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

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

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

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

President Griffith presents the 2010 AAE award to Rosanne Percivalle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Griffith presents the 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence to Rosanne Percival.

Each year, we ask our alumni to nominate their classmates for the Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence (AAE). It’s a way for us to acknowledge not only the success and contributions of one very deserving graduate, but also the impact CCAD alumni have all over the world.

AAE nominees must be an alum or associate alum of CCAD who has not previously received the award. Finalists are chosen based upon their accomplishments related to artistic excellence, the impact they have had on a broad spectrum of people, the significant advancements they’ve made in their art or design field, and their exemplification of CCAD’s ideals.

The award is presented during our annual Homecoming celebration. This year’s event has been completely redesigned to include an entire weekend of events for the whole CCAD family—alumni, students, parents, and faculty and staff. Save the date: Family Weekend & Homecoming is October 7-9.

To nominate the alum you think is most worthy of the award, click here.

Want to size up the AAE competition? Click here to read about 2010 award winner Rosanne Percival (CCAD 1980).

Alumnus Jerry W. McDaniel opened the doors to his new gallery in February.

As part of his newly opened gallery, Illustration alumnus Jerry W. McDaniel (CCAD 1957) has launched a process video for his piece Merry Mary. I.C.Art Gallery, in Palm Springs, California opened this February and features the work of McDaniel.

The video details the artist’s process in creating a work of art for the subject’s birthday. Watch the video here.

McDaniel opened Jerry W. McDaniel Studios in 1961 and completed work for PANAM Airlines and Intercontinental Hotels. In 1971 he served as one of the founding members of the Advertising Design Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and was named chair of this department in 1994.

For his success, McDaniel was honored as the first recipient of the Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence in 1982. His works have been featured in many books, including The Illustrator in America and Icons and Images. McDaniel’s works are among the collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian, and The US Air Force Art Collection.

Learn more about McDaniel on his website.