Author Archives: Jered Gold

ENERGY: From Natural Forces to Human Emotion

The L.A. Times Culture Monster blog has a nice story today on the ENERGY exhibit at Williamson Gallery.

From the article: “Although ‘beautiful’ and ‘mesmerizing’ are words not often used to describe energy, this exhibition reveals the beauty within various energy sources while exploring the contentious nexus of science and art.”

ENERGY investigates how natural forces shape not only material things, but affect our emotions and intellect.

As part of the Williamson Gallery’s mission, students in Art Center’s Design for Sustainability 2 class will use a section of the gallery as their studio, studying and displaying their exploration of the question, “Where do energy and design intersect?

If you haven’t already seen the exhibit, stop by the Williamson Gallery and check it out. The gallery is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and Fridays noon to 9 p.m.

Silent Auction Benefits Gulf Wildlife

Just because the Deepwater Horizon oil spill isn’t dominating the headlines these days doesn’t mean that it’s not still wreaking havoc on wildlife along the Gulf Coast. Luckily, someone is doing something about it.

This Saturday, October 23, the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) West Coast Chapter will hold a silent auction fundraiser to benefit the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. The event will be held from 6:30 to 10 pm at Wildfire Studios in Los Angeles.

“The NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund has declared this a wildlife emergency,” explains ASPP West Coast Chapter co-president and silent auction committee member Ellen Herbert. “The money we raise directly helps the Gulf’s wildlife and breeding grounds.”

The fundraiser and evening program aim to encourage others to see the importance of rebuilding and sustaining the fragile Gulf ecology.

More than 40 printed original photographs are being donated for the silent auction, including works by Ralph Clevenger, Norbert Wu and Frans Lanting. A preview of the photographs to be auctioned can be seen online at both Facebook and at the ASPP West Coast Silent Auction blog.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here. Those not able to attend in person are encouraged to donate or bid through a proxy, as all proceeds go to the NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund.

Get Ready to Shake, Rattle and Roll

Today at 10:21 a.m., millions of people across California will drop, cover and hold on as part of the 2010 California ShakeOut.

ShakeOut—formerly the Great Southern California ShakeOut—was launched in 2008. The Designmatters project, The Los Angeles Earthquake: Get Ready, was launched in conjunction with the event. An integral part of the acclaimed project was a PSA directed by Art Center alumnus Theo Alexopoulos.

The short film, Preparedness Now, was commissioned by the USGS Multi-Hazard Demonstration Project to depict the physical, social and economic consequences of a massive earthquake. In 2010, Preparedness Now was one of three components of project recognized for groundbreaking design by inclusion in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum-Smithsonian National Design Triennial exhibition, Why Design Now?

In honor of today’s ShakeOut, enjoy the film below:

Great Fun at Car Classic

Sunday’s Car Classic ’10: Freedom of Motion, was a success! While a little drizzly at times, the crowds were not deterred, visiting Hillside Campus to tour studios, look at student work, hear guest speakers and, of course, check out the automobiles (and aircraft, watercraft and motorcycles!)

Keynote speaker was Transportation Design alumnus Frank Stephenson, design director for McLaren Automotive.

“The Mini was the first car I ever stole,” joked Stephenson. He was referring to sneaking out in his mother’s as a young teenager. “It was that easy to drive,” he explained. Fitting that fate would have him involved in the redesign of the vehicle decades later.

Also speaking was Photography alumnus Jeff Zwart, award-winning automotive photographer and commercial film director who recently set a new record racing up Pike’s Peak in a Porsche 911 GT3.

“You never realize how much your childhood interests will influence your life later on,” Zwart said as he remarked on growing up (with childhood friend, alum and automotive design superstar Freeman Thomas) with a love of everything automotive.

Highlights of the show included the new McLaren MP4-12C, a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic and an ICON A5 sport aircraft.

Enjoy images from the event in the slideshow below, and check out our tweets from the event as well:

The Mini Show This Saturday

This Saturday, October 23, The Mini Show will be held at South Campus to raise money for the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund. The show is being produced by Mini’s family and friends, and will showcase the work of Art Center Illustration alumni with all proceeds going to the fund. The group exhibition will feature high-quality and affordable artwork, each piece priced at no more than $300.

The Mini Lai Scholarship Fund was created out of love for the late Mini Lai, a talented illustrator and Art Center alum. The fund honors her memory by granting scholarships to Art Center Illustration students, inspiring them to pursue their dreams no matter what challenges they face.

“In Between” by Ming Ong

While a student at the University of California, Irvine, Lai was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, ultimately requiring a heart transplant. With this second chance at life, she pursued her life-long passion for art, studying Illustration at Art Center.

Lai received scholarships while at the College, and this fund exists to continue the cycle of giving.

“Mini leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness and hope,” says Ming Lai, Mini’s brother. “Through the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund, we can cherish her memory and inspire Art Center Illustration students to take on the world.”

The fund is made possible by the generous donations of her family and friends, and is managed by the California Community Foundation and scholarships are awarded by the College’s Illustration Department.

To learn more about the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund, and donate through the California Community Foundation, visit minilai.com and calfund.org/give/minilaischolarship.php.

Art Center’s 80th Anniversary Weekend is Here

Art Center continues our 80th anniversary celebration with a special anniversary weekend Saturday and Sunday.

Tomorrow, October 16, Art Center will honor four prominent alumni—industrial designer Yves Béhar, car designer Frank Stephenson, contemporary artist Pae White and blockbuster filmmaker Zack Snyder—with the Creative Spirit award at a gala to raise scholarships for students in Art Center’s undergraduate, graduate and public programs.

The following day, Sunday, October 17, is Art Center’s beloved Car Classic. This year’s theme, Freedom of Motion, celebrates the powerful combination of technology and passion that allows humans to move well beyond their own physical abilities.

Also on Sunday, we’ll be participating in the Art & Design Open Market at One Colorado in Pasadena.

We hope you’ll join us!

Wheels in Motion: A Look at Art Center’s Transportation Design Department

Guest post by College Archivist Robert Dirig and Transportation Design Director Jay Sanders

Strother MacMinn teaches class on lawn, 1960 (Photo courtesy Art Center Archives)


Art Center’s Car Classic has become one of the most highly anticipated transportation events in Southern California, if not the entire country. Over the past nine years, the event has showcased amazing automobiles and brought together industry leaders–many of whom are Art Center alumni. As we approach Sunday’s Car Classic 2010: Freedom of Motion, join us in looking back at how Art Center became a leader in the world of transportation design.


Jergenson is shown in this circa 1950 photograph with student A.K. Ragheb PROD '51. (Photo courtesy Art Center Archives)

It is estimated that more than half of the world’s car designers are Art Center graduates. Transportation Design alumni currently hold top positions at the studios of Pininfarina, Ferrari-Maserati, Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volvo, Nissan, Aston Martin, Mazda, Toyota/Lexus and Volkswagen North America.

The field has a long and storied history at the College. Years before Transportation Design became a major at Art Center, our graduates were taking positions with General Motors’ Buick Division in Detroit in the 1930s.

In 1948, Transportation Design became an official course of study at the College, with such influential faculty members as George Jergenson, Strother MacMinn and John Coleman establishing the school’s connection with transportation design—a field that would lift Art Center into international prominence.

Continue reading →

Students Discuss Future of Design at Summit


Johanna Björk of Goodlifer has written a very nice recap of Art Center’s involvement in the Opportunity Green Business Conference and the Art Center Summit, Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design, held September 22 through 24 at L.A. Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles.

Björk says that the most popular panel at the conference appeared to be Sustainability by Design, featuring a panel of five Art Center students who described their work featured in the Taschen book Product Design in the Sustainable Era. The work, also on display as part of an exhibit at the event, was produced in the Design for Sustainability 2 studio led by instructors Heidrun Mumper-Drumm and Fridolin Beisert.

Writes Björk: “The future, seen through the eyes of these students, is certainly bright and filled with innovation. The thing that strikes me about their designs is that they are simply well-done. The sustainability of the products is inherent, not something that was forced into the picture later. Could it be that all truly good ideas are inherently sustainable?”

Enjoy this new set of photos from the event, and read the rest of the article: Green Can, Should and Has to Be Profitable