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.

"Botanica 3.1" by President Dennison W. Griffith is on display in "Blossom!" an exhibition at Hammond Harkins Gallery.

Blossom!, The Art of Fruit and Flower, an exhibition featuring the works of CCAD President Dennision W. Griffith and numerous alumni, opens Friday, April 15, from 5–8 p.m. at Hammond Harkins Galleries in Bexley, Ohio. Showing alongside President Griffith are Fine Arts alumnus Mark Bush (CCAD 2009), Advertising & Graphic Design alumnus James Mason (CCAD 1971), and Illustration alumnus Paul Hamilton (CCAD 1988).

Besides being our fearless leader, President Griffith  is the recipient of artists fellowships for painting from the Greater Columbus Arts Council (1996), the Ohio Arts Council (1987-88 and 1989-90), and an Arts Midwest/NEA Regional Fellowship in 1990-91. His work has been included in more than 80 solo and group exhibitions and is represented in the collections of such institutions as the Butler Institute of American Art, the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, and the Columbus Metropolitan Library as well as corporate collections ranging from Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City to ARCO in Los Angeles.

Bush has received numerous scholarships and awards from Ohio and across the country. After placing second for the nation in a painting contest for the National Society of Arts and Letters, Mark was featured in the fall 2007 edition of American Artist Watercolor magazine as an emerging artist.

Mason is best known for the topiary interpretation of  Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Ile de la Grande Jatte that he created at the Columbus Deaf School Park. His work can be seen in private and public collections throughout North America. In addition to creating exquisite topiaries and wooden figures, Mason has been an instructor at Columbus’ Cultural Arts Center from 1978 to present.

Hamilton’s resume includes a long list of gallery and museum shows for his painting, sculpture and installation media. A few of these locations include the Franklin Park Conservatory, the Decorative Arts Center, as well as three exhibitions with David Findlay Galleries in New York. Paul’s work is also in private collections throughout the United States, Venezuela, Mexico, and Great Britain.

Hammond Harkins Galleries is located at 2264 East Main Street in Bexley. More information about the gallery can be found on its website.