Category Archives: Student Life

Spring 2013 orientation week welcomes new students

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

“New student orientation sets the stage for the success of our students during their time at Art Center,” said Dean of Students Jeffrey Hoffman. “Helping students feel connected to each other and the College is critical.”

Here’s the lineup of what’s to come so new students get the most out of their education — in and out of the classroom.

Tuesday, Jan. 8

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

9:30 a.m.: Art Center President Lorne M. Buchman, Dean of Students Jeffrey Hoffman and Admissions Vice President Kit Baron welcome new students.

9:45 a.m.–noon: Campus tours, followed by a 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.

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Valedictorian Roy Tatum Shares with Graduation Crowd Lessons He Learned at Art Center

Valedictorian Roy Tatum addresses the Summer 2012 graduation crowd.

At last Saturday’s Summer 2012 graduation, Graphic Design graduate and Art Center valedictorian Roy Tatum shared with the assembled crowd some lessons about life, learning and the design process that he picked up while at the College.

Here are a few highlights.

On his high school aspirations:

While everyone I went to high school was making plans for college, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to attend [college]. I hadn’t found something I was passionate enough about to devote a significant amount of time.

On something a fellow musician told him:

I had just finished playing a show and I was talking to the drummer of the band that had played after us. He had gone to an art and design school in Los Angeles and he told me about his experience and I thought, That doesn’t even sound like school. That just sounds awesome.

On Art Center’s Public Programs:

Like many of you, I started by attending Art Center at Night. I remember being so excited and eager to learn from the teacher during the first night of class. I came home and thought to myself, This is what I love, this is what I’m passionate about. I was so excited I couldn’t wait to apply to the day program.

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Art Center Promotes Wellness – Committed to Creatives’ Success

BEING WELL: Introducing Darshana Lele, Ph.D., Art Center’s New Director of Counseling and Wellness

Art Center's new Director of Counseling and Wellness Services, Darshana Lele, Ph.D. photo by Chuck Spangler

Art Center's new Director of Counseling and Wellness Services, Darshana Lele, Ph.D.

You may be a brilliant artist or designer, but if your health and emotional well-being are not optimum, your short and long-term success is at risk.

That’s why the campus community recently welcomed Darshana Lele, Ph.D., as Art Center’s first Director of Counseling and Wellness.  The move reflects the College’s increased commitment to help students succeed, as part of the Create Change initiative.

“Our students are famously known for working hard to be at the top of their game, sometimes at the unacceptable cost of their own well-being,” said Jeffrey Hoffman, M.S., Dean of Students.  With Dr. Lele’s leadership, experience and dedication to improving the balance between the intense challenge and the vital level of support necessary for our students to be successful, we look forward to more on-campus and off-campus opportunities to stay well – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”

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EcoCouncil Throws a Spring Food Garden Party to Introduce Art Center’s New Executive Chef

Art Center Executive Chef Chris Haydostian (center) with EcoCouncil co-presidents Jenn Kuca (left) and Erik Molano (right). Photo: Chuck Spangler

Guest blog post by EcoCouncil co-presidents Erik Molano and Jenn Kuca

This past Friday, Sodexo collaborated with EcoCouncil to unite the campus community for a cooking demonstration at our Art Center Food Garden. Sodexo has been working with us consistently over the past few years to support student-led sustainability efforts, as well as campus-wide environmental responsibility initiatives.

Now that the weather has been warming up, we thought EcoCouncil should take the opportunity to get students, faculty and administration out in the fresh, open air. The new Food Garden was the perfect choice to discuss our event’s theme: garden-fresh food and easy-to-prepare snacks.

Chef Chris Haydostian and his English Pea Pureé. Photo: Chuck Spangler.

Due to Sodexo’s commitment to global sustainability in it’s Better Tomorrow Plan, we felt more than excited to introduce Christopher Haydostian, Art Center’s new eco-conscious executive chef.

Haydostian opened his talk with an overview of Sodexo’s partnership with local food suppliers and use of sustainably-sourced seafood, which many students and staff were unaware of. He also provided a little history about his journey to Art Center, including his work in the world of gourmet food, and his alma mater Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, our neighbor here in Pasadena.

Haydostian showed EcoCouncil and our guests how to make an English Pea Pureé that was served on garlic baguette slices and topped with roasted red peppers and feta cheese. All guests were able to sample the food right after his demonstration, and the recipe is now available on the Sodexo @ Art Center Facebook page.

EcoCouncil advisor Heidrun Mumper-Drumm and other EcoCouncil members showed guests around the garden and provided a seed giveaway, so that everyone could get in on the gardening action. The Spring Food Garden Party was not only fun, but it was collaborative, informational and, most importantly, delicious.

The Spring Food Garden Party in full effect. Photo: Pei Liew

Local Museums Open Doors for College Night

Each spring, local cultural institutions LACMA (The Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and The Getty Center open their doors to college students for a free night of culture and fun.

College Night at LACMA is being held this year on Thursday, April 5 from 8-10 pm. Share your ideas in a gallery discussion, create art, and enjoy a free reception in your honor. Bring your friends and explore the special exhibitions In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States and California Design 1930–1969: Living in a Modern Way. See a special viewing of Chris Burden’s Metropolis II in action.

College Night LACMA

There will also be a performance of Analog Among Nations (Mostly) Iteration 4 The Women by Renée Petropoulos. Inspired by the lives of the artists in the In Wonderland exhibition, this improvised and participatory performance is a poetic sound work composed of spoken word, recorded national anthems, and other material impressions.

College ID is required. Parking is free after 7 pm. For more information, see College Night LACMA.

College Night at The Getty Center will be held Monday, April 16 from 6-9:30 pm. Enjoy special presentations, music, food, and other surprises exclusively for college students!

Get exclusive access to the featured exhibition Herb Ritts: L.A. Style. Herb Ritts (1952–2002) was a Los Angeles-based photographer who established an international reputation for his distinctive photographs of fashion models, nudes, and pop icons. Also on view: Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity and highlights from the Getty Museum’s permanent collection, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Monet, and others.

After your tour of the museum, enjoy music and free food outdoors while taking in the spectacular views.

For more information, see College Night Getty.

Reservations recommended but not required.

Celebration of Cultures Week in Pictures

Every year, the Art Center community highlights the wonderful cultural diversity and international presence on campus with the Celebration of Cultures Week.

We celebrated this past week with international and multicultural entertainment, activities and food  offered in collaboration with ACSG, Student Clubs and Organizations, the Library, the Cafeteria, and other areas of the College.

Here are a selection of images from the week. For a complete set, check out Art Center on Flickr.

Korean Student Performing Calligraphy

Students Enjoying Swedish Waffles

Chinese Sugar Art

Polynesian Dancers

Screening of “Somewhere to Disappear” this Friday Night. FREE!

Art Center’s Photography Department will be hosting a free film screening of Somewhere to Disappear, a documentary film with Alec Soth, on Friday, March 23 at 7:30 pm at the Ahmanson Auditorium on Hillside Campus. Light refreshments will be available before the screening. Students, faculty, staff and the public are all invited.

Somewhere to Disappear is a 57 minute documentary that features photographer Alec Soth. Alec’s project Broken Manual undertakes to write a guide that will provide the basic tips on how to disappear in America. Filmmakers Laure Flammarion & Arnaud Uyttenhove follow Alec Soth on his search for men who live on the margins of society; people who ran away from their natural environment, to find their own world. As modern day hermits, they find peace in unaffected places of the country, whether it be a cabin in the mountains, a dark cave or in the expansive desert. Each of these people chose to live in a different way. The filmmakers wanted to find out why they live like this: did they deliberately make this choice? Do they regret it? What are they really looking for? Did they find it?  Check out the trailer at http://www.somewheretodisappearthefilm.com/trailers.

Alec Soth (b. 1969) is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. In 2008, a large survey exhibition of Soth’s work was exhibited at Jeu de Paume in Paris and Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. In 2010, the Walker Art produced a large survey exhibition of Soth’s work entitled From Here To There. Alec Soth’s first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, was published by Steidl in 2004 to critical acclaim.  Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007) Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) The Last Days of W (2008), Broken Manual (2010). In 2008, Soth started his own publishing company, Little Brown Mushroom. Soth is represented by Sean Kelly in New York, Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis, and is a member of Magnum Photos.

Celebration of Cultures: March 19-23

Every year, the Art Center community highlights the wonderful cultural diversity and international presence on campus with the Celebration of Cultures Week.

Next week, March 19-23, there will be international and multicultural entertainment, activities and foods in collaboration with ACSG, Student Clubs and Organizations, the Library, the Cafeteria, and other areas of the College. These events are free and open to all staff, faculty, and students. Please join us next week to celebrate everyone’s heritage as a community.

Monday, March 19
10:00-11:00 AM: Swedish Waffle Day | Bridge
1:00-2:00 PM: Desserts-Around-the-World | Bridge

Tuesday, March 20
All Day: National Dress Day*
12:45 PM: National Dress Day Group Photo* | Bridge
11:00 AM-3:00 PM: Travel Slide Show | Student Dining Room
12:30-1:30 PM: Mariachi Band | Student Dining Room

Wednesday, March 21
All Day: Persian New Year Celebration | Student Dining Room
12:00-2:00 PM: Persian Calligraphy | Student Dining Room
12:00-2:00 PM: Art & Craft Bazaar | Cafe Entrance

Thursday, March 22
All Day: Experience Asia
12:00-2:00 PM: Chinese Sugar Art | Bridge
12:30-1:30 PM: “Gayageum” Performance | Student Dining Room
12:30-2:00 PM: Korean Calligraphy Session | Student Dining Room
1:00-2:00 PM: Japanese Sweet Treats | Bridge
7:00-9:00 PM: Memoirs of a Geisha Film Screening | Faculty Dining Room

Friday, March 23
All Day: Australian “Walkabout” Treasure Quest | Sculpture Garden
1:00-1:30 PM: Polynesian Dancers | Student Dining Room

All Week
Check out Library Staff Picks of Cultural Readings and Movies!
Enjoy International Cuisines Served in the Cafeteria!

Some events may be cancelled or changed without prior notice.

*This year, we want to encourage everyone (students, faculty and staff) to share their heritage by wearing the national dress of the country your family is from or have an affinity for. We want to give you plenty of notice to retrieve that special outfit out of storage.  National Dress Day will be on Tuesday, March 20.  Everyone who wears his or her cultural dress will get prizes, and we will have a group photo on the Bridge.

If You Don’t Root for Art Center, The Bad Guys Win

Tomorrow night, Friday, March 16 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., student teams from Art Center, Caltech, Le Cordon Bleu, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pacific Oaks College and Pasadena City College will vie for top honors in the third annual Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament at PCC’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Admission is free and open to the public and everyone is invited to attend and root for their favorite teams. (But you better root for Art Center.)

Art Center Collegiate Field Tourny Team 2010

For the inaugural Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament in 2010, the Art Center team based their uniforms on the College's first president, Tink Adams.

The field tournament is a somewhat wacky event comprised of challenges derived from the participating schools’ areas of expertise. Challenges in this year’s tourney include the Amazing Russet Race, Monster Croquet, Frisbee Touchdown Toss, Lego Car Design Challenge, Minute to Win It Marathon, Pandora’s Box and the School Spirit Competition.

  • The Amazing Russet Race – This is inspired by the fact that Le Cordon Bleu students hone their craft by learning how to slice and dice many foods, including potatoes. In this challenge, teams will be divided into “stuffers” and “pickers” who must fill uniforms with potatoes. The first team to amass 500 pounds of spuds will win the challenge.
  • Frisbee Touchdown Toss – This is a tribute to the fact that Frisbee golf was invented in Pasadena and the first Frisbee disc course was constructed and is still in operation here. (who knew?) Each team will have three opportunities to throw Frisbees into the end zones of the stadium while team members attempt to catch them. The team with the most points will win the challenge.
  • Lego Car Design Challenge – This pays homage to Art Center’s legendary Transportation Design Program. Using creativity and innovative design solutions, each team will race to assemble a Lego car where function meets style. Cars will be judged on design and speed.
  • Minute to Win It Marathon – A nod to the popular TV show, Fuller Seminary will lead competitors through obstacles such as Bobble-head, Hut-Hut-Hike, and Going the Distance.
  • Monster Croquet – Each team will select members to hit a giant beach ball with a mallet through balloon arches that serve as wickets. The team that succeeds in getting their beach ball through all the wickets the fastest wins.
  • Pandora’s Box – This challenge plays homage to each school’s area of expertise.  Multiple relays will test strengths of feat, faith, design, taste buds and more as competitors play the expanse of the football field–end zone to end zone.
  • School Spirit Competition – There’s absolutely nothing uniform about Pasadena’s superior institutions of higher learning, but uniforms for each team will be designed expressly for this competition by the schools they represent. The best team uniform based on attractiveness, originality and thematic connection to the school’s learning focus will win this challenge.

Free parking is available in Lot 5 at the corner of Del Mar Boulevard and Bonnie Street. Jackie Robinson Stadium is located on the south side of the PCC campus near Del Mar Boulevard between Hill and Bonnie avenues. [map]

The Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament is sponsored by the City of Pasadena. For more information call 626.744.7216.