Author Archives: Nadia Osman

Robert and Faye Davidson Named Arts and Culture Ambassadors by Pasadena Community Foundation

Robert and Faye Davidson share a passion for the arts and have long appreciated and supported the unique cultural mix that makes Pasadena special. Now they are doing it officially.

The Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF) has appointed the Davidsons as Arts and Culture Ambassadors to lead the organization’s 60th anniversary celebration.

Robert and Faye Davidson have been appointed Arts and Culture Ambassadors by the Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF). Photo credit Evan Robinson.

Robert and Faye Davidson have been appointed Arts and Culture Ambassadors by the Pasadena Community Foundation. Photo credit Evan Robinson.

“The artistic and cultural resources in this community are vast,” says Robert Davidson.

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Illustration Students Awarded Scholarships from Society of Illustrators, Works on View in New York

Three works by Art Center Illustration students Hannah Chi, Michael Kuo and Ellen Surrey were recently selected from more than 5,000 entries as being among the “best of the best” in the Society of Illustrators annual Student Scholarship Competition. The artists were awarded monetary scholarships at an opening reception for the 2013 Student Scholarship Exhibition.

Chi’s Burdens depicts a humanoid zebra pedaling a bicycle cart overflowing with cast-off items. In Kuo’s Ramen Time, an Alice in Wonderland-like figure peers into a giant bowl of soup. And Surrey’s Normal Abnormal reveals the colorful inner workings of the brain inside the heads of two otherwise dark silhouettes.

Student Michael Kuo is one of the Society of Illustrators 2013 Student Scholarship Awards winners with his printmaking piece "Ramen Time."

Student Michael Kuo won a Society of Illustrators 2013 Student Scholarship Award for Ramen Time.

The students’ winning illustrations are now on view at the Society’s Museum of Illustration in New York, through June 5, joining those by 10 other Art Center students whose work was also recognized by the jury of professionals assembled by the Society of Illustrators that selected winning entries based on the quality of technique, concept and skill with medium used.

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Getty Foundation Awards Multicultural Internship to Art Center Library

Internships can create powerful futures. Just ask Rachel Wen-Paloutzian. In 2009, she held a summer internship at Art Center’s James Lemont Fogg Memorial Library, supported by a grant from the Getty Foundation as part of its Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program. The internship proved to be a critical step toward her current career as special collections librarian at Loyola Marymount University’s William H. Hannon Library.

Rachel-WP

A Getty Foundation grant to Art Center made it possible for Rachel Wen-Paloutzian to intern in our library.

“Art Center was where I came up with the ideas that led to my master’s thesis at UCLA and where I first learned about metadata and digital collections,” Wen-Paloutzian explains. “Today I enjoy working with historical materials and rare books, as well as encouraging academic communities to come discover the hidden treasures of the Library. The Art Center internship was an important milestone for me.”

This summer will be the 10th year that the Foundation has awarded an internship grant to Art Center. The internship program provides full-time summer work opportunities for outstanding students who are members of groups currently underrepresented in museums and arts organizations. Since the program’s founding in 1993, 150 local arts institutions and museums, as well as the Getty Center and the Getty Villa, have hosted over 2,800 internships, exposing these students to career possibilities in the arts.

For Art Center students, faculty and staff, the opportunity to work with individuals from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives enriches the Art Center experience. Diversity and inclusion are among the College’s six governing values and principles and broadly represented throughout Art Center’s strategic plan, and the Getty Foundation grant is helping to expand the College’s efforts in this area.

For Vanessa Samaniego, a senior at the University of Notre Dame, last summer’s Multicultural Undergraduate internship was similarly transformative. “I’m grateful to have learned so much about the Library and the College,” she says, “and to have discovered a whole new field of interest — design.”

Samaniego’s library responsibilities included digitizing images, developing library materials, helping curate student work for an exhibit, cataloging children’s books, planning and promoting library events and color-editing a fashion magazine. “After being surrounded by so many entrepreneurial design students,” she continues, “I went back to school and was able to implement design concepts in an entrepreneurial course this past fall.”

The Getty Foundation fulfills the philanthropic mission of the Getty Trust by supporting individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. More information about the Foundation’s grant-making is available online at getty.edu/foundation.

Related:

Art Center Receives NEH Grant to Preserve Industrial Design History

The Librarians Have Landed! And They’re Coming to Art Center

In Search of Textured Stories: An Illustration Student Explores Children’s Books by African-American Illustrators

Art Center Takes Manhattan During 25th Annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair

As design industry professionals converge in New York this week, Art Center College of Design is prominently featured as part of the 25th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), taking place May 18–21. Attracting more than 26,000 professionals from the worlds of interior design, architecture, retail, manufacturing, distribution and development, ICFF is considered North America’s premier showcase for contemporary design.

Leading the College’s presence at this influential summit is David Mocarski, chair of graduate and undergraduate Environmental Design.

Art Center’s Booth 3016 at the show’s main venue, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, features an exhibition of work by eight students in the College’s Environmental Design program, and presents visitors an opportunity to mingle with the design community and learn more about the undergraduate and graduate programs.

Alumnus Brandon Kim and his work, Solace, will be featured in Booth 1073 at ICFF this year.

Alumnus Brandon Kim and his work, Solace, will be featured in Booth 1073 at ICFF this year.

Additionally, several alumni are represented in the prestigious ICFF Studio, which serves as a platform to match selected designers and their products with potential manufacturers.

It all takes place during NYCxDesign, a city-wide design celebration continuing through May 21 and packed with events and showcases.

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Art Center in the News, April 2013

In case you missed it, Dotted Line brings you a monthly roundup of media coverage.

From legendary designer Dieter Rams speaking at the 2013 Spring Term graduation ceremony to collaborations with Clemson University, Wieden + Kennedy and The Getty Museum, catch up on any news you may have missed with our April media roundup.

Alumnus Yves Béhar

Alumnus Yves Béhar was on the cover of San Franciso Magazine’s Innovation Issue.

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Art Center Students Win Big at College Emmy Awards

Art Center students were honored with five College Emmys at the 34th Annual College Television Awards.

Lizbeth Chappell, Tim Hendrix, Ellen Houlihan, Josue Lopez, Kathleen Lorden, Filippo Nesci, Carlo Olivares Paganoni and Justin Wells all walked away with College Emmys in hand at the awards gala on April 25, 2013.

Art Center swept the Commercial Category, with wins in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place for Lorden (Kia Soul “Funeral”), Chappell and Lopez (“Uncomfortable Situations”) and Houlihan (“Todd Glass for GLSEN”). Lorden accepted her award for First Place in the Commercial Category and thanked her professors, classmates, cast, crews, parents and husband.

In the Alternative Category, Nesci and Hendrix received 3rd Place for their “KOAN Sound – 80′s Fitness” music video. Paganoni and Wells accepted the 2nd Place award in the Children’s Program Category for their short film Cardboard Camera.

On the Thank You cam, award winners got the opportunity to express their gratitude to everyone who helped their projects become a reality, from their families and supportive donors to Art Center teachers. Chappell thanked her crew for all their hard work, as did Nesci and Hedrix, while Paganoni thanked his mom, ”who came with all her friends from Mexico to cook for the shoot.”

The College Television Awards is a national competition that recognizes excellences in college student produced video, digital and film work, with entries from hundreds of colleges and universities every year. Winners receive cash award, the opportunity to network with top television executives and recognition within the industry. Entries are judged online by members of the Television Academy who work professionally in each respective discipline, and awards are based on excellence in overall production.

You can watch all the clips from the show at the Emmys Foundation website.

Congratulations to all Art Center award-winning filmmakers!

 

Faculty Patti Podesta Went to Great Lengths to Create a “Kubrickian Perception” at LACMA

Installation image from LACMA's "Stanley Kubrick" exhibition. Photo: LACMA

Installation image from LACMA’s “Stanley Kubrick” exhibition. Photo: LACMA

There’s art in a museum, and then there is going beyond the “art” to give museum-goers an experience that’s more than the art itself. That’s the goal film and television production designer and Grad Art faculty Patti Podesta (Memento, Bobby, Love and Other Drugs) achieved when designing the Stanley Kubrick exhibition on view through June 30 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

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Art Center Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson Honored for Creative Vision by Liberty Hill Foundation

Producer, filmmaker and Art Center Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson, who has produced television shows such as NCIS; JAG and Magnum, P.I., was honored with Liberty Hill’s 2013 Creative Vision Award at the Upton Sinclair Dinner and Awards Celebration on April 23, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Charles F. Johnson with Liberty Hill Executive Director Shane Goldsmith and board member Professor Ange-Marie Hancock, a Liberty Hill Board member.

Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson with Liberty Hill Executive Director Shane Goldsmith (left) and Professor Ange-Marie Hancock, a Liberty Hill Board member.

Throughout his career, Johnson has strived to create equal and balanced opportunities for minorities in the entertainment industry. While studying law at Howard University in the late 1960s, he was active in marches and protests during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1971, he attended the Professional Theater Workshop in Hollywood, then found work in the mail room at Universal Studios before being promoted to the Business Affairs Department.

While growing up he was fascinated by stories his father told him about the Tuskegee Airmen. Johnson worked for more than 20 years to bring the story of African-American fighter pilots to the big screen. Alongside executive producer George Lucas, he produced the 2012 movie Red Tails, which won the NAACP Image Award for Best Picture.

“These young men were not encouraged to fly for their country,” said Johnson. “But they triumphed over adversity. These were men who fought racism…they did it successfully and they were heroes, not victims.”

Liberty Hill is dedicated to advancing social change through grants, campaigns and leadership training by investing in community organizers who help bring equality and opportunity to Los Angeles.

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Summer 2013 Orientation Week Welcomes New Students

This week, Art Center officially welcomes the Summer 2013 incoming class with a week of orientation activities organized by the College’s Center for the Student Experience.

Art Center students in the classroom

Art Center students sketch in Justine Parish’s Costume Design course.

“An effective orientation program for new college students is a critical component of student success,” says Dean of Students Jeffrey Hoffman. “When students feel connected, understand college culture and expectations, and get off to a good start in their classes, they are more likely to get the most out of their learning experience, to graduate, and thus realize their professional goals.”

Here’s the lineup of what’s to come to help new students maximize their education—both in and out of the classroom.

Tuesday, May 7

8:30–9 a.m.: New student orientation check in.

9–9:30 a.m.: Dean of Students Jeffrey Hoffman and Kit Baron, Senior Vice President, Admissions welcome new students.

9:45 a.m.–noon: Tour the campus and have lunch with peer mentors (12–1:30 p.m.).

1:30–3 p.m. or 3:30–5 p.m.: Undergraduate students have the option of taking digital waiver tests.

2–5:30 p.m.: Graduate student orientation and course selections.

Wednesday, May 8

8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: International student orientation. Assistant Director for International Student Advising and Programming Jeonghan Ryu and Coordinator for Intercultural and Diversity Programming Milyn Villareal welcome new international students.

10:15–11:45 a.m.: Financial literacy seminar for domestic students receiving state and federal aid with Financial Aid Associate Director Allison Lee.

12:45–4:35 p.m.: A round of sessions for all students to learn about campus sustainability, health insurance, the library, alumni relations and more.

Thursday, May 9

9:30–10:15 a.m.: Information on campus technology and equipment insurance, followed by tips on managing class schedules and academic progress.

10:15–11 a.m.: A lesson on the infamous Art Center critique, the culture of critique, researching as a resource for inspiration, and interpreting objects and images.

11 a.m.–4:15 p.m.: Students tour the James Lemont Fogg Memorial Library, take care of administrative business (ID cards, parking information, course logins) and partake in special peer mentor activity. Bring new student information form and vehicle registration.

Friday, May 10

8 a.m.–noon: Parents, spouses, partners and other family members are invited to an informal breakfast followed by campus tours and orientation.

11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.: Students lunch with their department chairs, followed by a departmental orientation.

Reminder: Classes officially begin Saturday, May 11.

Welcome to Art Center College of Design, and we wish everyone a happy start to the term!