Author Archives: Anna Macaulay

Board of Trustees Sets Tuition Rates for Fiscal Year 2018

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At its recent meeting in February, the Board of Trustees set tuition rates for the next Fiscal Year. Effective Fall 2017, the tuition rates for full-time Undergraduate degree students will be $20,704 per semester; full time graduate student tuition will be $21,881 per semester; part-time undergraduate and graduate tuition will be $1,726 per unit and $1,824 per unit respectively. The Universal Access Fee for all students will be $300. Tuition rates will remain in effect for Spring and Summer 2018.

Dialogue on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Arch motorcycles presentation for students of trans dept.

The student dining room was full, the discussion was intense and emotions ran high at the Dialogue on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Monday, February 20. A panel moderated by Humanities and Sciences Department Chair Jane McFadden and consisting of former Diversity Council Co-Chair and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Title IX Coordinator Lydia Thompson; Illustration student and founder of WOKE, a student organization that seeks to provide, “a safe and open forum to create and grow from a dialogue about social issues and to spread awareness,” Kayla Salisbury; Product Design faculty and Faculty Council Co-Chair Pascal Wawoe; and Staff Council Co-Chair and Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Jered Gold, spoke about the College’s challenges and resources, fielded some tough questions and listened to valid concerns from the audience.

President Lorne Buchman made brief introductory remarks, noting how important this discussion is at this time, given the context of what is happening in the world and in the country. He said that we need to answer some important questions: “Who are we as a community? How do we interact with each other? How do we deal with each other in moments of disagreement? How do we learn to listen to other’s pain?”

He reiterated that, “taking action is essential. None of us should be satisfied if this is merely a talk. This is a time when we need to take action,” and concluded his remarks with an introspective reflection of the issues he is consumed with and the places he goes for guidance and inspiration.

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Fresh Food Round the Clock at South Campus

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Micro markets are now open and serving food 24/7 in the 950 and 870 buildings at South Campus. There are plenty of food options at the 950 micro market, located on the mezzanine. You can choose from sandwiches, salads and other fresh food that is prepared daily and stocked twice a day. There are also a number of frozen food options, including entrée items, White Castle burgers, breakfast sandwiches and frozen burritos. There are two coffee machines, one offering regular coffee and one offering espresso-style drinks. The espresso machine uses Peet’s Coffee that is fresh ground for each drink and it makes a mighty tasty cappuccino. There is also a wide candy selection, plenty of snack options and a number of ice cream choices. The micro market is a grab-and-go operation, where you select your choices and pay at a self-serve machine, similar to a grocery line self-pay. You can use your credit card or load cash onto a special micro market card.

The micro market at the 870 Building is smaller, almost a mini-micro market, but still offers fresh food items, cold beverage selections and a coffee machine. You will need to use a credit card to obtain your items, with payment based on a system of weights and measures.

Both micro markets are accessible 24/7 so you can choose your favorite midnight snack to get you through your latest project. But don’t grab and walk off without paying because the micro markets are monitored round the clock with video surveillance.

These micro markets are welcome additions to our South Campus, where the food offerings were slim for students studying into and through the night. Sodexo is maintaining the markets and is open to suggestions for items to be included.

Please send your thoughts to catering@artcenter.edu and make sure to note that the suggestion is for items to be carried in the South Campus micro markets.

Interns Tell All

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Internships are often seen as “dating” your future employer. They are also a great way to test your skills in the real world and make valuable connections. Over 50 percent of ArtCenter students complete at least one internship during their tenure here.

On February 1, five students shared their internship experiences with a full Board Room of future interns on Hillside Campus: Interaction Design student Minji Gim interned at Designit (Copenhagen, Denmark); Transportation Design student Mason Watson interned at Tesla Motors (Hawthorne, CA) and General Motors (North Hollywood, CA); Illustration/Entertainment Arts student Kristen Psinakis interned at Dreamworks Animation (Glendale, CA); Product Design student Lori Nishikawa interned at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA); and Product Design student Kelly Kim interned at Karten Design (Marina del Rey, CA) & HTC (San Francisco, CA).

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Advertising students rack up multiple awards

Advertising Students

The Advertising Department reports that its students won the most awards for the program ever in major award shows this year. According to Department Chair Gary Goldsmith, “beyond the satisfaction of feeling good about your work and gaining respect among your peers, it’s leading to more visibility for our program, more internships at better places and more job offers at the most desirable companies to begin your career.”

The Department is particularly excited about this year’s success in the D&AD competition, one of the most prestigious competitions in the industry. “The entries are global and plentiful. The judges are demanding and hyper-picky. The awards are few,” says Goldsmith.

Last year the Department had some finalists, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. This year, Advertising students Teague Miller, Andrew Kim, Laura Proenza, Michael Chesler, and Graphic Design student Tian Wang were awarded a pencil and the Department sent them to London to accept their award, get some valuable exposure to the British ad community and generally have some fun.

The image above is from the Chesler, Kim and Proenza D&AD winning entry, Amnesty International.

Below is a link to a full list of all of our winners and the awards they’ve won. Congratulations to everyone on the list!

2016 Competition Winners list

Time Magazine’s 12 African American Photographers You Should Follow Right Now includes ArtCenter’s Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin

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Education Technology Specialist, Digital Teaching and Learning, Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin was one of 12 photographers included in Time magazine’s Lightbox feature.

From the article:

For Black History Month, LightBox gathered a panel of experts—from major artists such as Carrie Mae Weems to curators such as Azu Nwagbogu and educators like John Edwin Mason—and asked them to each nominate one under-the-radar, exciting African American photographer. By no means a definitive list of panelists or nominees (for that, check out TIME’s “100 Photos” project), this is instead a personal and subjective tribute to the thriving field of contemporary African American photography.

While some artists such as Joshua Rashaad McFadden make use of archival material, others like Jasmine Murrell incorporate sculpture, while Gerald Cyrus’ work is firmly documentary in nature and Shamayim’s is clearly fashion-based.

The nominators include Awol Erizku, artist; Azu Nwagbogu, director African Artists’ Foundation; Carrie Mae Weems, artist; Deborah Willis, chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; Derrick Adams, artist; Jamel Shabazz, artist; John Edwin Mason, Associate Professor at University of Virginia; Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at Brooklyn Museum; Kalia Brooks, Adjunct Professor in the Photography and Imaging Department in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; and the staff of The Studio Museum in Harlem.

Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin
Year and City of Birth: 1977, New York, NY
“For the last decade, Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin has been documenting what he calls ‘the desolate beauty of the urban landscape’ in Los Angeles. His images often incorporate wide vistas and washed-out colors, evoking high noon on a summer’s day. These deceptively simple photographs invite viewers to linger and decipher their meanings. At first they seem to be concerned only with the ways in which photographs can play with form, color, line, and mass. Cumulatively, however, they reveal Boyd-Bouldin’s interest in the city’s unending transformations and their power to shape the lives of its citizens, especially the poor and marginalized.” — John Edwin Mason, Associate Professor at University of Virginia

Fine Art Faculty Nicola Vruwink is on a mission to help other creatives

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Fine Art faculty member Nicola Vruwink, whose ArtCenter career started in the Admissions Department, is passionate about creating and mentoring—teaching a newly created ceramics course at ArtCenter allows her to do both. Recently, she has also been busy creating whimsical works and her sculptural jewelry has caught the attention of Hollywood.

Daughter of an artist, she has been creating for as long as she remembers. “I have been making since I left home at 22 and started a studio in my apartment building in Des Moines, Iowa, says Vruwink.

Following an undergraduate degree in English, Vruwink journeyed to the University of Washington in Seattle, where she earned an MFA. “If I had known about ArtCenter growing up, I probably would have wanted to go here,” she reflected. “I’m from Iowa. No one talks about going to art school from Iowa.”

After a stint teaching at the University of Washington, she made her way to Los Angeles. Hoping to teach, but finding it difficult to secure college level jobs without the connections, she saw an opening at ArtCenter for an Admissions position and threw her hat into the ring.

While working full time for the Admissions department, Vruwink started creating jewelry as an outlet for her creative energies.

“The jewelry came about because I didn’t have the time or the mental capacity, really, to make bigger scale works. It was making wearable sculptures,” she says.

Finding she needed more time to devote to creating and teaching, seven years after she started, Vruwink left ArtCenter’s Admissions department and began teaching fine art & design courses at numerous colleges in the Greater L.A. region. Things took an unexpected turn last year when Associate Chair of Fine Art Laura Cooper approached her about starting a ceramics course at ArtCenter.

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Film students create “Day in L.A.” videos for JW Marriott

Day in LA Videos

JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE will be screening the results of its collaboration with four ArtCenter film students at L.A. Live this Wednesday, January 25. JW Marriott tasked the students to create fresh in-house video content capturing the essence of Los Angeles. Beginning January 25, 2017, these “Day in L.A.” videos will live in various locations throughout the hotel’s public areas, on exhibition to guests and visitors, crediting each artist for their work. In addition to their presence within the property, each video is also featured on the hotel’s social media page, which can be found here.

JW Marriott approached ArtCenter to tap into young, local talent of various heritages, reflective of the city’s diverse cultural landscape. Students Javier Barcala, Jae Yong Park, Emmett Sutherland, and Joe Lombard were given the funds, tools and space to recreate the city through their eyes and tell the story of the hotel’s ties to the city.

“ArtCenter Film is thrilled that JW Marriott chose our community of powerful visual storytellers to create a new aesthetic for visitors as they experience the City of Angels,” said Ross LaManna, chair of the Graduate and Undergraduate Film Departments. “These diverse stories with dazzling and wildly-inventive imagery epitomize the heart of our mission. I have no doubt these talented filmmakers will continue to inspire audiences and break new creative ground as they emerge on the cultural landscape.”

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Staff Council Report: How is the College reacting to growth in terms of staffing and budgeting?

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On December 7, 2016, President Lorne Buchman and CFO Rich Haluschak joined a regular meeting of Staff Council to discuss questions posed to them regarding the impact of the College’s growth on staff. The resulting discussion was candid and informative. Lorne assured the group that the College is committed to increasing staff as necessary to accommodate growth and that staff should be compensated for increased workloads and/or new duties. In response to the questions, Rich informed the Council:

  • A total of 23 staff positions have been added or upgraded as a direct response to enrollment growth since 2011.
  • Certain departments, such as Facilities and Educational Media, have had a spike in overtime since 2011. The College is currently reviewing needs in those departments to make sure they are adequately staffed.
  • Departmental budgets are automatically increased when a staff member receives a salary increase.

Both Lorne and Rich stressed that staff who have been shouldering increased workloads and/or responsibilities should be compensated for those increases and employees who believe their workloads or duties have increased beyond the scope of their job descriptions or expectations should be discussing these issues with their supervisors. In response to a question, Lorne acknowledged that the College doesn’t have a process for staff to present their concerns outside the normal departmental lines but he noted that staff can always reach out to Human Resources.

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Student Spotlight: Alvin Oei on building your professional network

Alvin Oei

Environmental Design student Alvin Oei is busy building his professional network while managing the challenging workload that is an ArtCenter education. He arranged for a line-up of luminaries to gather at ArtCenter on September 23 for an industry panel on the future of themed entertainment. Alum and former Disney imagineer Geoff Puckett moderated the panel that included legendary Disney imagineer and alum Bob Gurr; alum and principal of The Hettema Group, Phil Hettema; Dave Cobb, principal at Thinkwell; Entertainment Design chair Guillaume Aretos and imagineer Chris Beatty.

If you missed it, here is some of the wisdom shared with the audience:

  • Phil Hettema: “New technology comes along every 10 years. The secret sauce to the business of themed entertainment is that it is one of the last places you can go to have an experience with someone else.”
  • Bob Gurr: “If you’ve been asked to do something you’ve never done before, the answer is YES. If you can think and you’re curious you can figure out anything.”
  • Dave Cobb: “Completely unfettered blue sky is a myth. This is a highly collaborative artform that business and management are a big part of.”
  • Chris Beatty: “We’re all salesmen, we need to convince everyone they have a dog in the hunt.”

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