Chad Hunt in a self-portrait taken at the Yakima Training Center in Washington State.

After months of voting and deliberation it is time to announce this year’s Alumni Award for Excellence winner: Chad Hunt (CCAD 1994).

The Photography alumnus will be honored during CCAD’s Alumni & Family Weekend, taking place Oct. 4–5, and during that time will have an exhibition on campus of his current work.

“Honestly I was very flattered to be nominated,” Hunt said. “CCAD has produced some amazingly talented artists, and I am humbled that my name is in people’s minds.”

Hunt’s photography has taken him around the world, including trips with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and work with the Worldwide Orphan Foundation in Haiti.

Hunt has traveled to Afghanistan multiple times in the past couple years as an embedded photographer with the U.S. military. In 2008, his photograph of Sergeant Major David Combs at the Korengal Outpost in Afghanistan made the cover of TIME magazine.

“Chad’s images have expanded our world and our understanding of it, or, perhaps more accurately, reminded us of who fights our wars and at what cost,” said Ric Petry, CCAD’s director of graduate studies, who nominated Hunt for the award. “His exceptional drive to embed himself with the U.S. military puts him in harm’s way, and he documents this experience with art of a savage beauty that testifies to both the vision and compassion of CCAD’s finest alumni.”

Image by Chad Hunt

Following his trips to Afghanistan, Hunt continued to work with military forces, including a project at the Yakima Firing Center in Washington where he spent a week training with a U.S. Special Operations Command team. Some of the resulting photography was featured in an issue of Popular Mechanics.

Hunt brought his talent to Haiti last year where he worked with the Worldwide Orphan Foundation. His pro bono work captured portraits of Haitian orphans for the foundation’s archives.

Actor Andrew Garfield traveled with him, and some of those images were featured in InStyle magazine.

After a busy few years, Hunt is glad for the chance to return to Columbus and the CCAD campus. He is always excited and curious to see what has changed and expanded.

“The professors at CCAD have always treated me like family,” Hunt said. “When I walk into the photo lab and see Duncan [Snyder] or Hiroshi [Hayakawa] it feels more like a homecoming than a school visit. I’ve kept in touch with them over the years, and I consider them all to be friends.”

Announcing this year’s winner always gets us thinking about past AAE winners, so we decided to check in with them to see what they have been up to, read more here.

Dan Scanlon and ‘Monsters University;’ photo by Richard Harbaugh © 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Announcing Chad Hunt as our Alumni Award for Excellence winner got us thinking about our past AAE recipients and what they’ve been up to lately. So we decided to talk to the last three AAE recipients and below are their updates, enjoy!

Dan Scanlon, 2012 AAE recipient

Dan Scanlon (CCAD 1998) just finished directing Pixar Animation Studios’ Monsters University and is in full swing to promote the film, which will be released June 21. His time is spent doing interviews and approving new trailers and television spots.

“All that being said, things are slow for the moment, which is a nice break—a calm before the storm of international press,” Scanlon said. “I hope to get back to doing a little painting during my time off, maybe some writing, but mostly I’ll be sleeping in and watching daytime soap operas.”

The Illustration alumnus comments that although it is nice to have a break, CCAD started that drive in him to always be making something.

“I love to tell stories, and I love to hear stories,” Scanlon said. “I love the idea of making something where there was nothing. Any work of art is like a gift, and who doesn’t like giving gifts?”

Nathan Greno

Nathan Greno, 2011 AAE recipient

The last time we spoke to Nathan Greno (CCAD 1993-1996) he had finished co-directing Tangled and was wrapping-up Tangled Ever After, a short that continues the story of Tangled‘s main characters.

Recently, Greno pointed out that Walt Disney Animation is all about collaboration, so he has been lending a helping hand to any crew and film that needs it.

He is currently directing and working on a new feature film that is still top secret, so he can’t release any information—trust us, we tried!

“I’m incredibly excited about the new film I’m developing,” Greno said. “I’ll be directing on my own this time, and unfortunately I can’t say much, but if you enjoyed what we did with Tangled, I believe you’ll love the new project.”

Rosanne Percivalle, image from www.2d-3ddesign.com

Rosanne Percivalle, 2010 AAE recipient

Rosanne Percivalle (CCAD 1980) is the owner and design director of 2D3D Design, Inc. in New York City.

Since 2010, the Illustration alumna has worked on several exciting projects, including creating murals and environmental graphics for Trader Joe’s stores. She also continues to work for Whole Foods Market as needed on the fabrication of signage and one-of-a-kind custom displays (think lollipop trees).

“I am an artist, and I love creating,” Percivalle said. “In addition, I get great satisfaction from seeing the results of my visualizations being utilized by consumers to beautify environments.”

Click here to see the list of past alumni award winners and here to read the 2013 nominees’ bios.

2011 award recipient Nathan Greno accepting the award from CCAD President Denny Griffith

The Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence (AAE) has been honoring extraordinary alumni since it originated in 1962. This year, the Alumni Relations team will revamp the award by adjusting the timeline to allow an earlier call for nominations and more time to coordinate plans with the recipient.

“To receive this award is quite an honor,” said Molly Gilbride, alumni & parent relations officer. “We recognize one alumna/us each year with this award, which makes it prestigious for not only the recipient, but also the college. Having an extended time frame allows for a couple of things to happen. We have more time to deliberate and research the nominees, to plan an exhibition, and to work with the winner’s personal and professional schedules to coordinate a trip back to Columbus.”

This year, CCAD will accept nominations Feb. 4–March 1. Nomination forms call for alumni who not only exemplify the CCAD brand of hard work and innovation, but can also show their accomplishments and artistic excellence and how they have impacted a broad spectrum of people.

President Griffith presents the 2010 AAE award to Rosanne Percivalle

Alumni will get the opportunity to vote on the final nominees starting March 15. Alumni votes are then used by a predetermined committee to help select the winner.

The winner not only receives the award (we’re not going to lie—it’s a pretty sweet-looking trophy), but also has their work displayed in an exhibition on CCAD’s campus.

“Michael Goodson, our director of exhibitions, has done an amazing job with installing and organizing our shows this year,” Gilbride said. “The extended timeline will take advantage of this and will allow Michael a lot more time to coordinate and install a show that really showcases the winner’s work.”

The exhibition will be installed in the fall and will be coordinated with an alumni reception to honor the winner and his or her professional career.

For a full list of previous recipients and more details on the updated timeline, click here.

Screen shot from IMDB, photo by Richard Harbaugh © 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Attention everyone, drum roll… the 2012 Alumni Award for Excellence goes to Illustration alumnus Dan Scanlon (CCAD 1998).

Scanlon will be making his directorial debut with Pixar’s Monsters University next year, and there is already buzz about both his work and the animated movie, including a nod from the LA Times.

Since joining Pixar in 2001, Scanlon’s film credits include Cars, The Little Mermaid II, and 101 Dalmatians II as a storyboard artist and The Indescribable Nth and Joseph: King of Dreams as an animator. He also co-directed the short film Mater and the Ghostlight.

“Every year we get amazing CCAD talent nominated for the award,” said Denny Griffith, CCAD president. “I know the committees deliberated for hours on this tough decision, and Dan is one of the many alumni who signify the range of work they are doing in their professional careers.”

Scanlon’s work will be honored at CCAD’s Family Weekend & Homecoming on Oct. 12–13. An alumni reception will be held on Oct. 13 welcoming all alumni, friends, and family to mingle and chat about CCAD then and now.

Each year CCAD accepts nominations for the Alumni Award for Excellence as a way to acknowledge not only the success and contributions of one very deserving graduate, but also the impact CCAD alumni have all over the world. To read about past winners, click here.

2011 AAE recipient Nathan Greno (right), accepting award from Denny Griffith (left)

Sixteen distinguished Columbus College of Art & Design alumni have been nominated for the 2012 Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence (AAE). Nominees range from a fashion knitting queen to a Pixar storyboard artist and an art therapy director to an internationally recognized fine artist.

The nominees are Bryan Ballinger ( CCAD 1990), Charlotte Belland (CCAD 1997), Samantha Bennett (CCAD 1995–1999), Sean Blanton (CCAD 2011), Roy Doty (CCAD 1942), Nicky Epstein (CCAD 1974), Michael Flechtner (CCAD 1981), Scott Hull (CCAD 1977), Matthew Kaser (CCAD 1984), Jon Hair (CCAD 1976–1978), Catherine Hyland Moon (CCAD 1978), Paitoon Ratan (CCAD 1993), William D. Ray (CCAD 1992–1994), Benjamin Roseland (CCAD 2005), Dan Scanlon (CCAD 1998), and Charles Wilkin (CCAD 1992). Read the nominee bios here.

The AAE will be presented on Saturday, Oct. 13, during Family Weekend & Homecoming. This event is part of an entire weekend of events for the whole CCAD family, including alumni, students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Each year CCAD accepts nominations for AAE as a way to acknowledge not only the success and contributions of one very deserving graduate, but also the impact CCAD alumni have all over the world. Alumni are currently voting on the finalists, after which a committee will review the nominees and choose the recipient. To learn more about the nomination and voting process, click here.

Nathan Greno at work

In his motion picture directorial debut, Nathan Greno, who studied Illustration at CCAD, pulled down a $49-million opening weekend and received a Golden Globe nomination for the film Tangled.

Now he can add the Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence to his many accolades.

CCAD will formally acknowledge the success and contributions of Greno, as well as the impact that CCAD alumni have all over the world, Oct. 7 and 8 during Family Weekend & Homecoming. The Award for Excellence will be presented and an exhibition of Greno’s work will be displayed during the college’s annual celebration.

When Greno (Associate 1993–1996) returns to campus he just may catch up with CCAD grads he has met while working at Walt Disney Animation. He said some of the best animators on Tangled attended CCAD and that it is fun sharing stories with other alumni. “It’s like we were part of a club,” he told Image magazine.

Greno advises others to “never stop fighting for your goals.” He described himself as one of the weaker figure drawing students when he first started at CCAD, but three years later he was working at Disney. “I had to work crazy hard to make that happen,” he said.

After sitting in on extra figure drawing classes and working diligently on his animation portfolio, Greno received an internship offer from Disney at the end of his junior year and he has been there since 1996. He hated his first job as a clean-up animator on Mulan and faced a crisis moment because he didn’t feel like he was being creative but had been dreaming about working for Disney since elementary school. Fortunately for audiences, he found the storyboarding department and spent about 10 years there before having the opportunity to direct.

Greno has worked on other Disney films, including John Henry, Brother Bear, Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt.  As he saw people in the theater laughing, crying, and having fun, he thought about CCAD and the long road to directing.

“It was all worth it,” he said.

Congratulations to all of the 2011 Alumni Award for Excellence nominees.

The nominees are Fine Arts alumni Roy Doty (CCAD 1942), Kate Rhoades (CCAD 2010) and Robert Tavani (CCAD 1985), Industrial Design alumnus Matthew Kaser (CCAD 1984), and associate alumni Nathan Greno (CCAD 1996) and Aminah Robinson (CCAD 1960). Read all the nominee bios here.

The AAE will be presented Saturday, Oct. 8 during the annual Homecoming celebration, which is part of an entire weekend of events for the whole CCAD family—alumni, students, parents, and faculty and staff. Family Weekend and Homecoming is Oct. 7–9, 2011.

In addition to acknowledging the success and contributions of one very deserving person, the award is one way for the college to highlight the impact CCAD alumni have all over the world.

CCAD alumni, students, faculty, and staff can vote on the nominee of their choice  via an online poll through Monday, Aug. 15. Bios on each recipient are available on CCAD’s website, as

well as details about the award and the nomination process.

Image from www.2d-3ddesign.com

Rosanne Percivalle (Illustration, ’80) was named the 2010 recipient of the Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence during homecoming ceremonies May 14th.

Percivalle is founder and principal of 2D3D Design, Inc., a New York City-based custom design studio specializing in the design and creation of artwork, furnishings and sculpture for interior and exterior applications.

Her nationally- and internationally-based clients include The Smithsonian Institution, Planet Hollywood, The Louisville Slugger Museum, Dylan’s Candy Bar, The Brasserie, Disney Store, Whole Foods, Zeytinia Marketplace and her projects have been featured on HGTV Features, in The New York Times home and styles section, New York Newsday, Metropolis Magazine, Daily News, New York Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, Oprah Magazine, House and Garden, Print Magazine and at the Society of Illustrators.

Other awards and recognition include: Society of Illustrators’ Gold Seal in three annual scholarship competitions, featured illustrator in Print Magazine, a desi award for excellence in graphic design, award of excellence by Photographer’s Forum Magazine photography contest, and the Excellence In The World Of Design Industrial Design Excellence Award, among many others. Percivalle’s artistic excellence is visible in permanent venues that people encounter everyday. She has been able to bring impressive visions to the mass consumer market and effective solutions to national and international commercial enterprises.

For more information go to 2D3D Design’s website.