995 | Chicago, IL | |
| 28 | 1996 | October 2-6, 1996 | Cheyenne, WY @ Univ. Of Wyoming | |
| 29 | 1997 | October 22-26, 1997 | State College, PA | |
| 30 | 1998 | October 21-25, 1998 | Athens, GA | |
| 31 | 1999 | October 6-10, 1999 | Jackson, WY | |
| 32 | 2000 | October 11-13, 2000 | Ames, IA | |
| 33 | 2001 | November 7-11, 2001 | Eskilstuna, Sweden | |
| 34 | 2002 | October 1-5, 2002 | Breckenridge, Colorado | |
| 35 | 2003 | October 1-5, 2003 | Newport, Rhode Island | |
| 36 | 2004 | October 4-7, 2004 | Pilansberg, South Africa | |
| 37 | 2005 | October 17-20, 2005 | Orlando, FL w/ ACET | |
| 38 | 2006 | October 6-10, 2006 | Fort Worth, TX | |
| 39 | 2007 | Oct 10-13, 2007 | Curitiba, Brazil | Program |
| 40 | 2008 | October 16-19, 2008 | Blacksburg, VA @ Virginia Tech | |
| 41 | 2009 | October 6-9, 2009 | Chicago, IL @ DePaul Univ | |
| 42 | 2010 | September 29-October 3, 2010 | Limassol, Cyprus | |
| 43 | 2011 | September 28-October 2, 2011 | Galloway, NJ @ Stockton University | |
| 44 | 2012 | October 10-13, 2012 | Portland, ME | Program |
| 45 | 2013 | August 30-September 4, 2013 | Limassol, Cyprus | |
| 46 | 2014 | November 5-8, 2014 | Toledo, OH @ Toledo Museum of Art | |
| 47 | 2015 | November 1-3, 2015 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 48 | 2016 | October 5-8, 2016 | Montreal, Canada @ Concordia University | |
| 49 | 2017 | September 14-17, 2017 | Cambridge, MA @ Lesley University | |
| 50 | 2018 | November 1-4, 2018 | Chicago, IL @ NLU | Program |
| 51 | 2019 | October 16-18, 2019 | Leuven, Belgium @ MLeuven | Program |
| 52 | 2020 | September 24-26, 2020 | Virtual conference | Program |
| 53 | 2021 | November 4-6, 2021 | Virtual conference with Toledo Museum of Art & the University of Toledo | Program |
| 54 | 2022 | Aug 12-12, 2022 | Hybrid conference @ The University of Jyvaskyla, Finland | Program |
| 55 | 2023 | October 2-8, 2023 | Hybrid conference @ The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Program |
| 56 | 2024 | October 6-9, 2024 | Hybrid conference @ The Center for Visual Literacies at San Diego State University | Program |