Youngkin Tribute Tomorrow

Please join us for a tribute and reception honoring the beloved longtime faculty member, alumnus and artist Ted Youngkin, PROD ’54. Tomorrow’s event will include a tribute, panel discussion and film followed by a reception.

Youngkin, who died last year, was one of Art Center’s most revered faculty members, educating and inspiring generations of students with his fierce crits and high standards. He taught with intensity and perfection that expressed the very soul of the College, and that spirit continues to this day.

His daughter Heidi wrote this touching tribute to her father, a must-read. 

To RSVP for the event, contact Alumni Relations at alumni@artcenter.edu or 626.396.2386. 

Ted Youngkin Tribute
Nov. 21, 6:30-10:30 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium
Art Center Hillside Campus

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Exploring Bauhaus

There’s no question that Art Center was profoundly influenced by Bauhaus. That’s why this recent New York Times article on the movement and the new MoMA show, Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, caught our eye.

Nicolai Ouroussoff writes: “A big surprise is how much of the school’s mission still feels relevant, from the effort to come to terms with mind-bending technological advances to the desire to serve an audience beyond the usual cultural elites. It’s true this mission was pursued with an optimism that would be hard to conjure today, but if the show has a message, it’s that a little naiveté can be productive.”

Read more about it: Finding a Bit of Animal House in the Bauhaus.

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Meet Orlando Sanabria

Graphic Design student Orlando Sanabria says that Art Center’s experienced instructors have made a huge difference in his time here.

“The projects I’ve worked on have challenged me, and helped me to develop my skills as a designer,” he says. “The high level of networking with working professionals has exposed me to the different fields within graphic design. And critiques with instructors have shown me how to fully utilize my creativity.”

Read more about Orlando’s time here, as well as how a class project led to his involvement with his neighborhood council, in this great interview.

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Niero’s Elle Among Best Designs of the Year

Environmental Design alumnus John Niero’s Elle is a finalist in the fourth annual Interior Design Best of Year Awards in the Seating: Contract/Lounge Category.

The Best of Year Awards is the preeminent design competition recognizing superior interior design projects and products in over 50 categories. More than 600 products were entered in this year’s competition. The awards ceremony will be held Dec. 3 in New York.

Earlier this year, Elle was awarded Best of NeoCon 2009 in the Seating: Sofas and Lounge category at the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago.

Congrats, John!

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A Day in the Life: Safe Agua Chile

AshokaTech is following 12 Art Center students who travelled to Chile for the Safe Agua Chile collaboration with Un Techo Para Chile. This installment has the students arriving in Santiago, ready to spend 12 days living among the area’s poorest families in the slums.

“The excitement and incertitude are overwhelming. All they need to do now is focus on one question: How can they work with people living in Chile’s campamentos to develop new tools for using, storing and transporting water in order to help improve the quality of life?”

Follow along with us at AshokaTech!

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Celebrating World AIDS Day with a Tribute to Keith Haring

In 1989, prolific artist and social activist Keith Haring visited Art Center to paint an interior mural which still hangs at Hillside Campus. Painted over the course of two days, the mural was intended to be a “permanent memorial to members of the art community who have died of AIDS, and also serve as a symbol of hope and compassion.” Haring passed away two months later from AIDS-related complications.

In recognition of Haring’s lasting contribution to the College, and in celebration of World AIDS Day, faculty member Ramone Muñoz asked students to take visual themes from the mural and use them in creating educational about safe sex and the tragic loss of life due to this disease. The posters will be exhibited on campus beginning the week of Nov. 30 with a reception honoring Haring and celebrating World AIDS Day.

The Haring tribute reception will take place Monday, Nov. 30 at 6 pm at the James Lemont Fogg Memorial Library at Hillside Campus. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, read the press release or call 626.396.2338.

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A Gamer’s Childhood Dream Come True

Our dream vehicle has finally arrived! Student Garnet Hertz has taken a classic OutRun arcade cabinet and made it a real, live vehicle … that goes as fast as 20 mph. Hertz is working on an iPhone 3GS app that uses the phone’s camera and GPS to detect your position and shape of the road, and translate that information into a digital OutRun track. 

Don’t miss the video behind the jump.

Continue reading →

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Meet Magdalena Paluch

GradID student Magdalena Paluch says that one of the most challenging aspects of Art Center can be prioritizing.

“Sometimes I feel like a little girl in a candy store, there are so many classes I want to take, so many instructors I want to work with, so many projects I want to do—and not nearly enough time to do it all,” says Paluch.

Read more about her outlook on Art Center, her favorite projects, and what it was like moving to Southern California from Poland in this great interview.

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Edge. Edgier. Edgiest.

We’re excited to welcome Jan Chipchase to campus for what will certainly be a fascinating lecture on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1 pm at Hillside Campus’ Ahmanson Auditorium.

Chipchase is a global traveler and corporate anthropologist working for Nokia as principal engineer of the Nokia Research Center in Tokyo. Drawing on issues related to the design research he conducts—in part on behalf of his employer—he writes about the collision of people, society and technology for his website, Future Perfect.

Chipchase will discuss the risks and rewards of conducting field research in less predictable environments, drawing on research from Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Uganda. The lecture is presented by Designmatters, Art Center’s social impact educational department.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, contact Designmatters at designmatters@artcenter.edu.

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The First Drop to a Life-Changing Story: Safe Agua Chile

The editors of the AshokaTech blog, a great reference on innovation and social enterprise, are running a series of articles detailing a current Art Center studio collaboration with the NGO Un Techo Para Chile. For the studio, facilitated by the College’s social impact educational department Designmatters, students are challenged to develop ways to help slum-dwellers store, transport, use and conserve water. Their challenge is to create low cost solutions that can really be used in the real world.

Such an exciting project. Be sure to follow along with us at AshokaTech!

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