Class of 2013 during the president’s picnic

Greetings. It’s June. Those of you who are newly minted alumni may still be in recovery. Those of you who have been away for awhile may be curious as to how this last school year went—so here’s a little wrap-up for you.

First: Congrats to the class of 2013. You survived!

Nearly 250 students graduated and joined the ranks of (can we say it) amazing alumni! Check out the CCAD Alumni Facebook page to look through commencement photos (including a picture of a unicorn!) and the senior sendoff album.

We have a new crop of outstanding seniors

In case you’ve forgotten, at the end of the academic year faculty select outstanding seniors for each undergraduate major. Check out this year’s nine students.

• Lillie Templeton, Advertising & Graphic Design
• Tyler Crowley, Animation
• Patrick Kain, Cinematic Arts
• Katharine Hire, Fashion Design
• Stefanie Cook, Fine Arts
• Wesley Talbott, Illustration
• Justin Brown, Industrial Design
• Katelyn Venia, Interior Design
• Kayla Holdgreve, Photography

P.S. We recently followed up with last year’s outstanding seniors (there were 10) in IMAGE magazine.

Teaching Excellence awards ceremony from left to right: Ronald Tardino, Kevin Conlon, James Lutz, Mark Hazelrig, Stewart McKissick, and Denny Griffith

Annual student exhibition caps the year

We celebrated another year of amazing student work with the annual student exhibition, which will be up in the Canzani Center Gallery through June 14.

Two professors earn Teaching Excellence Awards

This year the Teaching Excellence Award was snagged by not one, but two professors—Mark Hazlerig (CCAD 1974 and 1977) and James Lutz (1978).

The recipients were selected from 57 nominations, which were solicited from students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Read the full story here.

Retiring professors say farewell

After serving CCAD for more than 40 years, Professor Ronald Tardino (CCAD 1971) retired this year, with a promise to come back and teach a couple classes and remain active in our community.

Adjunct faculty Ben Mahan (CCAD 1965) also retired after being an important part of the Illustration faculty for more than 35 years.

Fashion Show wows crowds again

The Senior Fashion Show was once again a great success, raising nearly $200,000 for scholarships. See pictures and read more about it here.

‘Fab Lab’ debuts

The new 3D printing lab, dubbed the “Fab Lab,” is up and running in Kinney Hall thanks to a generous donation from Nancy and Tad Jeffrey.

CCAD named Center of Excellence

On April 26, CCAD was officially declared a Center of Excellence by Toon Boom, a global leader in digital content and animation software. We are the first college or university in the U. S. to receive the honor.

Exhibitions and Visiting Artists

Director of Exhibitions Michael Goodson produced, yet again, a fantastic lineup for the school year. We saw group exhibitions such as Simulacrum and Wall that mixed local, national, and international artists, as well as solo exhibitions that brought artists such as Todd Slaughter and Byron Kim to campus not only to show their work but to discuss it in visiting artist presentations.

In addition, Goodson, CCAD faculty, and the MindMarket curated a healthy mix of other creative visitors, ranging from graphic designer superstar Stefan Sagmeister to Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds, and activist/director Gwenaëlle Gobé to Family Guy producer and director Mark Hentemann and Dominic Bianchi.

MIX: comics, comics, and more comics

This was the inaugural year for MIX, our comics symposium, which will take place again Sept. 27–28 with keynote speaker Jeff Smith.

What’s next?

Be sure to check out our Save the Date post for upcoming events on (and sometimes off) campus.

Classnotes, June 2013

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but because there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from March, April, and May.

Mark Hazlerig ’74 and ’77 and James Lutz ’78 received the Teaching Excellence Award at CCAD. Read more here.

Denise Romecki ’76 exhibited her work at the Zanesville Museum of Art in Zanesville, OH. Read more here.

Scott Hull ’77, Steve Prescott ’95, Jason Jourdan ’98, and Graham Erwin ’11 served as judges for the 2013 Art of Illustration Show. Read more here.

Tim Rietenbach ’77, Julie Abijanac ’92, Susan Li O’Connor ’96, Danielle Julian Norton ’99, and Mariana Smith ’02 had work shown at Wehrle Gallery at Ohio Dominican University. Read more here.

Hiroshi Hayakawa ’85 published his book Paper Pups: 35 Dogs to Copy, Cut & Fold. Read more here.

Mike Martin ’85, Clinton Reno ’95, Jason Goad ’96, Ryan Mowry ’04, Graham Erwin ’11, and Miles Tsang ’12 were part of a group exhibition at Rivet Gallery in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Juliette Montague ’85 had her work exhibited at Hayley Gallery in New Albany, OH. Read more here.

Vincent Mattina ’87 won a Stellar Art Award through Digital Arts’ Simply the Best 2 online exhibit.

Craig Carlisle ’88 had a solo exhibition at Sharon Weiss Gallery in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Laura Sanders ’88 and Sarah Fairchild ’94 were part of a group exhibition at Lindsay Gallery in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Peter Wachtel ’90 had his invention the Grill Wrangler featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Read more here.

Inka Essenhigh ’91 had two paintings reproduced in Artist Daily, an online forum for the art community. Read more here.

Chun Arthur Wang ’94 had a solo exhibition at the Muscatine Art Center in Muscatine, IA. Read more here.

Sam Chung ’95 owns Luna Pier Beach Café in Michigan. Read more here.

John Urbano ’96 directed the album countdown video for singer and actor Justin Timberlake. Read more here.

Robyn Meadows ’98 had work in a group exhibition at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, MN. Read more here.

Soo Sunny Park ’98 has an installation on view at Rice University Art Gallery in Houston. Read more here.

Amanda Hope Cook ’99 had work in a group exhibition presented by the Ohio Art Council’s Riffe Gallery. Read more here.

Danielle Julian Norton ’99 had work featured in Art13 London, a fair in West London dedicated to international contemporary art. Read more here.

Anthony Nesossis ’00 branded, designed, and developed a logo and responsive website for Caring Access Solutions, Inc.

Michelle Brickner ’01 was selected as a Champion of Sustainability by Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S) in Cleveland, OH. Read more here.

Andy Hayes ‘01 created an event poster for the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts. Read more here.

Adam Brouillette ’02, Thom Glick ’04, Andrew Ina ’06, Christopher Tennant ’06, Jamie Sommer ’07, and Jen Wrubles ’10 all had work in Easton Town Center’s Celebrate Local retail store. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma ’04 had her photography project Darshan featured in Yoga Journal. Read more here.

Steven Weinzierl ’05 worked on a promo for HBO’s film Behind the Candelabra. Read more here.

Boryana Rusenova Ina ’06 was featured in the spring volume of Studio Visit. Read more here.

Michelle Dick ’08 is now an interior designer with Organized Home Remodeling in Columbus, OH.

Greg Beck ’09 was part of the team at Longstride that received a Gold award at the Columbus ADDYs. Read more here.

Steve Hubbard ’10 was the recipient of a Visual Effects Society award for his work on the movie Life of Pi. Read more here.

Graham Erwin ’11 created illustrations for the April issue of Wired magazine. Read more here.

Jessica Lipps ’12 is now an assistant graphic designer for Hollister Bettys Fleece at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Dion Utt ’12 is working as a goldsmith at Worthington Jewelers.

In Memoriam:

Joe Reiff ‘12

Karen Elizabeth Leach ’98

Still from the promo for “Behind the Candelabra” created by Favorite Color

Media Studies alumnus Steven Weinzierl (CCAD 2005) is a director for Favorite Color, a motion graphics studio in New York City that recently created a promo for HBO’s film Behind the Candelabra.

Behind the Candelabra, is based on the rocky relationship between the renowned pianist Liberace and his lover Scott Thorson and stars Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, and Rob Lowe.

“During my initial arrival at Favorite Color, HBO was in search of vendors to take part in a pitch for their HBO series True Blood,” Weinzierl said. “We ended up winning the pitch, produced the project, and the rest is history. HBO was happy with the final product and have been a return client ever since.”

The promo took approximately four weeks to complete with a week for concept and design, two weeks for animation, and the last week for render and final approval. It features the falling keys of a piano to symbolize the characters’ relationship.

Weinzierl has been with Favorite Color for more than two years and has worked on projects ranging from music videos to commercial campaigns.

To view the promo, click here.

Marquee at 134th spring commencement

Nearly 250 Columbus College of Art & Design students graced the stage of the historic Ohio Theatre to receive their diplomas on Saturday, May 11, 2013.

The 134^th annual commencement in downtown Columbus included an address by nationally renowned artist Mel Chin, who was also awarded an honorary degree by the college.

James E. Kunk, vice chair of CCAD’s board of trustees; Dennison W. Griffith, CCAD president; Kevin J. Conlon, vice president for academic affairs; and director of graduate studies and professor Ric Petry conferred the nine master of fine arts degrees and the bachelor of fine arts.

Student government president and Advertising & Graphic Design major Cailyn Driscoll addressed the audience of peers and family, followed by recognition of the nine outstanding seniors:

• Lillie Templeton, Advertising & Graphic Design
• Tyler Crowley, Animation
• Patrick Kain, Cinematic Arts
• Katharine Hire, Fashion Design
• Stefanie Cook, Fine Arts
• Wesley Talbott, Illustration
• Justin Brown, Industrial Design
• Katelyn Venia, Interior Design
• Kayla Holdgreve, Photography

President Griffith introduced the 2013 class valedictorian, Advertising & Graphic Design major Lillie Templeton.

Following the valedictorian’s address, Griffith spoke to the graduating class. He offered them a heartfelt farewell and encouraged them to spread their talent and the message of love across the world.

Check out a video from the 2013 commencement here.

Dominic Bianchi and Mark Hentemann at CCAD, photo by Katlin McNally

Dominic Bianchi and Mark Hentemann visited CCAD on April 29 and gave students a rare peek behind the curtain, showing what goes into creating a weekly, half-hour, prime-time network television program. The fact that they were hilarious while doing it shouldn’t be a surprise; they are, respectively, the supervising director and head writer/executive producer for Family Guy.

Like any good comedic act, the duo knew how to warm up their audience, opening with a montage of clips from the popular series. They then went on to detail the creative efforts that go into producing each episode—a process that  takes approximately 13 months, which means that multiple episodes are in varying stages of development at any given time.

Hentemann shows the writers’ room, photo by Katlin McNally

It all starts in the writers’ room, where Hentemann and his team collaborate on a script that must be ready for the first table read at the end of the week.

“That’s when the first version of the script is finalized and all the actors come in,” said Hentemann.  “We get about 60 people in a room at the table read, and we hear a script on its feet. (We call it hearing it on its feet—it’s performed.) We hear how it sounds, get a good sense of what’s working and what’s not.”

From there the writers will go back and rewrite jokes (aka gags) that didn’t quite work. Hentemann went on to share a few gags that were proposed in the writers’ room but didn’t make the final script—they may not have made it into the show, but they still got laughs from the CCAD audience.

Bianchi talks about the storyboarding process at “Family Guy,” photo by Katlin McNally

“Family Guy is storyboard-based show,” Bianchi said as he began to explain the process for dealing with the artwork on the show, which begins as soon as the audio track of the script is recorded.

“A director and assistant director will have two to three storyboard artists per episode,” said Bianchi. “They’ll take the audio file and listen to it, and go over the script and break it down into different scenes.” The team uses Cintiqs with Toom Boom Storyboard Pro software to begin creating thumbnails of shots for the show, which are then pitched to the supervising director, who makes edits. Bianchi and Hentemann used the episode “Back to the Pilot” (S10, Ep 5) to illustrate this process.

After more editing and rewriting, the team moves to animatics, which (at their most basic) are animated drafts that include sound. There are more rounds of editing and rewrites. At some point color is introduced, and even after that there are rewrites. During this process they also have to work with standards and practices, the network entity responsible for ensuring that a program’s content doesn’t cross legal, ethical, or moral lines that might result in anything from FCC fines to lawsuits or lost sponsors.

Bianchi shared examples of animatics from “Back to the Pilot” (S10, Ep5), photo by Katlin McNally

Anyone who has watched Family Guy can imagine the conversations between the show’a producers and the network. Hentemann read some particularly funny notes they received from standards, including one that involved the word “kleeman”—a word the writers made up to see if the standards office would tag it. They did. However, when producers noted that the word was not in any dictionary and did not actually exist, the standards office had to concede. Unfortunately, after the episode aired “kleeman” became a popular Google search term. When the writers tried to use it again four months later, they were denied, because several online dictionaries had come up with a definition.

The last stage of the production process includes final animation, which is done in Korea and can take as long as four months.

Bianchi and Hentemann ended their presentation with a Q & A that naturally generated questions about how to get a job in their industry. Both men noted that everyone has a different story for how they landed their careers, but Bianchi still offered some advice:

“No matter where you go, what job you are targeting, if you are at a job that you think will lead to that storyboard job (or whatever it is that you want), if you are PA [production assistant] somewhere, be the best PA, have a good attitude, ask questions, be indispensable at that job.”

CCAD Outstanding Senior Patrick Kain

At the end of the academic year, CCAD names outstanding seniors for each undergraduate major. Today, in part three of our nine-part series, meet Cinematic Arts outstanding senior Patrick Kain.

Q: What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?

Showing at the Columbus Museum of Art; I had a few of my films show over there last fall and this fall.

Q: What scared you the most while you were at CCAD?

Nothing, I wasn’t really afraid of coming here at all or anything while I was here.

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

I am working for Human, and we just got offices over in Studio Hall actually. So I will be designing t-shirts and creating animations.

Q: What’s your ultimate dream job or goal?

I interned with this company in New York City that does cartoons for [Cartoon Network's] Adult Swim and I got a little taste of doing that in between animations and clean-ups, so I would love to go to LA and create my own show.

Q: Why is it important as an alumnus to give back to CCAD?

I’ve already started to give back; I helped out with the We Have Answers session for Admissions recently. Without CCAD, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that I have had. We put an investment into our degree, so we don’t want the school to lose its reputation; it’s important for our own sake to keep the school up and supported.

Q: Do you remember a single point that made you sit back and say, “This is why I am doing this?”

I was a little kid actually. I have been making films forever, and I remember I was trying to learn how to do stop motion. I was a little hustler back then, always trying to get people to watch my stuff.

Q: What smell, word, or whatever will always remind you of your time here as a student?

Hunger pains.

Q: What will you miss the most?

Having faculty like Andy Friz, Tom Richner, and Charlotte Belland—as awesome as everyone here is, I really connected to the professors because of their knowledge and I spent a lot of time talking to them. I’ll miss the immediacy of being able to contact them and ask them any question that pops into my mind.

Q: If you could describe what graduation feels like in one word or sentence what would it be?

I don’t know—I have never been sentimental about ending something. Vitamin C’s song doesn’t play in my head when I think about it, it is just another step in life.

Q: What was your favorite class at CCAD?

Design for Media, which is the class that I did my first film in that showed at the museum. We created a log during the class of our process and how we built it. That log is irreplaceable to show people in the industry what you have done and that you’re familiar with the process that it takes to create a short.

Q: What did you like to do during your free time?

I listen to music. Right now I am into Devo.

Q: What is your fondest memory at CCAD?

Meeting my fiancee.

Q: What would you change about your undergraduate career?

I started out in Animation—I probably would have just stayed in Animation. I’m interested in a lot, so I wanted to dabble in a little bit of everything, but I probably should have just stayed in Animation.

Q: What is your advice to future CCAD students?

Work harder then everyone you are surrounded by.

Kain is from Kettering, OH, and attended Kettering Fairmont High School.

From left, Animation Chair Charlotte Beland, Toon Boom CEO Joan Vogelesang, CCAD President Dennison Griffith, Cinematic Arts Chair Ron Saks, and Toon Boom Market Development Director Mark MacLellan,
photo by Katlin McNally

This morning Columbus College of Art & Design was officially declared a Center of Excellence by Toon Boom, a global leader in digital content and animation software. CCAD is the first college or university in the U. S. to receive such an honor.

The announcement was made, fittingly, in the college’s labs for Animation and Cinematic Arts. Toon Boom CEO and President Joan Vogelesang flew in from Montreal (where the company is based) to celebrate CCAD’s selection with faculty, staff, students, guests, and media including WCMH-NBC4, WBNS-10TV, and WSYX . As CCAD was honored, a moment was taken to give a special thanks Cinematic Arts Chair Ron Saks for his ongoing commitment to the industry

“CCAD has been a long-standing customer and supporter of Toon Boom. We are thrilled to see them become the first Center of Excellence in the U.S. and prepare students for the marketplace. CCAD will be highly recommended to all our customers as a prime source of talents for their productions,” Vogelesang said.

Dana Turtle (right) interviews Don Yoakam while a few feet away Angela An interviews Andrea Rawson and Emma Pennington, photo by Katlin McNally

When asked why Columbus was chosen for the site of their first U.S. Center of Excellence, Vogelesang noted that in addition to Columbus having a solid reputation, CCAD was an early adopter of the technology. Toon Boom began changing how animation was produced 14 years ago. They not only sought to create paperless methods of production, but to utilize technology in a way that allowed for more creative flexibility. CCAD was among the first institutions to embrace these advances in the industry.

“Being a Center of Excellence provides CCAD students with the opportunity to test and use the latest versions of this industry-leading software and maximize their value among film and animation employers,” said Dennison Griffith, president of CCAD. “Employment opportunities in this field are growing significantly with the use of animation not just in the entertainment industry, but in the development of apps, software, and gaming technology.”

Rather than explain the value of Toon Boom software in Animation and Cinematic Arts work, CCAD chose to show how students work with the product. A team of three Animation students worked together to animat three local television anchors.

Juniors Andrea Rawson and Don Yoakam along with sophomore Emma Pennington turned Angela An (WBNS-10TV), Monica Day (WCHM-NBC4), and Dana Turtle (WSYX) into animated characters.

Juniors Andrea Rawson and Don Yoakam along with sophomore Emma Pennington turned Angela An (WBNS-10TV), Monica Day (WCHM-NBC4), and Dana Turtle (WSYX) into animated characters—which were shared to the delight of the gathered audience, which included An and Turtle.

The audience also viewed a live demonstration, thanks to senior Alan Backer, who showed how the software works through each phase of concepting and producing animation.

The audience was also shown a trailer for the student-made film Lumin, which utilized Toon Boom software in its production. Lumin has been submitted to more than 30 festivals internationally and nationally and it has already been accepted into several, including Chile Monos, Leeds Young Film Festival, Ohio Shorts, taafi Official Selection, and Sff International Film Festival.

To cap off the event, CCAD announced a storyboard contest for high school students with a prize worth nearly $3,000. Students are invited to create and submit a storyboard for a short film (not to exceed one minute of screen time). The winner will receive a full-ride scholarship to attend CCAD’s three-week residential summer program College PreView, where they will be able to focus on Animation and Cinematic Arts and work with Toon Boom production suite software. Details on the contest can be found here.

The choice of CCAD as the first American Center of Excellence follows Toon Boom’s selection as an official educational resource and curriculum to support development of 21st century skills among Canadian students by the Information and Communications Technology Council in Canada.

Becker is from Columbus, OH, and graduated from Dublin High School; Rawson is a from Buffalo, NY, and graduated from Williamsville East High School; Yoakam is from Delaware, OH, and graduated from Bishop Watterson High School; and Pennington is from Hilliard, OH, and graduated from Hilliard Bradley High School.

Photo from 2012 commencement

May is quickly on its way, accompanied by rain, flowers, and, very soon, graduation caps and gowns. On May 11 Columbus College of Art & Design will celebrate nearly 250 graduating CCAD students as they cross the stage of the historic Ohio Theatre and receive their hard-earned diplomas.

As the countdown to commencement begins, CCAD honors this year’s outstanding seniors. Each year department heads choose an outstanding senior for each undergraduate major. This year’s awardees include Justin Brown, Industrial Design; Stefanie Cook, Fine Arts; Tyler Crowley, Animation; Katharine Hire, Fashion Design; Kayla Holdgreve, Photography; Patrick Kain, Cinematic Arts; Wesley Talbot, Illustration; Lille Templeton, Advertising & Graphic Design; and Katelyn Venia, Interior Design.

We sat down to interview each of these stellar students, and we’ll publish a profile a day (on school days) starting on April 29 and culminating on May 10 when we announce the class valedictorian(s).

The outstanding seniors and valedictorian(s) will be honored at commencement, which will also feature an address by nationally renowned artist Mel Chin.

FORTHMADE is a pop-up store created by CCAD students; click above to watch the video.

Last semester, CCAD honors students created One, a one-day pop-up store on campus. This semester the students are at it again with FORTHMADE and they are partnering with Easton Town Center to bring the one-day store to the outdoor shopping center located in Columbus, OH.

The honors Developing Retail class is a project-based class led by adjunct faculty Marcia Tabler.

“It has been really interesting to watch the creative juices flow,” Tabler said. “There is so much satisfaction in seeing these students create something of their own from the ground up, and watching the natural ebb and flow of designers as they work as part of a team.”

The nine students handled everything from the marketing strategy, including the promotional photography and video, to the store design. Details such as branding the shopping bags, price tags, and even hangers were not overlooked.

Students involved in the execution of FORTHMADE are Advertising & Graphic Design seniors Alex Laniosz and Lillie Templeton, junior Haley Fischer, and sophomore Qisha Kendy; Cinematic Arts juniors Amanda Hess and Richard Smith; Fashion Design senior Ryun Harrison and junior Lauren Colbert; Illustration sophomore Phong Nguyen; and Industrial Design senior Meara Swiler.

The class sent a request campuswide for students to submit their work to be judged and possibly sold in the store. The response was overwhelming, which wasn’t surprising considering last semester’s store sold more than 70 percent of its inventory. Submissions ranged from clothing to jewelry to prints and everything in between. One thing that is certain is that the products available will all be CCAD-designed, handcrafted, and one-of-a-kind.

“Our ultimate goal is to have this project be self-funded,” Tabler said. “All the profits from this store will go to the next class’s retail store project, and hopefully this can become an ongoing tradition here at CCAD.”

Easton Town Center generously donated space for the store. The class will take advantage of the large theater that once housed Shadowbox Live.

“At Easton, we’re always looking to present new ideas,” said Beau Anderson, the executive vice president for asset performance of Steiner + Associates. “We’ve enjoyed a wonderful relationship with CCAD, and the pop-up shop seemed like a logical way to extend our partnership while offering our customers unique, locally designed apparel and accessories. This will be a shop of discovery, and we cannot wait to see what the students offer in this space and how they will approach the visual merchandising.”

FORTHMADE will be in business May 4, 1–9 p.m., at 160 Easton Town Center, Columbus, OH.

Colbert is from Westerville, OH, and attended Saint Francis De Sales High School; Fischer is from Lawrence, KS, and attended Lawrence High School; Harrison is from Alpharetta, GA, and attended Alpharetta High School; Hess is from Columbus, OH, and attended American School of Technology; Kendy is from Jakarta, Indonesia, and attended Jakarta International School; Laniosz is from Willowbrook, IL, and attended Hinsdale South High School; Nguyen is from Germantown, MD, and attended Mansfield High School; Smith is from Blacklick, OH, and attended Licking Heights High School; Swiler is from Maumee, OH, and attended Trinity High School; and Templeton is from Wadesboro, NC, and was home schooled.

Still from the animated film “Lumin”

An advanced animation class at CCAD has just completed a project that is now being entered in national festivals. The Advanced Time-Based Projects class, taught by Associate Professor Tom Richner, created an animated short named Lumin.

Lumin tells the story of a young boy and his escape from dozens of monsters who pursue him for one thing, his light.

The 17 students in the class spent four months creating the film from start to finish, working on all aspects from script writing and sound development to animation and final editing.

“We [the Animation faculty] have been talking about working on complete films during the course of a class,” Richner said. “When we saw the talent that was in this past fall’s class we knew we had to make a film with this group.”

The class included Animation seniors Christopher Campbell, Tyler Crowley, David King, Arianni Kurniawati, Laura Maue, Bekah Nunn, Jonathan Pezzatta, and David T. Reed; Animation junior Kelly Cumpson; Cinematic Arts seniors Alan Becker, Patrick Kain, Lauren Thornberry, and Mariah Ward; Cinematic Arts juniors Grace Kim and Aaron Zawisa; and recent Animation graduate Victor Dearing (CCAD 2012) and Cinematic Arts graduate Alex Trimpe (CCAD 2012).

“I was really impressed about how all the students handled the whole semester,” Richner said. “There was never a point where we got behind schedule. They all bought into the project and took ownership and worked very hard.”

“A lot of these students have aspirations to go work in studios, big and small, and the nature of animated films is that you need a lot of bodies to get these projects done. Working in a studio environment means that they are going to be collaborating with people, so I think giving them that chance to do it here gives them the opportunity to fine tune those skills they’ll need in the real world.”

The class had to make some decisions in order to finish the project on time, such as creating it in black and white instead of color and keeping the length of the video managable.

“Even though we did do some things on the design end to make it easier, we didn’t cut any corners in terms of the story we wanted to tell; we did what we set out to do,” Richner said.

Character line-up from the animated film “Lumin”

To complete the project, the class used Toon Boom, animation software package.

“It is a great thing for students to be exposed to this software in school since a lot of studios are currently using it,” Richner said. “We’ve had it in our classrooms here CCAD for more than 10 years now, and we were some of the early adopters of it.”

Alumni have said that their experience with Toon Boom in CCAD classrooms was beneficial as they began their careers.

“We have heard from animation alumni who have been able to stand above their peers when they can express to directors that they know how to use the software,” Richner said.

The class’ work isn’t done yet. They have submitted the film to more than 30 festivals internationally and nationally and have already been accepted into festivals including  Chile Monos, Leeds Young Film Festival, Ohio Shorts, taafi Official Selection, and Sff International Film Festival.

The spring Advanced Time-Based Projects class has a new group of students; they’re developing an animated film called Aria, which they plan on entering into festivals and contests as well.

Lumin will be shown during CCAD’s animation screenings at the opening reception of the 134th Annual Student Exhibition on May 10.

Becker is from Dublin, OH, and graduated from Dublin Scioto High School; Campbell is from Worthington, OH; Crowley is from Milford, NH, and attended Milford High School; Cumpson is from Chesterland, OH, and attended West Geauga High School; Dearing is from Westerville, OH, and attended Saint Francis De Sales High School; Kain is from Kettering, OH, and attended Kettering Fairmont High School; Kim is from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, and attended North Surrey Senior Secondary School; King is from Hamilton, OH, and graduated from Ross Senior High School; Kurniawati is from Salatiga, Indonesia, and graduated from Loyola Catholic Secondary School; Maue is from Bellbrook, OH, and attended Bellbrook High School; Nunn is from Wilmington, OH, and graduated from Wilmington High School; Pezzatta is from Columbus, OH, and graduated from Fort Hayes Metro Education Center; Reed is from Ashland, OH, and attended Ashland High School; Trimpe is from Cincinnati, and attended Elder High School; Thornberry is from Cambridge, OH, and attended Cambridge High School; Ward is from Cincinnati, and attended the School for Creative & Performing Arts; and Zawisa is from Columbus, OH, and attended Grandview Heights High School.

Update on April 25:  Lumin won a Telly Award in the “use of animation” category.

Classnotes, March 2013

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but because there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from December, January, and February!

Tim Rietenbach ’77, Joel Gundlach ’86, David Burghy ’89, and Danielle Julian Norton ’99 showed their work in a CCAD faculty exhibition at Columbus’ Cultural Arts Center. Read more here.

Jamie Berger ’78 curated PUSH Print, a book on contemporary printmaking published by Lark Crafts. Read more here.

Paul Emory ’78, Ellen O’Connell Bazzoli ’83, Alex Conrad MFA ’12, Nicole Crock MFA ’12, and Virginia Kistler MFA ’12 showed their work in the Ohio Art League Curated Exhibition, presented at the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery. Read more here.

Richard Cowdrey ’81 illustrated the re-released children’s book The Legend of the Candy Cane. Read more here.

Joel Gundlach ’86 designed new starting blocks for New Albany High School’s natatorium. Read more here.

Ed Valentine ’91 and Michael Stillion ’02 had exhibitions at Linda Warren Projects in Chicago. Read more here.

Julie Abijanac ’92 had her piece Disease Mapping selected for the Fiberart International 2013 exhibition. Read more here.

Anthony Weiler ’94, Annie Weihrauch ’03, Hazel Tarr ’07, and Maggy O’Reilly VanOrder ’09 are participants in CCAD’s MindMarket Incubator. Read more here.

Benjamin Lane ’96 is now a story artist at Disney Feature Animation Studio in Burbank, CA.

Daniel King ’00 was featured in Temporary Art Review discussing his artistic career and inspiration. Read more here.

Anne Holman ’02 had a busy winter full of exhibitions and art sales. Read more here.

Mariana Smith ’02 showed work in exhibitions from the East Coast to the West Coast. Read more here.  She also had her piece Untitled (After Tarkousky Stalker) in the 34th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition, hosted by Bradley University, Peoria, IL. Read more here.

Brian Williams ’03 had an illustration featured in ARTnews. Read more here.

Lea Gray ’04 and Eric Jefferson ’04 were featured in Alive!, a weekly magazine that covers events and culture in Columbus, OH. Read more on Gray here and Jefferson here.

Sean Conner ’05, Nate Reese ’05, Chris Meister ’06, Andrew Mark ’07, Scott Ulliman ’10, and Chavilah Bennett ’12 took home Columbus Society of Communicating Arts (CSCA) Creative Best Awards for their work with S77, a motion graphics company in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Joaquin Baldwin ’06 was a juror for the 40^th Annual Annie Awards. Read more here.

Andrew Ina ’06 received a Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) Individual Art Fellowship in Media Arts this year. Read more here.

Boryana Rusenova Ina ’06 was in two group exhibitions in Michigan. Read more here.

Brent Payne ’06 was included in two juried exhibitions in Ohio. Read more here. He was also had work in an exhibition hosted by Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, TX. Read more here.

Michelle Dick ’08 is now working as an interior designer with Organized Home Remodeling, in Columbus, OH.

Brian Uhl ’08 had a solo exhibition at Static Age Gallery in Cincinnati. Read more here.

Steve Hubbard ’10 worked on animations for the movie Life of Pi. Read more here.

John Malta ’10 had his third illustration published in The New York Times. Read more here.

Kerry Kunze ’11 showed work in a group exhibition at Mount Vernon University. Read more here.

Alex Conrad MFA ’12, Nicole Crock MFA ’12, Leah Fisher ’12, and Crystal Tursich MFA ’12 had work included in the 13^th annual ImageOhio exhibition organized by Roy G Biv Gallery. Read more here.

Amanda Rouse MFA ’12 had a busy exhibition schedule including three juried and two group exhibitions. Read more here.

Still from “Life of Pi,” courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The Visual Effects Society announced winners the 11th Annual VES Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, earlier this month, and Media Studies alumnus Steve Hubbard (CCAD 2010) was among those who received recognition.

Hubbard worked as an animator for the movie Life of Pi. The movie won in four categories, with Hubbard taking a visual effects credit for the win in the category of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture.

The VES Awards recognizes outstanding visual effects in 24 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, and video games.

Students work on project for InPower through the CCAD MindMarket

It has only been about four months since the CCAD MindMarket officially launched and it is already flying strong.

The MindMarket opened in fall with ThoughtLab speaker Roger Martin and this spring will host internationally renowned retail design and branding expert Marc Gobé and his daughter, Gwenaelle Gobé.

Businesses have already tapped into CCAD talent through the MindMarket’s DesignLab. Companies range from a local electronics company InPower, Inc. to a charrette that just concluded with the Arnold Classic.

The MindMarket’s Incubator program currently has four participants taking advantage of the mentorship, business coaching, and professional services. While the Incubator tenants share a connection to CCAD, as they are alumni, their reasons for coming back vary.

Advertising & Graphic Design alumna Annie Weihrauch (CCAD 2003) started her first business in 2007, Modern Material. She eventually transitioned that graphic design-oriented company to include her love of fashion and accessories and renamed the company Rock & Royalty.

Students working in the CCAD MindMarket, photo courtesy Danielle Ford (2013)

Over the past several years, Weihrauch has been making and selling her jewelry and embellished apparel through her website and through local Columbus events. She is learning more about garment construction and buisness so she can create her own clothing line.

“I absolutely loved my time at CCAD,” Weihrauch said. “When I learned about CCAD’s MindMarket I realized it was exactly what I needed to move forward. There are a lot of other business programs out there, but they aren’t geared toward the creative mind. I am looking forward to the connections and programs provided by CCAD, while working with people who understand the importance of creative integrity.”

Weihrauch’s process at the MindMarket is just beginning. She plans on accessing mentoring, legal advice, business guidance, and using the fresh talent of CCAD students and facilities.

The legal counsel will assist her with tradmark issues she has encountered, and business mentors will help strengthen her business plan.

Illustration alumnus Anthony Weiler (CCAD 1994) started a freelance design career a few years ago, and by the end of his time in the incubator he hopes to launch a firm with a full-time design team.

Weiler’s company is IncredABLE Design. One of his current clients is Ohio State University’s IT Department

Weiler was introduced to CCAD’s MindMarket through an existing business mentor who highly recommended the incubator.

“Upon meeting with [CCAD MindMarket director] Cynthia Gravino I knew that this was going to be perfect for me and my company,” Weiler said. “I wanted a place where I can try new things out, not be afraid to make mistakes, and have access to the coaching that I needed and the facilities CCAD has to offer.”

“I am excited to see all the changes at the college since I graduated. CCAD and Columbus have a lot of energy, and are headed in the right directions with strong business focuses,” Weiler said.

Media Studies alumna Hazel Tarr (CCAD 2007) is the only current resident member of the Incubator. Her current company, Tarrka Studios, is an animation/motion picture/documentary studio.

Students working in the CCAD MindMarket, photo courtesy Danielle Ford (2013)

Tarrka Studios is dedicated to creating and producing original movies and programming that speak to the community and social consciousness as it relates to the well-being of children and pets.

“I wanted to transition my solo documentary studio to include animation,” Tarr said. “This program afforded me the opportunity to realize my dream. Having major costs such as building, equipment, and supplies and people like the interns through CCAD covered, makes the CCAD MindMarket Incubator program invaluable to anyone with a start-up or transitioning business.”

Tarr will use the business mentors available to help strengthen her business plan, and she will take advantage of the legal counsel available.

“Physically being located in my tenant space has also allowed Tarrka Studios to be introduced to various individuals within the Columbus community, thus garnering exposure for the studio and the various projects in production,” Tarr said.

Illustration alumna Maggy O’Reilly VanOrder (CCAD 2009) started O’Reilly Ink in 2007 by selling prints and drawings through Etsy, an online artisan shop.

VanOrder originally heard of the MindMarket Incubator when it was in its beta phase, through the CCAD Alumni Newsletter.

“I was going on one year of being unemployed and it seemed like a direct sign and too good to be true,” VanOrder said.

VanOrder didn’t participate in the beta program, but she kept informed as the year went on and is just now beginning to use and learn more about the services provided.

“This past December I realized I had really let go of my art and nearly lost the passion for it that I once had,” VanOrder said. “I didn’t work on selling with Etsy or seeking out freelance work, though I was now working full time again. I remembered the MindMarket and contacted Cynthia, and wouldn’t you know, they were looking for new interested people. It was perfect timing.

“I still feel like it’s a program that is just too perfect to pass up,” VanOrder said. “I definitely need a boost and someone to really push me. I also need access to someone with business sense and the resources that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’m hoping to take my business to the level it needs to be at and eventually turn it into a full-time endeavor. I want it to be my passion and my life. By the end of my time with the CCAD MindMarket, I hope to be well my way to that self-made status, one of many founded here in Columbus, Ohio.”

The 2013 Oscar nominations have been announced. Photo courtesy of oscar.go.com

The awards season is upon us, and the Oscar nominees have been announced. With so many of our alumni working in the film and animation industry, it’s no surprise that some of the nominated films include CCAD talent in their credits.

Media Studies alumnus Steve Hubbard (CCAD 2010) worked on the animation for Life of Pi, which was nominated in eight categories, including Best Picture and Visual Effects.

“I worked on about 20 shots throughout the film,” Hubbard said. “I worked on fur and muscle simulations for Richard Parker [the tiger], the hyena, and the zebra. I also worked on the tarp interactions with the animals and Pi, the ropes on the boat, and some movements on fish as well.”

Illustration alumnus Alex Alvarado (CCAD 2011), Media Studies alumnus Joaquin Baldwin (CCAD 2006), and Media Studies alumnus Darren Simpson (CCAD 2011) worked on Walt Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, which was nominated in the Animated Feature Film category.

Baldwin was also selected as a juror for the 40^th Annual Annie Awards, which will take place Feb. 2 at UCLA’s Royal Hall in Los Angeles.

And finally, Illustration alumnus Ben Lane (CCAD 1996) worked on The Longest Daycare, which is nominated for Short Film (Animated).

Update: On Sunday, Feb. 24 Life of Pi, which alumnus Steve Hubbard worked on, took home four Oscars, including Best Visual Effects.

Still from Joaquin Baldwin’s animated film “Sebastian’s Voodoo”

Media Studies alumnus Joaquin Baldwin (CCAD 2006) had the privilege of being selected as a juror for the 40^th Annual Annie Awards, taking place Feb. 2 at UCLA’s Royal Hall in Los Angeles, CA.

The Annie Awards have been honoring excellence in the field of animation for 40 years. There are 30 categories of awards, including best animated feature, television production(s), television commercial, video game, and student film, as well as the achievement and honorary awards.

“They picked me to judge for the Best Student Short category because I had won the Emile Cohl Award at the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival in 2008, which was sort of the precursor to this new category at the Annie Awards,” Baldwin said.

Every category has a set of jurors to select nominees because there are so many applicants per category. After the jurors select the top nominees, all ASIFA members vote for the winner.

Baldwin works as a CG layout artist for Walt Disney Studios in Los Angeles, CA. His projects there included Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled Ever After, and Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.

“The most fun part of the award ceremony will be that this time I know a lot of the nominees, since they also work at Disney,” Baldwin said. “So I’ll be biased and rooting for them of course.”

After completing work for Wreck-It Ralph, Baldwin jumped right into work for Frozen, a Disney animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Snow Queen. The movie is set to be released in November 2013 and will feature the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.

Baldwin is represented by the Creative Artists Agency and has received more than 120 international awards for his independent animated shorts Sebastian’s Voodoo and Papiroflexia.

“This is a great opportunity for beginning filmmakers to see their work on the ‘big screen’ with an audience made up of other filmmakers, artists, and enthusiasts,” said Philip R. Garrett, visiting faculty in Cinematic Arts, who showed his short experimental/quasi-documentary The Astronomer at the event.

CMIAR is a quarterly screening that includes works from local artists. This December marked the 13^th event.

Videos by CCAD students featured in CMIAR included:

• Great Destroyer by Advertising & Graphic Design and Cinematic Arts sophomore Hunter Preston
• Violent Bliss by Cinematic Arts sophomore Tom Lepley
• I love BMX by Cinematic Arts sophomore Brant Moore
• Video 1 Project by Cinematic Arts sophomore Yazmin Ruiz
• Tattoo Taboo and Self Portrait Stop Animation by Cinematic Arts junior Amanda Hess
• Paralyzed by Photography sophomore Karl Allsop
• See Birds and Imperfect from Photography sophomore Sarah Brevick
• One Day by graduate student Yang Wu

Classnotes, December 2012 Issue

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but because there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from September, October, and November 2012.

Aminah Robinson ’60 was inducted into the city of Columbus’ Hall of Fame. Read more here.

Aminah Robinson ’60 and Linda Fowler ’74 participated in the Ohio Craft Museum’s exhibition Columbus Collects Fine Crafts. Read more here.

Joan Hall ’74 had a solo exhibition at Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, MO. Read more here.

CV Mansoor ’77 exhibited work at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. Read more here.

Dean Mitchell ’80 had an exhibition with Cutter & Cutter Fine Art in St. Augustine, FL. The exhibition also featured an article written by Walter King ’81. Read more here.

Salli Swindell ’81, co-creater of They Draw & Cook, had her illustrated cookbook reviewed in Gastronomic magazine. Read more here.

Jenny Vogt ’81 exhibited her series The Nature of Birds at the Village Hall Gallery of Arts in Bartlett, IL. Read more here.

Helen Hoffelt ’82, Rachel Girard Reisert ’02, Lian Dziura ’12, Cosby Lindquist ’12, and Crystal Tursich ’12 participated in a monthlong photography event in Cincinnati, OH. Read more here.

Kurt Fondriest ’85 was part of a group exhibition at the Life Force Arts Center in Chicago, IL. Read more here.

Hiroshi Hayakawa ’85 was featured in the fifth annual edition of the magazine Diffusion: Unconventional Photography. Read more here.

Lisa Horkin ’85, Susan Li  O’Connor ’96, Anne Holman ’02, Jennifer Deafenbough ’04, Joseph Lombardo ’06, Chris Harman ’12, and Jack Ramunni ’12 received Supply Grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. Read more here.

Christopher Madden ’87 works as a journeyman banknote engraver at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Read more here.

Kirsten Bowen ’89, Clint Davidson ’00, Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski ’02, Daric Gill ’04, Lea Gray ’04, Adam Crum ’06, Christopher Tennant ’06, Joel Atkinson ’09, and Julia McCann ’11 participated in Urban Scrawl, an annual festival in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. Read more here.

Christopher Cole ’89 became the Senior VP/Creative Director for the Sprint wireless at Leo Burnett-Chicago.

Richard Mills ’89 participated in the Ashes to Art Project, an art auction benefiting volunteer fire departments in Colorado that were affected by wildfires in 2012. Read more here.

Kaname Takada ’89 and Julie Abijanac ’92 received awards for their work exhibited in the Zanesville Museum of Art’s 68^th Annual Ohio Show. Read more here.

Kurt Lightner  ’93 participated in the group exhibition Assembly 2012 at Edward Thorp Gallery in New York City. Read more here.

David Breaux ’94 had a busy year, working on productions including Terra Nova, Hunger Games, Tron: Legacy, and Iron Man 2. Read more here.

Phil Hastings ’94 is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship in Film and Video. Read more here.

Jason Goad ’96 created a pair of limited edition sunglasses for Anarchy Eyewear. Read more here.

Susan Li O’Connor ’96 is part of a group exhibition at Steinhilber Art Gallery in Madison, WI. Read more here.

Susan Li O’Connor ’96 and Mariana Smith ’02 were selected for GCAC’s Dresden Residency Program. Read more here.

John Urbano ’96 received two VMAs for the music video he directed for the band One Direction. Read more here.

Kate Labmeier ’02 and Michael Stillion ’02 exhibited their work at Marshall University’s Birke Art Gallery. Read more here.

Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski ’02 and Corey Aumiller ’06 placed in the Columbus Arts Pop-Up Project (CAP-UP). Read more here.

Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski ’02 created and installed a volcano wall at a tiki bar in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Mariana Smith ’02 exhibited her work at Swing Space Gallery at Ohio State University; read more here. She also had an exhibition at Hammond Harkins Galleries in Columbus, OH; read more here.

Brian Williams ’03 was featured in Map Magazine, an arts and culture magazine based in Australia. Read more here.

Shannon Bonatakis ’04 had a solo exhibition, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, at Rivet, a designer toy and fine art gallery in the Short North, Columbus’ arts district. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma ’04 showed her work in a group exhibition, Social Order: Photographs from Iran, India, and Afghanistan in Seattle, WA. Read more here.

Holly Koskinen ’05 won an American Graphic Design Award. Read more here.

Joseph Lombardo ’06 has a solo exhibition at Art Access Gallery in Bexley, OH through Jan. 9. Read more here.

Michelle Dick ’08 is now working as an art teacher with After-School All-Stars, an after-school program for students in Columbus City Schools.

Evens Joseph ’09 was a featured artist in Juxtapoz magazine. Read more here.

Krista Peterson ’09 received a full-tuition scholarship to DePaul University for graduate study in the field of Human Computer Interaction. Read more here.

Kartika Mediani ’10 had work in the graphic novel One Drop. Read more here.

Amanda C. VanDenberg ’10 showed work in a group exhibition at the Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH. Read more here.

Elena Harvey Collins ’12 had her video When They’re Gone, They’re Gone in an exhibition at Roy G Biv gallery in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Nathan Gorgen ’12 and Elena Harvey Collins ’12 participated in Shifting Margins, a group exhibition put on by OFF Space in San Francisco. Read more here.

Jessica Miera ’12 is a concept artist for Animation Hero, an independent animation studio located in Columbus, OH. She is also working part time as an assistant film editor at HotBed Media LLC in Bexley, OH.

Photo of S77′s awards, photo courtesy of Rainer Ziehm

Several alumni earned well-deserved accolades at the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts (CSCA) Creative Best Awards for their work with S77, a motion graphics company in Columbus, OH.

The CCAD alumni team at S77 includes Media Studies alumni Sean Conner (CCAD 2005), Nate Reese (CCAD 2005), Chris Meister (CCAD 2006), Andrew Mark (CCAD 2007), and Scott Ulliman (CCAD 2010), and Advertising & Graphic Design alumna Chavilah Bennett (CCAD 2012).

The company received a Judges Choice and a Best of Category award for the work they did on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ music video Monarchy of Roses. They also received a Merit Award for the creative video ToyCar the company worked on.

Bennett took home additional Creative Best Awards for work she completed while a CCAD senior last spring. Her mock ad for A.L.C., a clothing and jewelry line, was awarded a Best of Category in the student work section, as well as a Judges Choice. To view the project, click here.

Still from “Life of Pi,” courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The movie Life of Pi, which opened last week, has received rave reviews, including “it is quite possibly the greatest CGI ever rendered for film” by Slant Magazine, and we have animators such as Media Studies alumnus Steve Hubbard (CCAD 2010) to thank for that.

The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, which follows Pi Patel, the son of a zoo keeper, who lives in India. His family decides to move to Canada by hitching a ride on an ocean freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.

“I worked on about 20 shots throughout the film,” Hubbard said. “I worked on fur and muscle simulations for Richard Parker [the tiger], the hyena, and the zebra. I also worked on the tarp interactions with the animals and Pi, the ropes on the boat, and I did some movements on fish as well.”

“It’s very exciting to finally see your work on the big screen,” Hubbard said. “It’s always a great feeling of accomplishment on every film I work on, especially when the film is something as special as Life Of Pi. It’s great to see how all of the efforts of all the artists on the film come together to make a whole.”

Still from “Life of Pi,” courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Hubbard worked on the film for about seven months, then wasted no time jumping into his next project, R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds, which will be released in July 2013. He’s also working on the movie Black Sky, set for release in 2013.

Hubbard has worked for Rhythm & Hues Studio since 2010. The studio worked on the animation for Life of Pi, as well as other productions including 300, The Bourne Legacy, and The Hunger Games.

Hubbard shared details on some specific scenes and effects that he worked on:

• When the hyena first emerges from the boat there is a long tracking shot that cranes around the whole vessel. On that shot, Hubbard worked on the zebra, hyena, tarp, and ropes.
• In one scene, Pi throws a rat at Richard Parker. Hubbard worked on Richard Parker’s muscle and fur and the rat’s secondary motion. He also assisted with the tarp interaction with the tiger.
• Hubbard worked on the shot were Pi throws a sunfish to Richard Parker to feed him for the first time. He worked on the fish’s motion, the tarp’s interaction with the tiger, and the hair and muscle of the tiger.

Shot from Rise of the Guardians, photo courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Media Studies alumna Sucheta Bhatawadekar (CCAD 2005) worked as a lead lighter on Rise of the Guardians, a DreamWorks Animation movie released Nov. 21 of this year.

“As a lead lighter I am responsible for creating the initial lighting set-up for a particular sequence to simulate the lighting conditions,” Bhatawadekar said. “I capture the mood for that sequence as envisioned by the art director, visual effects supervisor, and the production designer.”

Rise of the Guardians follows an evil spirit named Pitch who launches an assault on Earth. A team of immortal guardians responds to protect the innocence of children all around the world. Characters are voiced by stars including Alec Bladwin, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine, Jude Law, and Isla Fisher.

Shot from Rise of the Guardians, photo courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Bhatawadekar worked on Rise of the Guardians for five months and then jumped into working on another upcoming DreamWorks movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, to be released November 2013.

“It definitely gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment when I see a movie I worked with on the big screen,” Bhatawadekar said. “Of course, when you work on a project for so long, you cannot help but see all the minuscule imperfections that you wish you had time to fix. And then you remember all the long hours you put into every shot as it zips across the screen. It’s all worth the effort, though, when you see the audience reacting well to it.”

Bhatawadekar has worked with DreamWorks Animation in California for nearly five years, on projects including Kung Fu Panda 2, Megamind, and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Zipline during Family Weekend & Homecoming, photo courtesy of Katlin McNally

Six New Faculty Named

CCAD’s realignment into two schools—Design Arts and Studio Arts—has brought six new faculty to campus this fall. Their hiring reflects the college’s commitment to providing students the real-world skills to lead in the growing creative economy, says Char Norman, dean of faculty.

“We seek out professionals who have proven teaching experience combined with significant current work in the field,” Norman says.

We welcome:

Kelly DeVore (Interior Design and Advertising & Graphic Design), a LEED-accredited architect who has also done research in socially responsive design education.

Steve Elbert (Interior Design), a licensed architect with international teaching experience and significant 2-D and 3-D modeling software skills.

Phil Garrett (Cinematic Arts), who has worked as a special effects artist on films such as Madagascar and Shrek and as a writer, producer, and animator for a large variety of indie films as well as animated features for DisneyToon Studios.

Mathew Mitchem (English and Philosophy), a philosopher, author, and web designer who has worked with topics ranging from advertising ideology in the world of political campaigns, to the cultural implications of participatory video, to online videos during the political uprisings of 2011.

Adam Osgood (Illustration), a creator of web designs, animation, and motion graphics for major brands including Exxon and Barnes & Noble.

Rebecca Robinson (Fashion Design), who has created her own fashion designs as well as contributing to books on the history of men’s fashion, American football uniforms, and hip-hop gear.

2012 Family Weekend & Homecoming

Campus was packed with hundreds of students, parents, alumni, staff, and friends for Family Weekend & Homecoming on Oct. 12 and 13.

Things kicked off Friday evening with dinner and a comedy show on campus.

Saturday began with free breakfast and ended with an alumni reception. In between were a CCAD MindMarket open house, a carnival on the quad, a zipline down East Gay Street, a lecture from recently retired Dean Richard Aschenbrand, and much more.

The energy was contagious and all-ages: View photos on our Columbus College of Art & Design facebook page and our CCAD Alumni facebook page.

Comic book artist Chris Ware’s keynote conversation, photo couresy Danielle Ford (2013)

Mix 2012

In early October, more than 200 people came to campus for Mix 2012: CCAD’s Celebration of Comics.

A highlight of the event was the participation of Chris Ware, an Eisner-Award-winning American comic book artist who is perhaps best known for his graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Ware delivered the keynote presentation, exhibited original artwork from Jimmy Corrigan, and participated in a symposium panel called The Epic Ordinary.

In all there were three exhibitions and two-and-a-half days of panels and workshops—all kicked off by a student comic-making marathon. Eleven teams were challenged with producing a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The results were then displayed for the rest of the symposium.

The plan is to make this symposium an annual event.

Mix 2012 was sponsored by State Auto Insurance Companies, with media sponsorship provided by WCBE 90.5.

Teaching Award Winner Connects Art to Literature

Associate Professor Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis with CCAD President Denny Griffith, photo courtesy Lian Dziura (2012)

Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis, a poet who has become a writing mentor to many of her CCAD students, was selected as the winner of CCAD’s 2012 Teaching Excellence Award. The award celebrates the exemplary contributions faculty members make to the college as a whole.

“She encourages critical thinking and nurtures an artist’s curiosities, helping us all to see the correlation between the art realm and the realm of literature,” said a student nominator, “and empowers her students to want to develop their skills and techniques as writers not just for class, but for themselves.”

Kartsonis, who is an associate professor in Liberal Arts and Graduate Studies, teaches fiction and poetry writing, contemporary literature, and special topics in literature. With dozens of published poems, as well as fiction and nonfiction works, she also has served as editor of a number of literary outlets, including wordsonwalls.net, scene360, and Shades Literary/Art Review.

Her most recent work is EmuSeum, a collaborative chapbook with Caleb Adler, MD, published by Dancing Girl Press.

Ten to Watch

Doesn’t everyone love a “where are they now” story? Well, we do, too—so we’re starting a feature called Ten to Watch.

Ten to Watch will follow a group of students from CCAD’s Class of 2012 as they take their first steps into the professional world after graduation. You’ll read about where they are, what they’re up to, and how they feel about their paths so far.

Annual feature stories will start in spring, but we couldn’t wait until then to introduce them:

Kattie Baker (Advertising & Graphic Design), Chavilah Bennett (Advertising & Graphic Design), Rachel Cass (Fashion Design), Sara K. Diesel (Illustration), Lian Dziura (Photography), Ryan Christopher Evans (Media Studies), Leah Fisher (Photography), Jake LaBombarbe (Industrial Design), Sarah McCance (Interior Design), and Erin McKenna (Fine Arts)

A few teasers to think about in the meantime:

1. Who’s working on a project in Abu Dhabi?
2. Who’s already moved to New York?
3. Who did a residency that comes with a show in Chicago?

Yu Qiduo (left) and Leah Wong (right) on Yu’s television show in Shanghai.

CCAD Discussed on Shanghai TV

Leah Wong, who has taught at CCAD and is assisting the college with a teaching exchange with the China Academy of Art, recently appeared on an education-focused show in Shanghai.

The show’s host, Yu Qiduo (Duoduo), brought CCAD into the conversation as they discussed Wong’s personal opinions on art and art education and talked about her teaching experiences in both China and the United States.

The half-hour program focuses on education programs and is aimed toward middle and high school students and their parents.

Glass Alumna Helps Cruise Line Fight Cancer

Fine Arts alumna Megan Mathie (CCAD 2006) has just returned from working on the Celebrity cruise ship Solstice as a glassblower for the Corning Museum of Glass.

Over a three-month tour of back-to-back 12-day cruises around the Mediterranean, the hot glass team stayed busy.

“On sea days we do two shows. On port days we usually do an evening show,” Mathie says. “I like the 12-day cruises because as people come back again and again, they ask smarter and smarter questions. Instead of having to explain ‘what is glass’ over and over, we can talk about some of the more sophisticated techniques and tell stories.”

Megan Mathie (CCAD 2006) doing a glass show at the Corning Museum of Glass

Although she loves the work, leaving home this summer was difficult for Mathie because both her sister and her mother are fighting breast cancer. She was thrilled to find out about a new project in Celebrity Cruises’ longstanding support of the breast cancer research.

The glass team refers to it as “the Pink Show.” During one show per cruise, they make everything pink, and one of the resulting pieces of glass is auctioned—with all of the profits going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Mathie also found strong support among her fellow crew members. Just one example: On her sister’s birthday, the Ringmasters, a world-champion barbershop quartet, sang happy birthday into the phone for her.

“I was so fortunate to have found myself surrounded by kindness and love where I never expected it and when I needed it the most. Being able to take this job, this opportunity, turned into so much more of a gift than I thought it would be, and a big part of that is because of the people I’ve gotten to know. I know they care about Jen and Mom, and I know they care about me,” Mathie says.

For more photos and lots of Mathie’s engaging writing, visit her blog.

To check out the online print version of IMAGE, click here.

Lian Dziura in front of her work at the Thunderdome awards reception at Clifton Cultural Arts Center.

FOTOFOCUS is a monthlong celebration in Cincinnati, OH that combines exhibitions, conferences, presentations, and other special events to honor the art of photography. Many CCAD alumni, students, faculty, and staff were involved with various exhibitions around the city in October.

Professor and Illustration alumna Helen Hoffelt (CCAD 1982) showed work in the Midwest Society for Photographic Education Members Exhibition at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, KY, Sept. 28–Oct. 31. Hoffelt also had work in Images of the Great Depression: A Documentary Portrait of Ohio 1935-2010 at the University of Cincinnati’s Sycamore Gallery, Oct. 1–Oct. 27.

Henry Scott with his work at the Thunderdome awards reception at Clifton Cultural Arts Center.

Media Studies alumna Rachel Girard Reisert (CCAD 2002) had a solo exhibition Tropism at 1305 Gallery, Sept. 28–Nov. 11. Reisert also presented during the Midwest Regional Society for Photographic Education Conference on Oct. 13.

A senior in Photography, Kayla Holdgreve, exhibited two of her pieces in Current: MW Society of Photographic Education Student Juried Exhibition at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Oct. 4–31.

Photography alumna Lian Dziura (CCAD 2012), Junior in Cinematic Arts Tom Hoying, MFA alumnus Cosby Lindquist (CCAD 2012), Photography alumnus Marcus Morris (CCAD 2012), junior in Photography Henry Scott, and MFA alumna Crystal Tursich (CCAD 2012) participated in the juried invitational exhibition Thunderdome, at Clifton Cultural Arts Center in Cincinnati, OH, Oct.13–14. Lindquist was one of three award winners and Dziura received an honorable mention.

Classnotes, September 2012 Issue

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but because there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from June, July, and August 2012.

John Schaffner ’60 and J. Luray Schaffner ’62 both exhibited their work at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center in Solomons, MD. Read more here.

Elena Osterwalder ’76 showed work in Celebrating UA, an exhibition at the Concourse Gallery in Upper Arlington, OH. Read more here.

Joe Howard ’72 had his piece Stone, Steel and Wood chosen for the permanent Western Art Collection of the Pearce Museum at Navarro College in Corsicana, TX. Read more here.

Jeff Stahler ’77 was interviewed in The Illustrator’s Market. Read more here.

Tim Bowers ’79 illustrated Dinosaur Pet, which climbed the best-seller lists. Read more here.

David Groff ’79 received gold and bronze awards in the 29^th annual Aster Awards for his illustrations in a hospital calendar.

Marty Husted ’79, Mark Thomas ’90, and Heather Nibert ’12 are each participating in a public arts project in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Laura Sanders ’88, Sarah Fairchild ’94, Chris Rankin ’94, Adam Brouillette ’02,  Anne Holman ’02, Lauren Mudd ’04,  and Boryana Rusenova Ina ’06, participated in Art for the Environment, a silent auction benefiting the Ohio Environmental Council. Read more here.

Kaname Takada ’89, William Shearrow ’97,  and Michael Bonardi ’04 are featured in a group exhibition at the  Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, OH. Read more here.

Peter Wachtel ’90 is now selling his product STAKE, an all-in-one BBQ tool, via Quirky, Target, Fab, and ThinkGeek. Read more here.

James Alicea ’92 organized a fundraiser for the victims of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan, involving artists from Japan and New York. Read more here.

Laurie Brown ’94 showed her work in a group exhibition at the Mansion at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. Read more here.

Chad Hunt ’94 spent time training with a U.S. Special Operations Command team, and his resulting photographs were featured in an issue of Popular Mechanics. Read more here.

Chris Rankin ’94 exhibited his work in two Columbus, OH, venues this summer. Read more here.

David Hartman ’95 is a supervising director for the show Transformers: Prime, which won a 2012 Daytime Emmy®. Read more here.

Jason Goad ’96 has partnered on projects for some big-name brands and projects, including Mattel’s Hot Wheels. Read more here.

John Urbano ’96 released a limited edition photography book and directed a music video for British pop band One Direction that has been nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. Read more here.

Nathaniel Galka ’98 had work in the exhibition The Birds and Bees. Read more here.

Mike Hein ’98 exhibited his work at Mulherin + Pollard gallery in New York City. Read more here.

Dan Scanlon ’98 was featured in the LA Times for his upcoming directorial debut on Pixar’s Monsters University. Read more here.

Michael Phillips ’99 was profiled in All4You, a contemporary culture magazine based in Croatia. Read more here.

Clint Davidson ’00 worked on a mural for a public park in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Olga Ziemska ’00 installed a sculpture at the Columbus State Community College (CSCC) main library.  Read more here.

Adam Brouillette ’02, Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski ’02, and Corey Aumiller ’06 are participating in the Columbus Arts Pop-Up Project (CAP-UP), a public art project. Read more here.

Carl Bork ’03 exhibited his paintings at the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida, CO. Read more here.

Sarah DeAngulo Hout ’04 worked on a mural that is now in the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Read more here.

Michael Lai ’04 presented as a special guest for the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts in Columbus, OH. Read more here

Jill Raymundo ’04 exhibited her work in the City Center Gallery of the OSU Urban Arts Space in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma ’04 was featured in the Huffington Post’s iPad issue for her photography project Darshan. Read more here.

Corey Aumiller ’06 worked on a video project featuring CCAD President Denny Griffith. Read more here.

Martina Nikova ’07 had a solo exhibition at the Ohio Art League in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Greg Beck ’09 helped start Longstride, a creative marketing company in Columbus, OH, that was featured in a local business journal. Read more here.

John Malta ’10 received a grant from the Xeric Foundation to self-publish his comic book The Professor and the Paperboy. Read more here.

Kartika Mediani ’10 showed her film The Box at the 2012 Comic-Con’s San Diego International Children’s Film Festival in California. Read more here.

Kerry Kunze ’11 displayed her work at ZenClay Gallery in Morgantown, WV. Read more here.

Rachel Cass ’12 was featured in Easton Town Center’s 2012 directory after being awarded Easton’s Fashion Design Award. Read more here.

Kathryn Chamberlin ’12 became the graphic designer at Origo Branding Company in downtown Columbus, OH.

Alex Conrad ’12 showed his work in a national MFA competition. Read more here.

Brianne Schulze ’12 earned a goldsmithery apprenticeship at the Diamond Cellar in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

CCAD alumni pictured in front of the Disney Animation Studios

Disney Animation has created beloved movies such as Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, and Bolt, and CCAD alumni have worked on story boarding, sketching, and programming for all of these hit features. We got a chance to talk to seven of our graduates about what it’s like to work with CCAD peers in this creative environment.

Meet Director Nathan Greno (Illustration 1993–1996), Story Artist Ben Lane (Illustration 1996), Character Designer Chris Oatley (Illustration 2001), Story Artist Ryan Green (Media Studies 2003), Story Artist Fawn Veerasunthorn (Media Studies 2005), CG Layout Artist Joaquin Baldwin (Media Studies 2006), and Stereoscopic Artist Trainee Darren Simpson (Media Studies 2011).

Q)  What is it like to work with other CCAD alumni?

Nathan Greno (NG): For me, it’s always a pleasure to be working with CCAD alumni. CCAD teaches a strong work ethic and a strong work ethic, gets the job done on time.

Ben Lane (BL): It’s a bit like old soldiers who can share war stories of late nights, rubylith, and scars from dull X-Acto blades. We grumble about the young punks who have it so easy these days with them computers, unseasonably warm winters, and the ability to tote their entire portfolio on miniscule flash drives. In all seriousness, it’s nice to have a common background with people, especially when starting a new job in LA. It’s comforting to know there are people who have been in the same trenches.

Chris Oatley (CO): The CCAD alumni who have made it to Disney are top talent. Ryan Green and Fawn Veerasunthorn are not only some of my best friends at the studio, but they are also some of the most talented people I know. It’s ridiculous and inspiring.

Ryan Green (RG): I feel that we have a bond, not just because we came from the same school, but because the animation jobs we wanted were unfortunately in a city other than Columbus. We all had to venture away from home, a little naive of the rules of the LA animation industry. Some of us had more roundabout career paths than others, but in the end, we kept learning and making connections until we were finally invited into the Disney family. By the nature of our school’s distance from LA, every CCAD animation student who wants to work for Disney will have to deal with a similar journey, and I think all alumni are aware and empathetic to that fact.

Fawn Veerasunthorn (FV): Most of the people I work with went to school in southern California, so I feel this instant bond whenever I meet another CCAD alum working at Disney or other studios. It is a small group of us, but a strong one. Even if we’re from various majors, we all fought through the same tough foundation year that allowed us to be where we are today.

Joaquin Baldwin (JB): Because we are all in different departments, I don’t really work directly with any other CCAD alumni. It’s great to know that they are around in the same studio.

Darren Simpson (DS): It’s exciting knowing that there are people in the same building that graduated from the same college. I have a friend here in particular that graduated the same year as me, and we were roommates freshman year. To eventually reconnect in a professional environment is very nice.

Q)  Why do you think Disney Animation has a lot of CCAD alumni?

NG: CCAD focuses on teaching the fundamentals. Every artist that works at the Disney Animation Studios need a strong fundamental structure to succeed. It’s been over a decade since I attended classes at CCAD, but what I learned there I use every day. The technology will change over the years, but the fundamentals stay the same.

BL: CCAD has a great program. Any artist could benefit from the foundation year alone. I think Disney recognizes that quality in the students and sees the school as a good source to draw its future employees.

CO: Disney Animation is still all about strong drawing and painting. If you submit a portfolio to Disney, people will go nuts for beautiful life drawings or plein air paintings. A high value is placed on classical art skill because it’s an inextricable part of the Disney legacy, regardless of the pervasive obsession with [Computer Graphics].

RG: Disney artists who come from CCAD embody the school’s foundation program. These individuals have found strength in their drawing, painting, or design skills and deliver high-quality craftsmanship on the job.

FV: CCAD focuses so much on the strong foundation in drawing, color, and design. Those are very important skills to have regardless of the department you’re working for. Not many schools emphasize them. Technology will always be changing, but the principles you learned from color concept classes will always be relevant in your career.

JB: I have no clue! I think it’s all due to random chance, depending mostly on the amount of available positions. Our studio has been hiring a lot of new people lately.

DS: There are a lot of passionate artists from CCAD doing many great things. I feel that having a desire to be in your respective profession will get you anywhere you want to be.

Q)  Any advice for current students or fellow alumni who want to become involved with Disney?

NG: It takes a lot of hard work to become an artist at the Disney Animation Studios. It’s not easy to get in the door, but it’s a goal worth fighting for. At Disney it’s possible to create films that will be loved worldwide. Tangled is a film I will be proud of for the rest of my life. Our animated films inspire toys, theme park rides, and attractions. It’s an amazing place to work. Aim high and never stop fighting for your goals.

BL: Many people who work in the animation industry, including some of Disney’s best artists, have websites, post on twitter, and regularly blog. Google search these guys and study their work, read what they have to say, contact them (if their contact info is readily available), and get their opinion of your work. The only caveat I would add is that they may not respond—these guys are busy. If you don’t hear anything, don’t get discouraged, but don’t become a pest, either. Also, start a website, or a blog or anything accessible via the internet. It doesn’t entirely replace having a portfolio, but it comes in handy when getting opinions of your work.

CO: Do great work and be great to work with. Every investment of time, money, and energy that you make as a professional artist should be in service of one or both of these goals. So the next time you start to get overwhelmed or depressed, just ask yourself:  Is this (time, energy, emotional, financial) investment helping me to focus on one of the two principles for success in the industry?

RG: Get personally involved with artists who do what you want to do. Be proactive. Use the internet to your advantage. If you want to be a Disney story artist, find a current Disney story artist’s website, study his/her work, and email him/her questions about what it takes to get into that specific position. Show your work and ask for a brutally honest critique. If that professional feels you’re not quite up to par yet, then make new samples and get a new critique in a few months. Ultimately, keep communicating with professionals and don’t stop making new art.

FV: The internet has opened up a new world full of great references to study. I’d recommend for students to look up artist’s blogs that are currently working in the industry, and don’t be shy to ask for their advice. Lastly, keep on practicing and never be discouraged by rejections.

JB: Definitely try for the talent development program. I would say it’s even better than being hired regularly, because they train you, give you tons of free classes, have you meet other departments and great people, and they pay you for it all. It’s also easier to get in since they expect you to prove yourself once in, rather than depend entirely on previous work experience like most of the other standard positions.

DS: It’s not required, but it helps living close to the studios. I think being around the studios and creative people fuels creativity further. Also, be persistent when trying to achieve a goal, and be open minded. You will never know which skill of yours will eventually get your foot in the door—It took me by surprise.

Q)  Why do you love your job/working in a creative environment?

NG: I can’t imagine not working in a creative environment. I don’t have an easy job, but I have a very rewarding one. I can’t imagine doing anything else in the world. I’ve been at Disney Animation for 16 years. There’s no other place I’d rather work.

BL: I love working with like-minded people. It’s amazing to be surrounded by so many artists who are passionate about animation, telling stories, and creating entertainment. The caliber of talent at Disney is humbling, and I can’t help but be inspired to be a better artist.

CO: I make a living from my imagination. It’s what I was born to do, so the privilege to do that 24/7 is overwhelmingly awesome. I’m also a people person. Some folks are made to go off into the woods, live life in a log cabin and paint lakes—that’s not me. I am made to collaborate, encourage, challenge, argue, etc. So to be released to just be myself in an environment where I can learn from and be challenged by everyone…well, it’s a dream come true.

RG: Animation is a collaborative medium, especially at a studio like Disney. For me, doing my art amongst creative peers is not only inspiring and informative, but in a racehorse kind of way, keeps me focused on being the best I can be, offering the best solutions for our films.

FV: Disney Animation has a long line of legacy and knowledge that has been passed along from one generation to the next. I learn so much from my colleagues each day, and they inspire me to be better at my craft.

JB: I feel like I can provide a lot of creative input into the films we are making. There is a hierarchy here, but it doesn’t mean that only the directors and producers have a say on it all. I tend to be very vocal and push new ideas. I feel that if I was just creating the shots that I was assigned to without questioning them, I’d get bored very quickly.

DS: I love it because I get to be creative. In any creative environment with passionate people, you will get sucked up in a whirlwind of creative magic—and it feels great.

Q) What past experiences do you share and remember from being a student at CCAD? How has this impacted your professional career?

NG: CCAD really taught me the importance of getting the job done on time and putting the most into everything I do. I learned work ethic and skills at CCAD that I apply every day at the studio. Without CCAD, my artistic toolbox would be empty. I owe a lot to all of my instructors at CCAD. I worked hard while I was in Columbus, and my reward has been a successful career at the Disney Animation Studios.

BL: I had to explore a few different directions in art before settling on animation. CCAD exposed me to many different artistic paths and helped me discover where I wanted to go. Specifically, Ron Saks’ class on storyboarding opened my eyes to an exciting new world that I had never considered before.

CO: When I was at CCAD, the animation industry was getting turned upside-down by the likes of Woody, Buzz, and Shrek. Meaning, CG [Computer Graphics] was changing everything and art schools everywhere were trying to figure it out. The internet wasn’t really “The Internet” yet, so information moved more slowly. My teachers at CCAD knew something that has been proven true in my life over and over and over, that regardless of what changes are happening in any area of commercial art, the art part should always be your main focus. CCAD taught me to set unreachable high standards for myself and to focus on drawing and painting above all else. It took me six years to break into the industry, but ever since then I haven’t had a single day without work. I owe a great deal of that consistent success to CCAD. CCAD is unlike many art schools in that they don’t chase software trends. They focus on drawing, painting, color, composition, etc. That’s the important stuff. That’s the stuff that will get you through the long haul.

RG: Around my junior year, the Media Studies department invited Dr. Stuart Sumida, a paleontologist and animal locomotion expert, to give an intensive seminar at our school. In his “You Are What You Eat” presentation, he broke down and defined the differences between herbivores and carnivores and how their anatomy affects their movement and behavior. Fast forward to my current Disney project, a movie involving a fictitious animal. In what started as a casual conversation with my director about this animal’s movement, I was eventually asked to create a presentation for the team that would clarify how this animal would move and what features needed to be changed so the character would be more believable to the audience.

FV: During my junior year at CCAD, I took Mr. Tardino’s illustration class, despite being a Media Studies major. I learned so much about character development and story, that I went back and took it again the next semester. The knowledge I gained then has been very helpful to me as a story artist today.

JB: I remember a lot of cheap ramen. I remember freezing my butt off. I remember cleaning the ceramics lab as a student worker, and growing clay stalactites in my nostrils. I also remember picking the hard teachers on purpose so I’d be pushed harder, and always trying to do a bit more than what any assignment asked for. I think that CCAD was as much about learning art concepts and skills as it was about learning to be self dependent and self driven. In a creative work environment they look for people that can handle the tools well, but that are also able to take initiative and improve the tool set and quality of the work.

DS: Foundation year. We all have our own experiences and memories from foundation year, but it was a huge stepping stone for me. I learned a lot about so much, and I still have a lot of learning and growing to do. I’m always trying to better myself and discover/learn new ideas, techniques, etc.

Check out our alums’ websites for more information:
Ben Lane
Chis Oatley
Ryan Green and Fawn Veerasunthorn have Bluefoot Studios
Joaquin Baldwin
Darren Simpson

Richard Cowdrey’s illustration for the children’s book “Searching for the You We Adore”

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but since there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from March, April, and May 2012.

Eileen Mueller Neill ’65 had an exhibition, Imaginaries, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s Fine Arts Gallery. Read more here.

Richard Cowdrey ’81 illustrated Searching for the You We Adore, written by Valerie Westfall. Read more here.

Janet Sopp-Sims ’85 was a finalist in the 2012 Hunting Art Prize. Read more here.

Anthony Baker ’86 presented at a conference about the importance of art in the classroom. Read more here.

Creative Arts of Women (CAW) members Helma Groot ’89, Roxanne Smith-Mansell ’87, Kristin Morris ’94–’02, Mary Ann Crago ’95, and Cat Sheridan ’03 were in a group exhibition honoring Women’s History Month. Read more here.

Richard Hughes ’88–’95 was chosen to create a poster for the eighth annual Art Affair on the Square in Urbana, OH. Read more here.

Don Slobodien ’88 earned first place in the Art at the Arnold competition. Read more here.

Chris Cosnowski ‘92 had a solo exhibition at Lyons Wier Gallery in New York City. Read more here.

Daniel Hopper ’94 had a chandelier chosen to be displayed in Coup d’Etat, a design showroom in San Francisco.

Jason Moore ’96 was named to Columbus Business First’s 40 under 40 2012 Honorees list. Read more here.

Danielle Julian Norton ’99 was in a group exhibition in New Jersey. Read more here.

Nicole Bruckman ’00 co-curated Cella Gallery’s exhibition Femme Fatale in North Hollywood. Read more here.

Irina Grebennik ’02 exhibited work in the  Orville J. Hanchey Gallery at Northwestern State University in the Inaugural 40 under 40 show.

Michael Bonardi ’04 had a solo exhibition in Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Eliza Kinkz ’04 premiered her film Chocolate Milk at the 2012 South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Film Conference and Festival. Read more here.

Michael Litzau ’04 was offered a two-week residency at Ragdale in Illinois. Read more here.

Steve Weinzierl ’05 became the creative director at Favorite Color in New York City.

Anna Porreca ’06 was hired as an apparel graphic designer for Victoria’s Secret Pink in New York City.

John O’Reilly ’07 had his first solo exhibition at RH Gallery in New York City. Read more here.

These are Things, founded by Jen Adrion ’08 and Omar Noory ’08, was featured in two trade publications (read more here) and was used as a case study for a New York Times bestselling author’s book (read more here).

Ashley K. Alexander ’09 published her second novel, The Hanged Man’s Ghost. Read more here.

Annie Kocher ’09 was featured in Alive! Read more here.

Rachel Ridgley ’10 had her photography and personal story featured in Wolfdogs magazine. Read more here.

Mason Miller ’11 was hired as a graphic designer for Big Red Rooster, a multidimensional brand experience firm.

Pallavi Sen ’11 was awarded the Lifchez/Stronach nine-month, paid curatorial internship with the Antonio Ratti Textile Center of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Read more here.

Longstride logo

There’s a new creative company in Columbus named after the legend of Robin Hood. Longstride has tapped CCAD talent and was recently featured in a Business First article

The company was launched in January 2012 by Anthony Trimpe, who was shortly joined by friend and Advertising & Graphic Design alumnus Greg Beck (CCAD 2009). Anthony’s brother, Alex Trimpe, who is a senior at CCAD, works with the team on a contract basis, as does CCAD faculty Andrew Ina.

“It was much less of an epiphany and more like a natural evolution on what we could do with our skill set,” Beck said in the article. “It was a shared passion.”

The team has worked with nonprofit organizations including the Capital Area Humane Society, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Flying Horse Farms. Their services range from brand imagery and website work to videography and guerrilla marketing tactics.

“This is what I have been craving all this time,” Beck said. “Creative talents put to good use—for the benefit of others.”

They’ve kept costs low by working out of their homes and hiring freelancers as needed. They haven’t overlooked plans for expansion though. According to the article, they believe their 2012 revenue will reach $150,000, and they hope to hire a few full-time staff members.

“We know these types of [clients] don’t have deep pockets, but we believe they deserve the same top talent [as for-profit companies can afford],” Anthony said.

To learn more about the company and its work, click here.

"The Best Day Ever" animated short

Adjunct faculty Andrew Friz recently worked on an animated short, The Best Day Ever: Featuring Flo the Progressive Girl & a Guy Named Jimmy, for Progressive Insurance as part of their media campaign.

The three-minute animation was produced by J.J.Sedelmaier Productions, Inc., a company based in New York City that has worked on projects such as Beavis & Butt-Head, School House Rock, and Saturday Night Live.

“I refined and expanded the storyboards and matched the audio track to make the animatic, which is a rough pass at seeing it all together,” Friz said. “I worked on character design with J.J. Sedelmaier Productions and finished the project by painting backgrounds and finishing the rest of the animations as needed.”

Friz leads a small, full-service animation company, The Little Black Cat, in Columbus, OH. He is an award-winning artist with experience in feature films, commercials, illustration, and graphic design.

The garment on the left is from Rachel Kaplan's collection, inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and Umberto Boccioni. Chavilah Bennett used the fashion shoot photo to recontsruct a work of art inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's painting “Red Canna."

When the music is pounding and the models are strutting down the runway—each bringing forth a delightful new surprise—it is easy to only see the fashion design talent at the CCAD Senior Fashion Show.

So, each year we like to take a moment and call attention to all of the other creative minds that make our extraordinary fundraiser such a memorable experience.

One piece in particular, the lookbook, lasts well beyond that one adrenaline-fueled night. CCAD students have always played a significant role in developing the book, but this year that role was increased. The book not only showcases the design talent of our fashion students, but it also showcases the talent of our photographers, graphic designers, fine artists, and illustrators—not just in its production but in the rich content seen on each page.

“The fashion designers took their inspiration from 2D and 3D artists. To showcase that inspiration, we took the idea of deconstruction and reconstruction to highlight more forms of art and design at CCAD,” said CCAD Creative Director Lindsay Kronmiller as she described the concept for this year’s fashion show lookbook.

The team that developed the concept for the lookbook, the invites, and did the design work, from left Isabella Hidalgo, Aaron Roberts, Walker Crane, and Isuri Merenchi Hewage

“We took photos of the models wearing the designs on backgrounds that make it appear that the fashion is being ‘unpacked’ for a gallery show,” explained Kronmiller. “We then gave those photos to artists, designers, and illustrators and had them reconstruct each photo into a piece of art that was inspired by the original 2D and/or 3D artist—thus creating an ‘exhibition book’ of CCAD work focused around this year’s fashion thesis projects.”

While guests of the event will appreciate the beautiful book as they wait for the main event to start, the book’s shelf life lasts quite a bit longer. For the next year the admissions office will include the fashion lookbook in packets to prospective students and bring it with them to college fairs.

“This has become a signature piece for the college,” said Robin Hepler, director of marketing and communications at CCAD. “It started as a program just for the event, but we found that prospective students considering CCAD were fascinated by it and inevitably wanted a copy to keep. So, each year we’ve improved the content and ordered more quantities turning it into a regular piece in our recruitment packet. This year we’ve gone even further to ensure the book showcases the breadth of diverse talent at CCAD, while still being true to its original purpose.”

CCAD’s Design Group is an in-house design firm staffed by students and directed by Kronmiller. The team that developed the concept for the lookbook, the invites, and did the design work, included Advertising & Graphic Design seniors, Isabella Hidalgo and Aaron Roberts; Illustration senior Isuri Merenchi Hewage; and Advertising & Graphic Design junior Walker Crane.

Lookbook photographers, from left, Danielle Ford, Xandre King, Kelsey McClellan, Lian Dziura, Nicole Miller, and Marcus Morris.

The visual content for the lookbook was also all student generated. The photographs were taken by CCAD students (and an alumnus) during a daylong photo shoot that involved several sets  in CCAD’s massive photography studio space. Photography majors on the shoot, included seniors Lian Dziura, Xandre King, Kelsey McClellan, and Nicole Miller; junior Danielle Ford, and 2011 alumnus Marcus Morris.

The ‘reconstructed artwork’ was completed by the following students and alumni: Justine Arreche (Advertising & Graphic Design 2011), Chavilah Bennett (Advertising & Graphic Design 2012), Danielle Deley (Advertising & Graphic Design 2011), Pei Yin Chen (Photography 2011), Crane,  Dziura, Ford,  Andy Hayes (Advertising & Graphic Design 2001), Merenchi Hewage, Hidalgo,  Matthew Houston (Illustration 2012), Alex Lanisoz (Advertising & Graphic Design 2013),  Brian Liston (Media Studies 2012),  McClellan, Nathan Moser (Fine Arts 2012),  Simone Noronha (Advertising & Graphic Design 2011), Emily Rickard (Fine Arts 2010), Madison Schneider (Advertising & Graphic Design 2012), Pallavi Sen (Fine Arts 2011) Dillon Sirimongkhon (Illustration 2011), and Miles Tsang (Illustration 2012).

Videographers, from left, Alex Trimpe and Tom Hoying

Adding to the creative mix, CCAD tapped local branding agency Ologie to provide creative consultation and mentorship for the students as they worked on this massive undertaking.

While the lookbook has become a signature piece, it’s not the only student produced work that will be seen the night of the event (and beyond). Media Studies majors Tom Hoying (sophomore) and Alex Trimpe (senior) have been filming the lookbook design process and will be filming the entirety of the event to develop promotional materials for 2013. They also worked with local videographer Ryan Sweeney to develop a piece that will run prior to the runway show.

If you have your tickets be sure to remember to pick up a lookbook to see what all the fuss is about. If you don’t have tickets, we’ll do our best to post as many student-generated photos as we can the night of the show for your vicarious enjoyment.

Business representatives look over students' portfolios at Directions

Where can you find big-name companies such as Express, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Skreened, right alongside all our fresh, ready-to-enter-the-world CCAD talent? At Directions, CCAD’s reverse Career Fair, where things are a bit different. At this career fair, more than 100 students are stationed at booths organized by major, with their portfolios laid out, ready to pitch to business representatives from small, large, and international companies.

This year Directions was held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Columbus on April 25, 2012.

“It is the passion that really drives me to come to this event every year,” says Bob Campell, creative director at Victoria’s Secret and 2000 Industrial Design alumnus. “Coming to these events you get to not only see what talent is coming into the work-force, but you also get inspired seeing fresh, young, passionate designers and creatives presenting their ideas.”

Bob Campbell was one of the many professionals who returned to visit the fair this year. Another was Lileah Porter from Tween Brands who came to check out the talent in the Fashion Design department.

“Last year we hired one full-time individual, and we also had some internships come from this,” Porter said. “I love the way CCAD sets this up. Here the students can have all their information and portfolios spread out, and they can present to us in a more relaxed environment.”

Dion Utt, a Fine Arts senior, was excited and eager for the professionals to walk in the door.

Joel VanGilder stands in front of his booth at Directions

“This is really a chance to present myself to the business world and help get my name out there,” Utt said. “The real benefit is being able to network. There aren’t many opportunities like this where you can have a diverse crowd of professionals who are all 100% interested in what you do.”

Not far from Utt, was Joel VanGilder, an Industrial Design senior who is already working as a designer for Worthington Cylinders and brought his coworkers to the event to scout out more talent.

“It is nice to have this exposure as a student,” Van Gilder said. “I was lucky to get placed in a job already, and I am using this time to continue to pitch myself to companies. It is interesting because there are a lot of companies that you may not know even existed who are looking for a product that you can help create with them. As a designer it is important to think outside of your niche sometimes and look at companies that may host a wide range of products and may need an illustrator or an industrial designer and this is an opportunity to discover that.”

Daniel Fox, founder of Skreened, roamed the Illustration and Advertising & Graphic Design aisles searching for talent to fill in as freelance designers for his Columbus clothing company.

“CCAD and Columbus are great places to pull local talent and creatives from,” Fox said. “This is my first time coming here, and I am really excited to be able to look at all these students’ work and see if there is a fit for us.”

Skreened owner Daniel Fox examines a student's work

Christian Cimoroni, an illustration senior, views this as a final step before he enters the real world.

“I feel accomplished,” Cimoroni said. “After all this work I can stand out here confident and talk to these professionals. I can gain a lot of contacts and start to network with people in Columbus.”

Ted Smirniotopoulous, Photography senior, was also really excited about the networking opportunities Directions allowed.

“This is a really good opportunity to meet and connect with people. I want to be able to expand my horizons and continue to learn after I graduate, and this is a perfect outlet to meet people from companies all around Columbus, whether local, national, or international.”

The event hosted students from all nine CCAD majors: Advertising & Graphic Design, Animation, Cinematic Arts, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and Photography. More than 600 professionals representing close to 400 businesses attended the event.

From the Pipeline Project video directed by Erich Burchfield (with Meghann Pearson, Jen Stefanski, Dan Zimmer, Greg Browe, Philip Matthews, and Andy Robinson)

In film and video, there are a million ways to tell a story. With CCAD’s newly designed major in Cinematic Arts, you can find the right way (or ways) to tell yours, as well as learn the latest tools and tricks of the trade. Students in the program, which was officially approved last fall, learn the whole filmmaking process: storyboarding, production design, cinematography, directing, and post-production.

“The Cinematic Arts major grew out of a previous program, Media Studies, which was more general in nature. The recent name change reflects curricular revisions to offer a more focused major,” says Kevin J. Conlon, CCAD vice president for academic affairs. “This program prepares students in all cinema-related areas, but I think what distinguishes it from a typical film program is that, while the traditional skill sets are there, our program is all digitally based. Students won’t be working with traditional film—they’ll be working with 21st-century tools and techniques. We wanted to think ahead and think more broadly about preparing CCAD students for a variety of cinematic experiences.”

Conlon notes that students who pursue this major will dive deep into the roles of director, screenwriter, cinematographer, video editor, motion graphics designer, and sound designer. Throughout their coursework, they’ll be exposed to the latest film and editing technology and have the opportunity to spend time outside the classroom shooting on location. By the time students finish their senior project and put it on the big screen, they’ll have both a remarkable demo reel (including cutting-edge commercials, broadcast graphics, music videos, and short films) and a portfolio to showcase their talents.

Prospective students who are interested in the Cinematic Arts major should contact the CCAD Admissions office. Current students should contact One-Stop Student Services and make an appointment with an advisor.

In the gallery below, some student work by recent Cinematic Arts students.

John Jude Palencar’s illustration for the best-selling children’s novel “Eragon”

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but since there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from December 2011, January 2012, and February 2012.

Ron Miller ’70 created the illustrations for an iPad app Journey to the Exoplanets. Read more here.

Nicky Epstein ’74 has finished her 24^th book about knitting design. Read more here.

Tim Rietenbach ’77, Danielle Julian Norton ’99, Mariana Smith ’02, and Michael Litzau ’04 were among 10 CCAD-affiliated artists in a recent exhibition. Read more here.

Tim Rietenbach ’77 is a participating artist in FINDING TIME: Columbus Public Art 2012, a multi-artist public art project to celebrate the city of Columbus’ 200^th birthday. Read more here.

Kent Roberts ’77 had his work accepted in the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s Annual Show.

Wong Wo Bik ’77 was in the group exhibition Memory and Fiction at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong. Read more here.

John Jude Palencar ’80 illustrated the newest book in a best-selling children’s series, the Inheritance Cycle. Read more here.

Michael Neno ’84, Andy Bennett ’94, and Ryan Brinkerhoff ’08 all worked on the fourth issue of a Columbus based comic book. Read more here.

Kurt Fondriest ’85 was featured in the film Operation Rhino, which received a Midwest/Chicago Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Read more here.

Inka Essenhigh ’91 had a solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery in Kyoto, Japan. Read more here.

Anita Miller ’91–’99 continues to tour her exhibition The Eyes of Freedom: the Lima Company Memorial. Read more here.

Nathan Greno ’93–’96 co-directed Disney’s animated short Tangled Ever After. Read more here.

David Breaux ’94 is a senior animator on the FOX television series Terra Nova, produced by Steven Spielberg. Read more here.

Sandy Kessler Kaminski ’93 had her piece Around 65 featured in Studio Visit magazine, vol. 14.

Ron Stasko ’93 had his work Liquid Color displayed in Tsunami, a Baton Rouge restaurant.

Kathleen ’94 and David Hartman ’95 both worked on the film John Dies at the End, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Read more here.

Samantha Bennett ’95–’99 had a solo exhibition, Scars, Portraits and Beyond, at Hayley Gallery in New Albany, OH. Read more here.

Michael Newton ’96 and Jeremy Sorrell ’04, exhibited their work at Rivet Gallery in downtown Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Laine Bachman ’97 had a solo exhibition, Birds of a Feather, which was reviewed by The Columbus Dispatch. Read more here.

Nicole Bruckman ’00 was in a group exhibition at WWA Gallery in Culver City, California. Read more here.

Michael Guinane ’00 showed his work at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus, OH.

Adam Brouillette ’02 and Boryana Rusenova Ina ’00 were on the Best Local Artists list of 2011 in Columbus Underground. Read more here.

Anne Holman ’02 is featured in The New Artisans: Handmade Designs for Contemporary Living. Read more here.

Carl Bork ’03 had a solo exhibition at Tointon Gallery in Greeley, CO. Read more here.

Kenneth Hall ’04 had a solo exhibition at Parkland College Art Gallery in Champaign, Ill. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma ’04 was featured in The New York Times discussing her photography project Darshan. Read more here.

Melissa Spencer ’06 displayed her photography in Cleveland, OH at Sunny Side Up Gallery.

Maris Turner ’07 and Sara Renner ’08 opened a boutique in Ann Arbor. Read more here.

Genoveva Christoff ’09 was a finalist in the E! Live from the Red Carpet Design Contest and presented her work at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

Still from “Chocolate Milk”

CCAD alumna Eliza Kinkz (CCAD 2004) debuted her film Chocolate Milk at 2012 South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Film Conference and Festival.

The Media Studies grad’s film is a humorous and bittersweet story of teenagers coming to grips with the pressures and consequences of addiction.

Once known largely as a music festival, the Austin, TX, event has grown to include independent film and emerging technology. It is now a popular destination for leaders in these industries.

The Festival took place March 9–13, 2012.

"Maa Laxmi" by Manjari Sharma

Alumna (CCAD 2004) Manjari Sharma’s project Darshan is in full swing and getting attention from The New York Times.

The Times’ blog post provided an update to the project, which Sharma started nearly a year ago.

After creating an image of the Hindu goddess Maa Laxmi, the Media Studies alumna began a Kickstarter site in June 2011 to raise funds to continue her project. Sharma raised nearly $26,000 to create the gods Ganesha, Shiva, Durga, and Hanuman.

“Darshan is a Sanskrit word that means ‘sight,’ ‘view’ or ‘vision,’” Sharma wrote on the Kickstarter site. “My project, Darshan, aims to photographically recreate nine classical images of gods and goddesses pivotal to mythological stories in Hinduism.”

Creating each photograph requires the help of nearly three dozen people. This includes creating the set, costumes, jewelry, props, makeup, and more. The first image alone took more than three weeks to put together and cost nearly $5,000.

“There are billions of gods and goddesses in Hindu mythology,” said Sharma in The New York Times blog. “I could be doing this till the day I die and not have done enough.”

According to the post, Sharma hopes to show the series in a museum exhibition, designed like a temple. She would display the photographs along with parts of the sets and costumes that helped create the deities.

“In some ways, art on the walls in a museum is treated, honored, and placed on a pedestal no different than a deity is in a temple,” she said.

Sharma’s other photographic projects, including her Shower Series,  led her to be named the Best of 2010 by the American Society of Media Photographers.

To read the full article, click here.

FLIP logo

Seven students in an experimental animation class at CCAD recently showed their work at the Flip Animation Festival, held in the United Kingdom at the end of October.

Established in 2004, Flip is a mix of all things animation. The festival provides educational workshops, feature film screenings, and spotlights on animation studios.

Tracy Robbins, associate professor of Animation, gave the assignment for her students to enter the festival’s Flippin’ Stings competition, which called for a 1o-second “animated sting” that had to use one of the festivals sound bites and the word “flip” or the festival logo.

“This was an amazing experience for the experimental animation class, where students incorporate a variety of materials such as small objects, clay, sand, collage, traditional drawing materials and digital tools into their work,” explained Robbins.

“I presented the competition the week it was due, so they didn’t have time to over think it.,” she added.  “They had one class to work on the 10-second animation, then it had to be posted to the competition site within three days. They were able to use any style or technique and could even incorporate clips of animation that they had been working on. The students did a remarkable job with the challenge, especially considering that, for many of them, this was their first animation class. It allowed them to use the same process of many independent animators, who will incorporate the ideas, techniques and experiments from their personal work into professional projects. It drove home the fact, that, as animators, we can say something in 10 seconds, which is great to understand. As well, it was just exciting for all of us to know that the stings were being used in between sessions featuring Aardman Animation, Bill Plympton and many other inspirational animators at a festival in the UK.”

The students’ stings were  shown at the festival between workshops, panels, and screenings. The students whose work was shown include sophomores in Animation Zach Brown, Xuan Shang, and Scott Ciprian; sophomores in Cinematic Arts Elizabeth Mort and Matt O’Grady; junior in Illustration Colleen McDonnell; and senior in Animation Shannon Beech.

Follow the links to view the students’ work. Xuan Shang, Colleen McDonnell, Zach Brown, Shannon Beech, Scott Ciprian, Elizabeth Mort, and Matt O’Grady.

Members of the 1492 project sit to discuss project goals

CCAD’s collaboration in two innovative entrepreneurial events this fall has lead to a rich new appreciation of the importance of creative thinking in business development.

Startup Weekend Columbus took place Oct. 7–9, 2011 on CCAD campus. In its fifth year, it was the first time this 54-hour program was hosted on CCAD’s campus.

The program, which normally draws students, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, had a new edge by including the creative class.

“Through Startup Weekend our students got an accelerated and intense sense of any number of considerations that impact business decisions and in turn impact design. They got to see how design contributes to business and how business influences design and how together, a company becomes more successful and their stories more impactful,” commented Cynthia Gravino, director of career services.

The program helped emphasize how closely related the creative and business processes have become.

“The weekend was not just another class exercise for students,”said Gravino. “This is a real-world experience that they can take with them as they launch their careers.”

Ten CCAD students participated in Startup Weekend Columbus, including honors students, Chavilah Bennett (senior, Advertising & Graphic Design), Lillie Templeton (junior, Advertising & Graphic Design), and Hilary Sroufe (junior, Advertising & Graphic Design); and Yiangos Panayiotou (junior, Illustration), Vincent Smigiel (sophomore, Advertising & Graphic Design), Abby Staley (freshman), Manuel Austin (sophomore, Media Studies), Michael Kroptavich (junior, Advertising & Graphic Advertising), Nikhil Nigade (freshman, Advertising & Graphic Design), Danielle Williams (sophomore, Advertising & Graphic Design), and Devin Broadnax (junior, Fine Arts).

The students worked closely with the 16 teams launching their business plans. Creatives and techies worked together to execute a successful start-up.

At the end of the weekend three of the 16 teams were chosen as the best concepts presented. They included, Source Match, DemandZilla, and UserTOS.

Similiar in some ways, 1492 is a program that accelerates the creation of start-ups in a couple of months as opposed to what would normally take a couple of years. The program is a collaborative effort among TechColumbus, Columbus State Community College, and CCAD, with support from the Ohio Third Frontier and includes money for the chosen projects.

Out of 162 applicants, 10 companies were chosen to present their ideas to a panel of judges on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Out of the 10, five were chosen to participate in an 11-week coaching program on CCAD’s campus. They will each receive a $20,000 grant and will launch a product or service in mid Jan. 2012, following the program.

The five companies selected for the 1492 program this year were Azoti.com, Capstone Innovations, Churchsys.com, hungerly LLC, and Infinum Education LLC

Azoti will serve local farmers, dairies, fisheries, distributors, co-ops, farmer’s markets and artisans by providing demand aggregation services, program management and a host of CRM solutions.

Capstone Innovations has designed and patented an adaptable interlocking pallet system made up of identical units.

Churchsys is a software service (SaaS) developed to manage all aspects of operating a church or any other institution with patrons.

hungerly LLC is a location-based mobile marketing, analytics, sales, and loyalty platform built with street truck and cart vendors in mind.

Infinum Education has developed Aviso, which allows students and instructors to collaboratively drive both student and institutional success.

During the 11-week training the start-ups cover everything from financial advice to meetings with business mentors, and brainstorming sessions on how to achieve their desired goals and results.

In addition to these training programs, the start-ups will be able to utilize a CCAD intern. The intern will be with them through the duration of the program and their initial launch.

Support from participating organization, professionals, peers, and CCAD’s creative talent ensure the participating companies with a successful product launch.

CCAD took home three awards from CSCA's Creative Best Awards

It’s been quite a design awards season for Columbus College of Art & Design, especially for the college’s Design Group—a student-staffed, in-house design agency.

Columbus Society of Communicating Arts held it’s annual Creative Best awards on Nov. 17 and CCAD was well represented. Several local agencies that employ CCAD alumni took home coveted awards, including EdgeCase, which won an Award of Excellence in the Interactive category  for JRubyConf.com which was designed by 2011 grad Justine Arreche. Pallavi Sen, a fine arts senior, took home two merit awards from the Student category.

CCAD’s Design Group earned a Best in Category award in the Motion Design category for its Happy New Year video. The winning team included Media Studies major (and last year’s Outstanding Senior) Taehee Lee (CCAD 2011) who came up with the concept and directed the video; videographer, media studies junior Alex Trimpe, CCAD Creative Director Lindsay Kronmiller, and Editorial Director Laura Bidwa.

CCAD’s partnership with local brand agency Ologie on the Masters of Design, Senior Fashion Show event collateral earned both organizations Awards of Excellence in the Print category for the invitation and the show catalog. The winning team was comprised of, from CCAD, Arreche, Bidwa, Danielle Deley (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011), Kronmiller,  and Simone Noronha (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011) and from Ologie, Andy Hayes and Kelly Ruoff.

“These projects not only showcase our student work to the outside world, but also allow our students to build the relationships and business experience that will place them above the rest upon graduation,” said Kronmiller.

CCAD’s Fashion Show print collateral also earned awards from American Graphic Design,  which awarded CCAD four certificates of excellence for branding initiatives, including print and environmental graphics.

In addition to the Fashion Show invitation, the college received awards for the Art Walk (environmental graphic’s in CCAD’s Canzani Center),  the Viewbook, and a positioning piece, titled Think. Do.

Both the Viewbook and the Fashion Show invite were done through the collaboration with Ologie, which is owned by board of trustee member and alumna Bev Bethge (CCAD 1982-1986). The company is an award-winning branding agency that serves national and international clients. The Design Group students worked closely with the agency to complete both pieces gaining mentorship while producing award-winning print materials.

The Art Walk panels were  designed by Design Group, with the help of Chute Gerdeman, another award-winning strategic brand and design firm in Columbus (which also took home awards from CSCA on Thursday).

“’When prospective students, parents, and the general public encounter our materials, they are seeing student work,” said Kronmiller. “It is a great testament to the talent and ability of our students.”

The American Graphic Design Awards are open to all businesses and partnerships in the graphic design community. There were more than 8,000 entries and only 15 percent were then recognized with an Awards Certificate of Excellence.

Judges for the CSCA Creative Best awards were Brigitta Bungard, assistant creative director at the Museum of Modern Arts in-house design studio in NYC; Joe Marianek, associate partner at Pentagram, an international design consultancy; and Ken Visocky O’Grady, an associate professor at Kent State University.

Students designing puppets.

Puppets in the Hospital
When one of the nation’s leading pediatric hospitals needs to brighten their patients’ days, who do they call? Lion, Unicorn, Duck, Bunny, Jake the Snake, and Viktor the Rapping Viking—all puppets created and voiced by CCAD students from Adjunct Instructor Nicole Gibbs’s Foundation Studies design class.

During spring semester, Gibbs’s students wrote, created puppets, and built sets for a series of four plays, culminating in performances on Mother’s Day to patients and their families at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

The class is a yearlong, intensive look at all types of design, including 2D, 3D, and time-based. “I was thinking about how we could make the 2D side of the class about performance and group experience,” Gibbs says. “So I thought of puppet shows, because they bring it all together and allow my students to flex their other creative muscles—like writing and rapping.”

“Each team had a playwright, musician, actors, production manager, and character designers,” she says. “Everyone helped with every aspect, but it was the responsibility of the assigned individual to make sure a particular aspect was carried out properly. It was a great lesson in working in groups and managing a team to meet an outside goal.”

“I knew that having it out in the community would push students outside of their comfort zone, because they would be interacting with people who not only don’t have an art background but also are outside [the students’] age range,” Gibbs adds. “The point wasn’t to build sets and make puppets. It was to create a valuable experience for the outside community and to show students that what they are already learning in their first year of college can have a direct impact.”

Fountain in the Scioto Mile.

Video in the Scioto Mile
CCAD Media Studies students and faculty were thrilled to be invited early this year to produce a video for projection on an enormous fountain in the city’s newest park, the Scioto Mile. “Projects like this expand the traditional perceived boundaries of media,” says Dean of Media Arts Ron Saks. “To be able to do something that is public, ongoing, and site specific is a very rare opportunity for students.”

The Scioto Mile is a more-than-$40-million project that has transformed the east bank of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. Contrary to its name, it actually stretches for 7.3 miles and includes an integrated system of parks, streets, a bikeway, pedestrian paths, fountains, and gardens. The final phase, completed last summer, features a promenade dotted with gardens, colonnades, and pavilions. This summer’s work also overhauled an existing park, adding a band shell, a restaurant, and the 15,000-square-foot interactive fountain that the students’ video projection was intended to complement.

Opened to the public in July, the fountain has already become a community favorite. It contains 1,079 ground-level spray nozzles and is topped by 5 stainless-steel halo structures with 1,000 additional nozzles to produce mist from above. The tall, stainless-steel center blossom can shoot water 70 feet into the air.

The finished CCAD video, titled “Trip the Light Fantastic,” now bounces off the fountain’s blossom and mist at night.

“It is really tremendous to have students participating in a project of this magnitude,” says Saks. “All of the constituents were so pleased with the way everything turned out. It was beyond everyone’s expectations.”

CCAD students from all majors have been asked to create another projection during this academic year as part of a competition. Saks is currently working with American Electric Power (the community leader and lead donor for the Scioto Mile) and the design firm MSI (who directed the project) to bring software to campus that will allow students to design a light show and fountain program in addition to the video projection. The winning projection is slated to launch in early spring.

Sustainability in Regional Planning
Students from numerous CCAD classes teamed up last spring to create the Sustainability Art Exhibition and Contest for the headquarters of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC)—ground zero for issues of sustainability in the greater Columbus community. The students submitted diverse work related to one of the six programs of MORPC’s Center for Energy and Environment: energy efficiency, air quality, greenways and water quality, sustainable growth, agriculture and food systems, and materials management.

Contest winners had their work displayed again at MORPC’s Summit on Sustainability and the Environment in October.

“Not only did it get the students creating work and exhibiting it to an outside audience, but it also  introduced them to the important efforts of MORPC,” says Fine Arts Professor John Kortlander.

“I believe we are now entering the era of redesign,” he adds. “Much of what was designed in the past century was done without sustainability in mind. It is up to our students to take their degrees and create sustainable designs and works of art that improve the world. It’s a big responsibility—and projects like this are what get them thinking about it.”

The awardees are: Mary Ann Lobb, a senior majoring in Media Studies with a minor in writing; Laura Maue, a junior majoring in Animation with a minor in writing; and Jennifer Owens, a senior majoring in Interior Design with a minor in copywriting.

The Creative Excellence Fund provides “last dollar” grants to students who have excellent academic records and have applied for all available aid, only to fall short of the funds needed to continue their education at CCAD. Established with a lead gift from the William H. Davis, Dorothy M. Davis and William C. Davis Foundation in 2009, the Fund has grown through many individual contributions and a second generous grant from the Davis Foundation in May 2011.

If you’d like to join them in providing long-term support that can truly keep a student in college, please visit www.ccad.edu/donate today.

Alex Trimpe

It all started with a class project and now Alex Trimpe, current media studies student, has gained international recognition.

Trimpe’s The World is Obsessed with Facebook video has opened new doors, and one of these doors led him to an opportunity in Singapore.

An educational publishing company is creating an English language textbook package in which they will use Trimpe’s video on a DVD.

“I got an email one day asking for permission to use my video,” said Trimpe. “It will be used and distributed for the next six years, as part of their textbook package”

This request is not the only job offer he receives in response to the Facebook video he made.

“I get around two to three requests for work a week, 100 percent of them reference the Facebook video I created,” he said.

The video was originally posted on Vimeo seven months ago and has reached nearly 611,000 plays. On YouTube the video has over 197,000 plays.

It was originally created by Trimpe to explore Kinetic Typography. He found facts on onlineschools.org dealing with social media use and wanted to somehow bring these facts to life and illustrate them.

“I wanted to work with the site’s information because not only was it interesting, but the information could also apply to a lot of people,” he said.

This  familiarity with the information is what sparked the success of the video. It was instantly shared on social media outlets by people who had come across the video.

“The biggest jump for the video came from Vimeo, when they chose it to be one of their staff picks.”

Vimeo has a staff picks selection on their website where the seven administrators of the organization will choose their top videos and The World is Obsessed with Facebook was one of their selections.

Trimpe has yet to slow down with his work. He recently worked with a local company, Wonderland, and created a video for them to feature their new work and mission. Trimpe continues to work closely with the company and has become an integral part of their team and start-up process.

Media Studies alumnus Nick Burkard worked on feature film Puss in Boots

Classnotes

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but since there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You, too, can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from June 2011 – August 2011.

Jerry W. McDaniel (CCAD, Illustration, 1957) opened an art gallery and created a process video. Read more here.

Ming Fay (CCAD, Industrial Design, 1965) marked his 20-year anniversary displaying at Butters Gallery with his exhibit Full Circle.

James Markle (CCAD, Industrial Design, 1970) presented a speech about his environmental photography at the Tahoe Art League. Read more here.

Ron Miller (CCAD, Illustration, 1970) illustrates a French youth science magazine. Read more here.

Jamie Berger (CCAD 1975-1978) was featured in a HOW magazine article detailing the rebranding and success of their printing company. Read more here.

Jon Hair (CCAD,  Advertising & Graphic Design, 1976-1978) was featured in North Carolina’s Our State magazine. Read more here.

Kate Rivers (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1977) had an exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Read more here.

Michele Householder Funk (CCAD, Illustration, 1978) has released her children’s book, The Adventures of Pete and Max and the Lost Sock. Read more here.

David Groff (CCAD, Illustration, 1979) had illustrations featured in a healthcare calendar.

Matthew Kaser (CCAD, Industrial Design, 1984) and his design firm, Kaser Design, were recently awarded another interpretive planning and design job in Texas. The newest project is the historic site Presidio de San Sabá, in Menard, Texas.

Kurt Fondriest (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1985) was included in the annual Misericordia Home group show, which was visited by more than 1,400 guests. Read more here.

Jeff Preston (CCAD, Illustration, 1985) is featured in the DVD Masters of Art: Markers with Jeff Preston. Read more here.

Edward Buchanan (CCAD, Fashion Design, 1988-1991) had his designs  featured in the spring 2011 issue of France’s Blast magazine. Read more here.

Paul Hamilton (CCAD, Illustration, 1988) received the Phil Desind Award, given annually by the Butler Institute of American Art to an outstanding representational work. Read more here.

Scott Musgrove (CCAD, Illustration, 1989) launched an online show and nearly sold out in only three weeks. Read more here.

Tracy Hayes (CCAD 1990) recently moved her design firm SKUBA Designs to a new location on New Orleans’s popular Magazine Street. Read more here.

Peter Wachtel’s (CCAD, Industrial Design, 1990) invention, STAKE, is available for presale on Quirky. Read more here.

Wendy Emrey’s (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 1991) long career influenced a new pursuit. Read more here.

Julie Abijanac (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1992) has been accepted into the Studios of Key West Artist in Residency Program for the summer 2012. Read more here.

Samantha Bennett (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1995-1999) appeared on an episode of Everyday People on TLC’s NY Ink. Find out more here.

Hiroshi Hayakawa (CCAD, Photography, 1995) showed his kinetic sculptures in a Columbus gallery. Read more here.

Susan Li O’Connor (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1996) was one of three artists featured in an exhibition at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Carnegie Gallery. Read more here.

Sara Adrian (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1998) presented in September at FLASH!, an art show in Columbus.

Several CCAD alumni received awards at the opening of this year’s fine arts exhibition at the Ohio State Fair, including Andrew Ina (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2006), Corey Aumiller (CCAD, Media Studies, 2006), Amanda H. Cook (CCAD, Illustration, 1999), Eric Homan (CCAD, Media Studies, 1998), Brandon Antczak (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2007), and Adam Brouillette (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2002) . Find out more here.

Justin Shady (CCAD, Media Studies, 1998) interviewed Michael Altman (CCAD, Media Studies, 2000) in OC Weekly. Read more here.

Danielle Julian-Norton (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1999), a co-founder of Suite 42,  had an open-studio exhibition in Dresden, Germany. Read more here.

Michael Marucco (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 1999) has been promoted at Limited Brands, Inc., to senior art director of internet content for Victoria’s Secret Direct.

Damian Ward (CCAD, Illustration, 1999) illustrated a book written by Oscar-nominated writers. Read more here.

Anthony M. Nesossis (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2000) recently completed a rebrand of various materials for the Educational Council. Read more here.

Brent Woodard (CCAD, Illustration, 2000) helped with a global anti-drug message. Read more and see the image here.

Paul Tepper (CCAD, Illustration, 2001) was recently featured on the cover of Columbus Alive! Read more here.

Nikos Rutowkski, (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2002) helped coordinate Franklinton’s Go West Festival, which featured work by several CCAD Alumni. Read more here.

Michelle Rozic (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2003) was appointed the new assistant professor of art at California State University, Northridge.

Cat Sheridan (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2003) was featured in a Wexner Center blog for her volunteer efforts. Read more here.

Michael Carney (CCAD, Media Studies, 2004) and John Malta (CCAD, Illustration, 2010) were both in the NY Times in August. Read more here.

Jen Chapman (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2004) will be featured in HOW magazine in the fall of 2011 for her company Redsnapper Baby & Toddler. Read more here.

The alumni music trio of Beth Murphy (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2004), Adam Elliot (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2004), and Jared Phillips (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2004) performed at the Wexner Center and were featured in the Columbus Dispatch. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma’s (CCAD, Media Studies, 2004) latest project was featured on an NPR blog. Read more here.

Gabe Shultz (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2004) created an experimental multimedia project and music album samples from the music of rock band Steely Dan. Read more here.

Elizabeth Weissbrod (CCAD, Illustration, 2004) was one of the featured artists in the June 2011 Hopkins Medicine magazine article “Illustrators of the Century.” Read more here.

Brian Scott Campbell (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2005) was invited to Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina as a visiting artist in September and will also be an artist in residence this fall at the McColl Center for Visual Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Steven Weinzierl (CCAD, Media Studies, 2005) has been named Favorite Color’s new creative director. Read more here.

Molly Burke (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2006) recently participated in a Cleveland West Art League (CWAL) exhibition with Cleveland painter Julie Morgan. Read more  here.

Andrew Ina’s (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2006) exhibition New Frontier was recently reviewed in the Columbus Dispatch. Read more here.

Melissa (Hofelzer) Spencer (CCAD, Media Studies, 2006) designed an exhibition invite and an interactive website. Read more here.

Seven alumni, including Nate Burns (CCAD, Illustration, 2010), Travis Czekalski (CCAD, Media Studies, 2010), Julie Hall (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2010) Katie Herbst (CCAD, Media Studies, 2010), Michael Lovett (CCAD, Fine Arts 2011), Alex Moore (CCAD, Fine Arts 2011), and Kevin Smalley (CCAD, Media Studies, 2006-08) teamed up to present Fringed: A Fashionably Fine Art Exhibition in Columbus. Read more here.

Nick Burkard, (CCAD, Media Studies, 2007) Dreamworks effects animator, detailed the work he did on the upcoming film Puss in Boots. Read more here.

Michelle Dick (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2008) had her first trunk show hosted by a Columbus boutique. Read more here.

Ashley K. Alexander (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2009) published her first novel. Read more here.

Cory Cantelupe (CCAD, Illustration, 2009) is currently doing work as a freelance sculptor for Hasbro, Inc.

Navy Seaman Jessica M. Pettinger (CCAD, Interior Design, 2009) recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois.

Emily Spear (CCAD, Illustration, 2009) is finishing her first year as an associate product designer for Hasbro Inc.

Ian Horn (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2010) has found success with a new NYC business. Read more here.

Mallory McClellan (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2010) was featured in Columbus Alive! for the sculpture she built for Harrison Park in Columbus. Read more here.

Kartika Mediani (CCAD, Animation, 2010) was one of 40 college students across the country to receive a summer internship with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. Read more here.

Ross Caliendo (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2011) was featured in a weekly Cincinnati newspaper for his participation in an exhibition. Read more here.

Jen Hutson (CCAD, Fine Arts, 2011) has been accepted into the St. Petersburg Clay Company’s Artist in Residence Program for the 2011-2012 term.

Angela Mancuso (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011) was appointed as the newest art director at Peebles Creative Group. Read more on their blog.

Amy McQuillin (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011) was hired as the Upper Arlington’s Cultural Arts Division’s intern.

Local tech company Bluemile, ranked in 2010 by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, is featuring artwork by CCAD alumni and faculty in its New Albany office as one way to introduce visitors and other programs to the college. Read more here.

In Memoriam
Edmund Kuehn, (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1938). Read more here.
Charles (Chip) Kirker III, (CCAD, Illustration, 1971). Obituary here.
Dan (Danny) J. Schroll, (CCAD, Fine Arts, 1973). Obituary here.
Gerome Alexander, (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 1982). Obituary here.
Teresa Williams, (CCAD, Illustration, 1988). Obituary here.
Kathryn A. Gough, (CCAD, 1990). Obituary here.
Lacey L. Pope, (CCAD, Industrial Design, 2002). Obituary here.
Christine Salisbury, (CCAD, Media Studies, 2005). Obituary here.

Veerasunthorn and Green animation featured on bluefootstudios.com

Fawn Veerasunthorn (CCAD, 2005) and her husband Ryan Green (CCAD, 2003) not only have a successful company between them, but can now also call Walt Disney Animation Studios one of their new professional homes.

Veerasunthorn and Green, both Media Studies majors, own and collaborate within Bluefoot Studios. They are independent artists, who are (according to their website) “obsessed with populating the world with cute and quirky story-driven art.”

Bluefoot Studios began in 2004 and was meant to showcase what the pair could do as a full service digital animation studio. From 2004–2006 they worked with clients such as AG Interactive, Stonefly, Plue et Plus, Animation Collective, and more. Bluefoot Studios is now a showcase of their personal work as their jobs with Disney become more demanding.

Veerasunthorn recently accepted a story artist position at Disney. She will be working on an upcoming animated feature film at the studio in Burbank, California. The title has not yet been released to the public, but it will be a CG animated theatrical feature.

“My daily responsibilities are a mix between drawing out storyboards and attending story meetings where the writing takes place,” Veerasunthorn said.

Green has also been working as a story artist at Disney for the past year and a half. While there, he has been working on the Tinker Bell and Planes franchises. He also worked on Pixie Hollow Games, an ABC/Disney television special, which will air in November 2011.

Read more about Bluefoot Studios and view their work here.

Michael Carney (CCAD 2004), who won the 2011 Grammy for Best Recording Package for art direction on the album Brothers by the Black Keys, was interviewed as part of a story on how the digital revolution is affecting both record sales and album design.

Illustration alumnus John Malta (CCAD 2010) had his second illustration published in the paper. He developed the accompanying illustration to the opinion piece,  Engineering Food for All by Nina V. Fedoroff, which ran Aug. 19.

In the article The Incredible, Inevitable Shrinking Album Cover by David Browne, Carney, who majored in Media Studies,  remembers wondering if his bare-bones album cover would even be allowed by its label. The Aug. 12 article explores how album art is being reduced roughly to the size of a postage stamp due to the use of mobile devices.

Malta’s first illustration for the newspaper ran alongside Robert Klitzman’s New York Times op-ed article “My Sister, My Grief” on May 3.

Articles about Carney’s 2011 Grammy and Malta’s first NY Times illustration are on the CCAD News blog.

Image from Julie Abijanac

Fine Arts alumna Julie Abijanac (CCAD 1992) has been accepted into The Studios of Key West Artist in Residency Program for summer 2012.

Abijanac is one of 25 residency artists from five countries and 20 different cities selected to advance the visual, performing and literary arts through an array of disciplines and mediums.

During the Key West program, Abijanac, an assistant professor of Foundation Studies, Media Studies, and Graduate Studies, will continue her work of the past few years on two dimensional paper pieces and digital drawings that address her personal experience with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, has lead her through an investigation of its psychological aspects and, most recently, the microscopic patterning of the disease. She explores the patterning of what is seen in a ‘field stain’ of a blood specimen and applies a controlled application of line, value and positioning of multiple compositions and/or parts to create larger works. 

Abijanac said one of her goals for this opportunity is to give back to the Key West art community by providing work for an exhibition based on her time in the four-week residency. She hopes to create an installation for exhibit in the Armory Main Hall or in the TSKW Space 2.

Abijanac said a long-term goal is to venture into the world of installation. She will be on sabbatical during spring semester 2012 and then will participate in the residency program before returning to CCAD in the autumn to teach.

"Life on Uncle Howard's Farm" by Eric Homan

Several CCAD alumni and faculty received awards at the opening of this year’s Fine Arts Exhibition at the Ohio State Fair.

The exhibition, housed in the Cox Fine Arts Center on the fairgrounds in Columbus, showcases approximately 300 pieces of Ohio’s best artwork during the fair, which runs through Aug. 7.

In the professional category, Andrew Ina (CCAD 2006) received 2nd Best of Show ($1400) for “The Price of Greatness is Responsibility.” Carol Griffith, professor of Fine Arts and Graduate Studies and chair of painting at CCAD, received one of 10 Ohio Arts Council professional awards ($300) for “Conneaut Cycle-Blue Streak.”

Ina, who studied Fine Arts at CCAD, and two other alumni received awards for their short films. Ina’s “HOMEless” won Best of Show ($1,000) and Media Studies alumni Corey Aumiller (CCAD 2006) received 2nd Best of Show ($300) for “1926/1950/1984.” A Juror’s Choice Award ($100) went to Amanda H. Cook (CCAD 1999) for “Ink.” Aumiller also received a Greater Columbus Arts Council award ($250) for “Walls.” Film jurors were Susan Halpern and Chad Dull.

In addition to the award winners, other CCAD-affiliated artists had work accepted in the exhibition. The film division included “Self Portrait as Marlon Brando” by Cook, who majored in Illustration, and “Columbus Lights” and “Life on Uncle Howard’s Farm” by Eric Homan (CCAD 1998). Homan is an assistant professor of Media Studies at CCAD.

The exhibition’s professional category included work by Fine Arts alumni Brandon Antczak (CCAD 2007) and Adam Brouillette (CCAD 2002) as well as faculty members Carol Borham-Hays, an adjunct instructor of Liberal Arts, and John Kortlander, a professor of Fine Arts and Graduate Studies.

A complete listing of artists and works in the Fine Arts Exhibition is at theohiostatefairfineartsexhibition.blogspot.com.

Fringed: fashionably fine arts by CCAD alumni

Seven alumni who studied Photography, Fine Arts and Media Studies teamed up to present Fringed: a fashionably fine art exhibition in Columbus.

Held at Fringe Outfitters, the event included art especially selected for the space and fashions from the boutique clothing store, as well as a silent auction, music, and raffle prizes.

Alumni participating in the July 9th and 10th event included Nate Burns (CCAD 2010), Travis Czekalski (CCAD 2010), Julie Hall (CCAD 2010) Katie Herbst (CCAD 2010), Michael Lovett (CCAD 2011), Alex Moore (CCAD 2011), and Kevin Smalley (CCAD 2006-08).

More information is available on their Facebook page.

Vista Interna #4 by Hiroshi Hayakawa

The kinetic sculptures of Hiroshi Hayakawa, an associate professor of Photography and Graduate Studies, come to life by the hands of visitors in the Columbus gallery where his work will be displayed throughout the month of July.

Vista Interna opens Friday, July 1 at Sherrie Gallerie with an artist’s reception and talk from 6-8 p.m. The event is a cooperative opening with the Lindsay Gallery.

Each of the sculptures, viewed through a peephole, displays a different scene inside. Hayakawa (CCAD, 1995) said interactivity is essential to make the viewing experience complete.  He describes the art as an intermediate zone where art and toy, reality and illusion, and materials and spirit meet.

Alumna Melissa Spencer's invitation to a photo exhibition held at the House of Representatives.

Media Studies alumna Melissa (Hofelzer) Spencer (CCAD 2006) has been busy this year.

“I have been working on freelance jobs this year,” she wrote in an email. “First, I designed an invitation for a Haiti photography exhibit and reception that was at the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. I worked for MatchMap Media and their client ActionAid USA.”

“Right now, I am working for Fifth Estate and their client National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I am creating an illustration for NOAA’s interactive website, Countmyfish.com. The final will be done in Flash, and I will post a link when completed.”

Spencer owns Melissa Marie Images Studio (MMI), a professional videography, photography, and graphic design business. Learn more on the business’s website.

Alumnus Justin Shady interviewed alumnus Mike Altman about his recent work on 'Cars 2.'

“A little over a decade ago, Mike Altman and I were both attending the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio,” writes Media Studies alumnus Justin Shady (CCAD 1998). “Today, Mike works at Pixar as a Technical Director, and I’m interviewing him for OC Weekly. He wins!”

Perhaps we’re a bit biased, but we think they both have ‘won.’ Here’s an excerpt from the OC Weekly interview, “Q & A: Mike Altman Technical Director for Pixar.”

Shady) What new hurdles did you have to face on Cars 2 that maybe you hadn’t encountered on past projects?

Altman) Part of my job on Cars 2 was sets rigging, meaning I would build sets models and then articulate them in such a way that the animators had simple and easy controls over how to move and manipulate the objects. In the Tokyo bathroom interior where Mater gets trapped inside the stall, every element needed special rigging that allowed for lots of fun things to go wrong for Mater. Different scrubbers, polishers, soap sprayers and sponges needed to be controllable by the animators for comic effect, and there are many technical challenges with rigging set pieces like this. Most of our rigging tools are built and specialized for characters, so sets folks need to really be creative.

Shady) What do you hope audiences walk away with after viewing Cars 2?

Altman) I hope they are as blown away by the sets and environments as I was. This movie takes you all over the world, and some of the locations are just breathtaking. The climactic scenes in London have some of the coolest panoramic and street-level chase scenes I’ve seen in an animated film before. The scale is just epic, and though it was so difficult to do, looks effortless.

Read the article in its entirety here.

Shady is the author of Heaven, LLC; Bad Ideas; The Roberts; Missing the Boat; The Lava is a Floor!; The Blarg; and Tastes like Chicken. Learn more about him on his website.

Media Studies alumnus Altman (CCAD 2000) works as a technical director for Pixar and completed work for Toy Story 3 as well as the modeling and articulating of all the 3D characters in the film’s opening short, Day & Night. Altman served as the 2011 commencement speaker at CCAD. Learn more about him on his website.

"Puss in Boots" opens November 4, 2011.

In an email titled ‘Culmination of 1.5 years of my life!,’ Media Studies alumnus and Dreamworks effects animator Nick Burkard (CCAD 2007) shared with us the work he did on the upcoming Dreamworks film, Puss in Boots.

“I just wanted to send over the most recent cut of the Puss in Boots trailer,” wrote Burkard. “I did a lot of work in this; I think I touched every piece of clothing here (either creating it or making it ‘fit’ with our pipeline).

“Also I did the shot where Puss chases after the light (look at that feather bounce!).  I also helped setup our Houdini fur simulation pipeline, but none of those shots are in this trailer.”

Set to release November 4, 2011, the film tells the heroic journey of Puss in Boots, Humpty Dumpty, and Kitty Softpaws as they try to steal the Goose that lays the Golden Eggs.

Want more? Watch the trailer here. (Make sure to pay close attention at 0:29 for the light chasing scene Burkard is talking about.)

Learn more about the film on its website.

Alumnus Steven Weinzerl has been named Favorite Color's new creative director.

Media Studies alumnus Steven Weinzierl (CCAD 2005) has returned to New York City media design firm Favorite Color as the company’s new creative director.

From the company’s news blog: “Weinzierl was an original member of the Favorite Color creative team, at the company’s inception in 2007. During that time, he was a driving creative force behind many of the award-winning pieces produced by Favorite Color.

After taking time to broaden his skills as an Art Director, Weinzierl has returned to lead Favorite Color as the Creative Director. He brings with him a vast knowledge of design, animation, and live action.”

The company’s client list includes: Showtime, ABC, Reuters, ESPN, Cartoon Network, Starz, USA, HGTV, Ralph Lauren, CNN, Golf Channel, AMC, CBS, Animal Planet, HBO, Adidas, and more.

Learn more on their website.

Starting in back left corner: Jeong Woong Lee, Eunji Paek, Sun Young Park, President Griffith and wife Beth, Christopher Maslon, Jeong Hoon Tony Lee, Mose Jeung, Seo Yeon Hur, Kyung Rim Vicky Kim, Gaeul Oh, Jonathon Neeley, Seon Mi Bae, Min Young Alice Lee, and Eun Hae Bae.

During a recent trip to Asia, President Denny Griffith met with two decades of CCAD alumni in Seoul, Korea to catch up on life and remind the graduates of the pride CCAD has in them.

In attendance were student Jeong Woong Lee; Fashion Design alumnae Seo Yeon Hur (CCAD 2010) and Kyung Rim Vicky Kim (CCAD 2009); Illustration alumni Eun Hae Bae (CCAD 2004) and Eunji Paek (CCAD 2008); Interior Design alumni Sun Young Park (CCAD 2010), Yong Ah Shin (CCAD 2008), and Jeong Hoon Tony Lee (CCAD 2005); Media Studies alumna Min Young Alice Lee (CCAD 2005); Fine Arts alumnus Christopher Maslon (CCAD 1996); and Advertising and Graphic Design alumni Seon Mi Bae (CCAD 1997), Gaeul Oh (CCAD 2008) and Mose Jeung (CCAD 2004).

“It was great to find that most of the alumni with whom we met were working in their fields,” said International Admissions Officer Jonathon Neeley who joined President Griffith on his trip. “Hur and Kim both work in the fashion industry. Eun Hae Bae is currently pursuing her Ph.D. and teaches art to undergraduate students. Paek is a freelance illustrator and designer.

“Park, Shin, and  Jeong Hoon Tony Lee are working interior designers. Seon Mi Bae teaches children’s art classes at the Korean Church of Columbus. Oh and Jeung both work at advertising firms, and Jeung received his Master’s degree from Hongik University.

“Maslon is the first foreign elected official appointed to Daejeon Health and Sciences College board for the Executive Committee of Liberal Arts (ECLA). He has also published two books to assist Korean students with English language issues and study abroad advice.”

View more pictures from the gathering here.

Alumna Lora Innes has been asked to create a graphic novel for HBO's new miniseries.

Media Studies alumna Lora Innes (CCAD 2002) will create a graphic novel to follow the new HBO miniseries, To Appomattox, which is currently in production.

To Appomattox is an eight-part TV miniseries about the Civil War, starring Michael C. Hall, William Petersen, Paul Giamatti, Bill Paxton, and Noah Wyle. It will air in 2013 to coincide with the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War. Learn more about the project here.

Innes is the award-winning writer and artist of the historically-acclaimed graphic novel series The Dreamer, a story about a teenage girl who begins having vivid dreams about the American Revolutionary War. She also co-hosts a podcast series called Paper Wings, the show for visual storytellers.

Alumnus A. Greg Raymond worked with John Kacht to create this film about the process of creating a Conan O'Brien caricature.

Media Studies alumnus A. Greg Raymond (CCAD 1997) recently filmed and edited a documentary video for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery featuring caricaturist John Kascht. Funny Bones: Anatomy of a Celebrity Caricature marked the National Portrait Gallery’s debut on Artbabble.org and was featured on Teamcoco.com.

“I promise you, upon watching this film, you will hear yourself say on more than one occasion, ‘Huh, I didn’t know that,’” wrote Raymond on his website. “I did, countless times while filming and editing this project. John’s narrative is delightful and insightful and he shares with you his unique observations on Conan’s background, the role he had in the history of The Tonight Show, and his savvy use of social media.”

Watch the video here.

Raymond’s video received many reviews on Conan O’Brien’s website, including, “I’ve been a caricaturist for 10 years, and this was definitely one of the best presentations on caricature I’ve ever viewed.” “This short was absolutely fascinating to watch 〜 beyond brilliant.” “This is pure awesome!” “Thanks for this film. Enlightening, and cool.”

Learn more about Raymond on his website.

Graduation Day

More than 200 Columbus College of Art & Design students graced the stage of the historic Ohio Theatre to receive their diplomas on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

The 132^nd annual spring commencement, in downtown Columbus, included an address by commencement speaker and CCAD alumnus Mike Altman. (Download a  pdf copy of his address.)

The 2011 class valedictorian is Sean Blanton and the college awarded the following 10 students with the distinction of Outstanding Senior.

Ken Aschliman, Fine Arts

Sean Blanton, Photography

Jordan Edwards, Advertising & Graphic Design

Graham Erwin, Illustration

Justin Highlander, Interior Design

Taehee Lee, Media Studies

Carolyn Martin, Fashion Design

Chelsea Mummert, Animation

Phong Nguyen, Illustration

Ryan Slicer, Industrial Design

Check out photos from commencement and more on the CCAD Alumni facebook page.

Senior Taehee Lee was named Outstanding Senior for the Media Studies department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part six of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Tahee Lee (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior in Media Studies.

Q.) What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?
A.) To be able to work with Design Group and to be chosen as the Outstanding Senior for Media Studies. I learned a lot from working with Design Group. I really enjoyed editing the Jay-Oh-Bee project because I learned a lot from the alumni and from getting to edit the project.

Q.) What scared you the most?
A.) We’re all a bit uncertain about our futures, but as an international student you truly never know how things are going to go. Many companies are reluctant to employee international students because they will have to prepare visas on the side—so a lot of them think, why bother when they could just get any American student.

Q.) So, what’s next?
A.) I am relieved and excited to work on something I really love doing. It just feels great. Most of my Korean friends are probably a bit jealous. My main focus was always going to graduate school, and I did get accepted but I was offered a job and made the last minute decision to accept it over graduate school.  When I was offered the job, all I could think was, I need to seize this opportunity because grad school will always be there but this may not.

Q.) What’s the dream job?
A.) To be able to work at a design studio as big as Psyop.

Q.) If you could describe graduating in one word, what would it be?
A.) Bittersweet.

Q.) What advice do you have for future CCAD students?
A.) The technique comes later; you will learn about technique when you have the job. I recommend trying everything that you can possibly do at an art school—even if it is really different from your major. You really have to get to know design first: the technique will come later. So enjoy being at an art school. Take ceramics or glassblowing just because you can—it’s all design, and it will really help in the long run.

View Taehee’s work on her website. Stills from her projects are below.

132nd Annual Student Exhibition

It is tradition for CCAD to end its academic year with a spectacular exhibition that reflects the best student art and design work created during the previous 12 months.

On Friday, May 13^th we open SHOW the 132^nd Annual Student Exhibition, and even after 132 years, there is always a surprise or two.

One exciting new addition to this year’s SHOW is the MFA exhibition. CCAD’s recently launched graduate program, Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts: New Projects, will showcase the first year of work by the 11-member MFA class of 2012.

“It’s exciting because many of these graduate students are venturing out of their comfort zones,” said Graduate Studies Director Ric Petry. “They are taking risks and exploring new territory. We are finishing year one of a two-year program, so many of the works seen in the exhibition are setting the stage for what will be developed in their final thesis projects next year.”

MFA works, which will be exhibited on the second and third floors of Design Studios on Broad from 4-9 p.m. during the May 13 opening, include fiber arts, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and social/performance-based work.

Undergraduate work in the exhibition represents each of CCAD’s nine majors: Advertising & Graphic Design, Animation, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Media Studies, and Photography.

While art and design work is presented throughout campus, the main Canzani Center Gallery comprises work by upper-level students who show a mastery of skill within their chosen disciplines. The Canzani Center will also be the focal point for Media Studies and Animation screenings, which are presented to a packed audience in the 400-seat auditorium from 6-8 p.m. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible to be considered for the opening night screenings.

“Each division has their own method for selecting work in the show,” explained Director of Student Exhibitions Tim Rietenbach. “But the approach is generally the same: All faculty members collect the best work from their classes, which is then reviewed by a smaller group of senior faculty who choose the final pieces for the show.”

Although the process for choosing work remains relatively the same, there are several new features at the opening night celebration. In addition to the MFA exhibition, the Acock galleries (on the second-floor of the Canzani Center) will house, for opening night only, examples of Foundation Studies interactive group projects. Also, for the first time, CCAD’s Fashion Show fundraising event will take place the night of the exhibition opening. In past years the fundraising event was hosted a week earlier, and on the night of the exhibition opening, a smaller-scale version of the fashion show was presented in the auditorium. This year the full production and event will take place on opening night.

“Moving the fashion event to the same night as the exhibition opening just made sense,” explained Vice President for Institutional Advancement Stephanie Hightower. “This is our signature event and we bring more than 700 people to campus. We want our guests to experience our whole creative community and to share in the excitement and celebration that comes with this time of year.”

While some things have changed, other traditions continue. Each year the three-dimensional Illustration class brings to the exhibition a fun and quirky crowd favorite. Last year it was pirate bears, in the past we’ve seen animatronic spiders, Alice in Wonderland, a monster classroom, and robots. This year they’re making  … well you’ll just have to come and see.

Find more details on the opening night schedule and event night parking on the event page.

2010 graduates and families outside The Ohio Theatre

In honor of the 233 students who will receive diplomas at CCAD’s 132^nd annual spring commencement, we’ll be counting down the days to commencement by publishing interviews with our 10 Outstanding Seniors and we’ll be announcing the class valedictorian(s).

And while we don’t know who is at the top of the class just yet (final grades are yet to be submitted), we do know who has been named the outstanding seniors for 2011. They are: Jordan Edwards, Advertising & Graphic Design; Chelsea Mummert, Animation; Carolyn Martin, Fashion Design; Kenneth Aschliman, Fine Arts; Graham Erwin, Illustration; Phong Nguyen, Illustration; Ryan Slicer, Industrial Design; Justin Highlander, Interior Design; Taehee Lee, Media Studies; and Sean Blanton, Photography.

Also coming along for the commencement ride is alumnus Mike Altman (CCAD 2000), who will deliver the commencement address. Altman worked as a technical director in modeling and articulation on Pixar’s Academy Award winning Toy Story 3 and was also responsible for modeling and articulating all the 3D characters for Day & Night, the short at the beginning of the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award. Learn more in our blog, Alumnus, Pixar Animator Slated to Deliver Commencement Address.

Check back Monday, May 2 as we introduce you to Illustration senior Graham Erwin. We’ll publish one a day (on school days) through Friday, May 13.

Mike Altman will deliver the commencement address to the class of 2011 on May 14.

Media Studies alumnus Mike Altman (CCAD 2000) has made us proud. In addition to working as a technical director in modeling and articulation on Pixar’s Academy Award winning Toy Story 3, he was also responsible for modeling and articulating all the 3D characters for Day & Night, the short at the beginning of the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award. For these accomplishments, Altman was asked to come back to Columbus to deliver the commencement speech to the Class of 2011—a task he says he’s honored to do.

“It is hard to describe what an honor it is to be called back to speak with the students on their own commencement day,” Altman said. “My career achievements have been very hard-won, and I think the faculty at CCAD had a big hand in preparing me for the battle.  It’s neat to have them still following up with me, seeing how my career is progressing, still involved and engaged after all these years.  It is a testament to how close-knit a community we are at CCAD.”

“I remember graduation day very vividly—my name being called, walking onto the stage to shake President Griffith’s hand,” he continued. “I remember faculty literally cheering me on as my name was called to receive my diploma.  I was so excited to graduate, yet a little anxious about what would come next.”

“Now that the tables are turned, and I am on the commencement speaker side, all of those questions I had about my future have been answered.  I achieved what my goals were. I’ve found out ‘what happened’ in my story, and, in a way, I’m coming back to CCAD to reassure the students to continue to work hard, so they will get to achieve their goals too.”

Day & Night is an animated short film shown in theaters before the feature film Toy Story 3. Starring the keepers of daylight and darkness, it was described by the New York Times as “…a charming little movie about two characters, opposites in temperament and outlook, hostile at the start, who gradually learn not only to find delight in each other, but also to appreciate how much they have in common. This film is whimsical, inventive, crammed with visual virtuosity, and six minutes long.”

Altman works at Pixar Animation Studios, where he is currently doing character concept modeling for a feature film to be released the summer of 2013. He recently finished sets modeling work on Cars 2, which will open this June.

In addition to his BFA from CCAD, Altman holds an MFA from The Ohio State University. He previously worked as a 3D concept artist at LAIKA Entertainment in Portland, Oregon, and on the animated feature film The Ant Bully at DNA Productions in Dallas, Texas.

Learn more about Altman on his website. Click here to go behind-the-scenes of Day & Night.

And if you’re a graduating senior—or just want to cheer them on as they take their last steps as students and their first steps as alumni—check out our events page for more information.

Students working at the phonathon.

By  Kyle Franklin, Advertising & Graphic Design and Media Studies Freshman

If every student got to experience what I did through the phonathon, they could learn so much about our school. It fits in right between taking a class and doing an internship: because you’re talking to alumni, they’re providing you with something personal about this school, and because they’ve found a lot of success in their careers, they give you tons of advice. Here’s what I learned:

1. I made the right choice in coming here. Hearing about the alumni’s success and stories from being a student hit really close to home for me. Someday I will find the same success—and I’ll get to have the same amount of fun along the way.
2. You can never know enough about what classes to take and what professors to take them with. The alumni offered me so much advice about their majors, down to recommending classes and teachers. So I’d sit their writing down a bunch of things—pretty much everything they said. (Side note: I got three internship offers!)
3. The hard work pays off. A lot of them said that they have people who apply for jobs who don’t know how to work the Adobe programs, and their portfolios are just, uggh. I spoke with one alumna who does a lot of hiring at Limited Brands, and she said she can always tell when someone is a CCAD student because there is a certain work ethic and talent level that is so identifiable.
4. Giving back means paying it forward. A lot of our alumni received scholarships while they were here, so that’s why they give back. They even said that they couldn’t have done what they had without the scholarship they received. I’m the same way, so that’s why I’ll give back once I graduate.
5. We’re a part of one great big, growing family. Some people go to college strictly to get an education, but here it feels a lot more personal, like you and CCAD chose each other. I don’t know one student here who isn’t passionate about what they do, and when I talked to the alumni they were exactly the same way. It’s pretty cool to know that there are thousands of people in the world who have the same experience I do.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The student callers’ efforts paid off in a big way: in 2010, giving from alumni who graduated within the last 10 years increased by more than 1,000 percent.

Works by alumnus Justin Jason are on display through April 30.

Artworks by Media Studies alumnus Justin Jason (CCAD 1997) are being presented in Transcendent Divisions, an exhibition at Groveport Town Hall, open through the end of April.

Composed of 17 paintings by Jason, the show features intricate patterns in acrylic and watercolor which are transformed into images often seen in sacred geometry and nature.

On the show’s Facebook page, fellow Media Studies alumnus Eric F. Homan (CCAD 1998) said that the show’s opening made it “time for me to visit Groveport!”

Gallery hours are: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.–8 p.m. and Sunday 12–6 p.m. For more information and to send well-wished Jason’s way, visit the exhibitions Facebook event page.

Photo courtesy of The Felis Culpa.

The Felix Culpa’s Our Holy Ghosts music video is getting a lot of press, and so is the video’s director, Media Studies alumnus Nick Cavalier (CCAD 2010).

The video debuted at Alternative Press magazine, the premier alternative music news source, and has been receiving plenty of good reviews from viewers, including:

“This video is just unreal!”
“This made my entire day… scratch that, week. I’ve loved the song for a while now but the video is absolutely haunting. Incredible.”
“I love this band and video so much. I’ve watched it almost 10 times.”
“Sometimes music and imagery were just meant for one another—the video is brooding and mystical—the music is powerful and haunting—together they tell of the ebb and flow of real love.”

See it for yourself here.

Cavalier’s video has also been featured on Absolute Punk and Blank TV and has been entered into the Chicago Underground Film Festival and The Chicago, NY, and SF United Film Festival.

The Felix Culpa is a four-piece Progressive Indie band. They have released two full-length albums, Commitment and Sever Your Roots; an EP/DVD combo Thought Control; and a digital EP, SoSo Remission. They are currently signed to No Sleep Records

To see more work from Cavalier, visit his website.

Alex Trimpe's video "The World is Obsessed with Facebook" lands on Vimeo's homepage.

On Tuesday, CCAD shared Media Studies Junior Alex Trimpe’s most recent video on our Twitter & Facebook feeds because we liked it—a lot. As of 4:38 p.m., Feb. 24, Trimpe’s The World is Obsessed with Facebook is nearing 250,000 views, landing a place in Vimeo’s coveted list of “videos we like,” and the spot of “infographic of the day” on FastCompany.com.

Since going live three days ago, Trimpe’s video has received 65 comments and 1,181 “likes” on Vimeo (and those numbers are quickly going up). Its YouTube counterpart is quickly approaching 30,000 views.

Contribute to Trimpe’s viral video success by watching  The World is Obsessed with Facebook Then, pass it on!.

Photo courtesy of Aztech Productions.

The Reason the latest music video by hip hop artist Upwords, received more than 18,000 YouTube views within the first 16 hours it was available online. Less than five days later the video, directed by Joseph Lombardi (CCAD 2010) was at more than 117,000 views.

Lombardi, who majored in Media Studies,  is the CEO of Aztech Productions, based in Los Angeles. Clients include Matisyahu, The Crystal Method, and the Black Eyed Peas. While serving as Director of Photography for a documentary about the closing of famous record store Fat Beats, Lombardi interviewed popular hip-hop musicians like Xzibit.

“I also work with Shane Dawson, who is the number three most subscribed person on YouTube,” said Lombardi. “Dawson has over two million people subscribed to him (every video reaching five to seven million views). [I also work with] a large number of other big YouTube personalities as well.”

This is the first single off Upwords’s new album, I Am Music. Click here to watch the music video. For more information about Aztech Productions, check out their Vimeo page.

Presentations take place on Mondays from 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in CCAD’s Canzani Center Auditorium, downtown at Cleveland Ave. & E. Gay St (unless otherwise noted)

Spring 2011 Schedule:

• Jan. 31: Eric Homan (CCAD ’98), videographer, more …

• Feb. 7: Bevil Conway, artist and neuroscientist, more …

• Feb. 21: Anthony S. Baker (CCAD ’86), medical illustrator, more …

• Feb. 28: Christopher Cole (CCAD ’89) creative director, art director, more …

• March 14: Gabriel Esquivel, architect, assistant professor, more …

• March 28: Nora Sturges, associate professor of art, more …

• April 4: Erika Meitner, author, poet, more …

• April 11: Arthur Liou, associate professor of digital art, more …

• May 2: Stephen Fellner, poet, author, more …

Check the full schedule for updates and additions as well as other CCAD lectures.

Ongoing support for CCAD’s Visiting Artists Series is received from the Skestos Endowment Fund for Visiting Artists & Lectures, Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, and the Ohio Arts Council, which helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Baker majored in Illustration, Cole majored in Advertising & Graphic Design, and Homan was a Media Studies-Time Based major at CCAD.

Third Eye image from ryansablogspot.com

A photography exhibition curated by CCAD student Ryan Walters has been extended through March 25 at OSU’s Urban Arts Space in downtown Columbus.

Third Eye, a collection of 10 artists’ work, includes CCAD alumni and students who question, revolt against, and embrace photography’s impact on perception within contemporary culture. The artists reveal photography’s capacity to illustrate the relationship between artist, subject, and viewer, and explore its constructs and limitations.

The exhibition is in the City Center Gallery, where a free reception will be 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28.

Walters, a senior majoring in Fine Arts, organized the grant proposal to secure funding for the exhibition after he and Christopher Von Holle, a senior majoring in Photography, took a class with John Fergus-Jean, professor, Photography and Graduate Studies.Curatorial assistance was provided by Fine Arts sophomore Alejandro Bellizzi.

Participating alumni and students include Frank Castanien (CCAD ’07), Pei Yin Chen, a senior in Photography, Evan Eisel, a sophomore majoring in Photography, Fine Arts senior Elina Khachaturyan, Eric Sherwood, a freshman in Media Studies, Clifton Stommel (CCAD ’10), Miles Tsang, a senior majoring in Illustration, and VonHolle.

Sherwood also will offer a special one-time performance just prior to the Jan. 28 reception.

Castanien majored in Fine Arts and Stommel majored in Photography at CCAD.

Parallel by Julie M. Abijanac

The 10th anniversary celebration of a local gallery includes work by Julie M. Abijanac, assistant professor, Foundation Studies and Media Studies.

Abijanac responded to an open call from business partners Barb Unverferth and Gail Burkart for a show to celebrate a decade of operating Art Access Gallery, 540 S. Drexel Ave. in Bexley. Her piece is a monochrome digital drawing titled Parallel.

Information about the gallery and the exhibition, which runs through December, is available at Art Access Gallery. To read an article about the anniversary exhibition go to the Columbus Dispatch.

Abijanac’s faculty bio is on CCAD’s website.

On-verge.org serves as a platform to present art and culture topics that may not be covered by mainstream media. The forum features the writing, opinions and musings of alumni from CUE Art Foundation’s Young Art Critic Mentoring Program.

Developed by CUE in collaboration with the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA), the project gives emerging writers the opportunity to highlight rising and under-recognized artists around the globe.

Along with Yates, other initial contributors include Caitlin Haskell, Cameron Shaw, Melissa Tuckman, and Kerrie Welsh.  To read their feature stories go to www.on-verge.org. Information about Yates is available at ccad.digication.com/yates.

To learn more about CUE and the art critic program go to www.cueartfoundation.org.

Hope by Ric Petry

A work of art by Ric Petry, professor, Media Studies and Graduate Studies, will be distributed to major donors of Pelotonia, a Central Ohio bike tour that raises money for cancer research.

Hope is a digital image assembled from scans of wire, thread, cheesecloth and various objects from Petry’s studio. The work is dedicated to the many professionals at Ohio State University’s cancer hospital who have helped a close friend of Petry’s with his fight against multiple myeloma.

Petry also is director of graduate program development and implementation at CCAD.

For information about Pelotonia go to http://www.pelotonia.org.

Image from www.beautyofthefight.com

The documentary film Beauty of the Fight by John Urbano (CCAD, ’96) has won first prize in the feature documentary category at the Athens, OH International Film + Video Festival.

Beauty of the Fight has also been accepted into the HBO-presented New York International Latino Film Festival, the Maine International Film Festival, and the Montezuma International Film Festival in Costa Rica.

Visit www.beautyofthefight.com for images, information about the accompanying book, and Urbano’s first-hand account of the experience.

This post was included in the spring 2011 issue of IMAGE Magazine.

For more information visit the gallery’s website or http://www.manjarisharma.com.

Galgas worked several months as a 2D animation production coordinator on Day & Night and Altman was responsible for modeling and articulating all of the short’s 3D characters. Altman also worked on Toy Story 3 as a technical director in modeling and articulation, focusing on rigging toys in Sunnyside Day Care.

A recent review in The New York Times included the following about Day & Night, “. . . a charming little movie about two characters, opposites in temperament and outlook, hostile at the start, who gradually learned not only to find delight in each other, but also to appreciate how much they had in common. This film is whimsical, inventive, crammed with visual virtuosity and six minutes long.”

Both Altman (class of 2000) and Galgas (class of 2001) majored in Media Studies Time-Based at CCAD.

Students receiving award certificates from the visual communications magazine are Erich Burchfield, project director (Animation, ’10), Greg Browe, lead story artist (Media Studies, ’11), Meghann Pearson, director of photography (Photography, ’10), Jennifer Stefanski, head of animation (Animation, ’10), and Dan Zimmer, head of technical direction (Animation, ’10). Their project was inspired by the college’s recent branding initiative and resulted in a 24-minute video about CCAD from the students’ perspective.

To see some footage produced through the award-winning project click here.  Frame grabbed images of the project will be printed in Applied Arts annual publication and put on display at the Applied Arts awards exhibit, which will be held in November in Toronto at Artscape Wychwood Barns.

Ohio Theatre

Columbus College of Art & Design presented 233 diplomas during the 131st annual spring commencement on Saturday, May 15, at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus.

The commencement speaker was Author, Editor & Illustrator Michael Rosen. The 2010 class had two valedictorians, Stacey Lawless-Gibson and Erica Podwoiski, and 10 outstanding seniors:

• Susan Burke, Advertising and Graphic Design, New Knoxville, OH
• Tyler Mele, Animation; Wellington, OH
• Elizabeth Munn, Fashion Design; Aurora, OH
• Ian Horn, Fine Arts; Hyde Park, OH
• Erica Podwoiski, Fine Arts; Garden City, MI
• Jacob Murray, Illustration; Fort Wayne, IN
• Shawn Fortner, Industrial Design; Canton, OH
• Kimberly Priestman, Interior Design; Lansdale, PA
• Matthew Dickerson, Photography; Columbus, OH
• Joseph Lombardi, Media Studies; St. Louis, MO

A copy of Rosen’s commencement address is available here (pdf).

The show, fittingly titled Vir2ual Cage, gave audiences a chance to engage with and experience one of Cage’s most elaborate compositions, the Song Books. The songs were constructed assemblages where technologically sophisticated uses of sound, were juxtaposed with radical staging, found materials, animation, video, and movement.

CCAD Media Studies associate professor Michelle Lach collaborated with people from CalARTS (CA), University of York (UK), and Orpheus Institute Belgium, to put together this unique multi-media experience.

For more on the project go to Vir2ualcage.org.

Behind-the-scenes work by Nick Cavalier

Media Studies student Nick Cavalier filmed a behind-the-scenes look at the 2009 CCAD Pipeline Project. Check out his 12-minute clip on YouTube.

The annual Pipeline Project is a semester-long extracurricular opportunity that allows students to produce a film in a collaborative, team-oriented way that mirrors professional production practices. The 2009 Pipeline Project was inspired by the college’s recent branding initiative and resulted in a 24-minute video about CCAD from the students’ perspective. Cavalier filmed the filming process.

Hayakawa also was a juror for the Second Annual Northwest Ohio Open Summer Art Show at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.

And, on Sept. 1 his book of paper animal sculptures Kirigami Menagerie (Lark Books) became available at Barnes & Noble bookstores and through www.amazon.com.