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.

"Neon Celebrate!" designed by Michael Flechtner is slated for sale March 25.

Keep a close eye on your mail this year. Chances are, you’ll see the USPS’s first neon stamp, “Neon Celebrate!,” designed by CCAD alumnus Michael Flechtner (CCAD 1981).

Flechtner was hired to design the stamp after USPS Art Director Phil Jordan decided to use neon to depict the “Celebrate” theme. “Most neon is huge and stamps are so small,” said Jordan in an article on BeyondThePerf.com. “The mechanics would be a monumental challenge. Not everyone thought we could pull it off.”

A Fine Arts graduate, Flechtner was chosen for the project because of his experience with glass-blending for a neon sign shop. He worked there while completing his MFA in sculpture. According to the article, this background enabled him to create neon tubing that depicted three-dimensional objects instead of the two dimensional forms typically found in signage and other graphic neon displays.

“Neon Celebrate!” is being issued on March 25, 2011 as a Forever® stamp. Forever® stamps are always equal in value to the current first-class mail one-ounce rate.

Find out how Flechtner created the design at BeyondThePerf. Learn more about Flechtner on his website.