Tag Archives: Alumni

Awards Honor Exceptional Alumni

Each December, the College and Office of Alumni Relations present the Art Center Alumni Awards to three outstanding alumni. The winners, chosen by the Art Center community, are recognized during the Fall Term graduation ceremony. We are honored to announce the following Art Center Alumni Award winners:

  • Kenji Ekuan PROD ’57, awarded the Lifetime Achievement Alumni Award in recognition of his professional and creative accomplishments with his design company, GK Design Group. Founded in 1957, it is Japan’s largest design consultancy.
  • Michael Osborne GRPH ’78, awarded the Outstanding Service Alumni Award in honor of his humanitarian impact through his nonprofit design studio, Joey’s Corner. Named in honor of his late son, Joey’s Corner provides pro bono, strategic creative services to nonprofit groups focusing on health care, children’s issues and social causes.
  • Eric Benjamin Nyquist ILLU ’07, awarded the Young Alumni Innovator Award in recognition of his notable professional and creative innovation working with a range of clients including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goldie Cosmetics, Walt Disney, Heineken USA, VIBE magazine, Jeep, Lexus and Wall Street Journal Magazine.

Congratulations to our alumni for these well-deserved marks of distinction!

Building Beautiful and Fast Cars That Keep Your Conscience Clear

A great article in the L.A. Times about alumnus Henrik Fisker, one of the world’s most highly regarded designers of luxury automobiles.

Fisker’s Karma is the first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and the first vehicle released by Fisker Automotive. The Times says it can go from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds. Not bad for a gas-electric hybrid.

“Fisker is known for designs that are fresh as well as classic. “He can do something new and contemporary—but do it with an echo of the brand legacy,” said Stewart Reed, chairman of the transportation design department at the Art Center College of Design. “He understands the importance of proportion and architecture. But he also understands that design, at the end of the day, is a business tool.”

Read more: Henrik Fisker’s cars roar into the future

The History of Art, Through the Lens of Los Angeles

An interesting post today at The Huffington Post’s new L.A. section by Michael Govan, director of the LACMA, about the distinct style of art that has come out of Los Angeles.

Govan writes: “Art history can be broken into distinctions of time, but also of place. One can discern differences of style and influence, for instance, between 17th Century French painting and that of Italy. So too have distinctions in American art become apparent in the twentieth century when looking at the artists of New York and those of California.”

The article also mentions Art Center alumnus and sculptor Jorge Pardo and his recent pre-Columbian art installation at LACMA.

Read more: The History of Art, Through the Lens of Los Angeles

Alumna Introduces Chinese to Fine Arts Curriculum

This spring the Kansas City Art Institute will introduce a Chinese language and culture course into its curriculum. The course will provide an introduction to Chinese characters, and students will focus on daily conversational skills, including speaking, listening, reading and writing standard Mandarin Chinese. The course also incorporates relevant topics related to Chinese arts and culture from the past to the present.

Art Center Illustration alumna Valda Hsu, born and raised in Taiwan, will teach the course. Hsu came to the U.S. in 1983 to attend Art Center. Prior to her journey, she received advanced training in traditional Chinese brush painting with landscape master Yu Wei.She teaches Chinese brush painting for adults at KCAI, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas, where she is also special programs instructor for Chinese language and culture. 

Hsu said her frequent visits to China and Taiwan have inspired her to teach Chinese to visual artists “in order to promote the understanding of its culture and its timeless, authentic art form through the language.”

Fisker Karma Wins Accolades

The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid electric car has received the 2009 Spark Design and Architecture Award, a competition promoting great design and designers and encouraging creativity.

The Karma is the first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and the first vehicle released by Fisker Automotive. The company’s CEO and design director is alumnus Henrik Fisker, acclaimed designer of iconic cars such as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

Congrats to Henrik and his team! Read more at autoevolution:  Fisker Karma Wins 2009 Spark Design and Architecture Award and Fisker Automotive: The Karma

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

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!

Schwab Poster Earns Accolades

You might have already noticed the striking image used for the Campaign for Art Center, created by acclaimed graphic designer and alumnus Michael Schwab. We’re happy to report that the poster has won a second gold award in the international design publication Graphis, and will be featured in the Graphis Poster Annual 2010. Earlier this year, it was added to the permanent collection of San Francisco’s Legion of Honor fine arts museum. Schwab’s donation of time, vision and talent underscores the lasting impact that an Art Center education has had on his life and creative career. Congratulations, Michael!

Read more about the poster and the genesis of the Art Center pencil in this intersting article at @Issue.

Alumni Featured in PDC Show

More Diana Thater news: She has curated a very cool show with several Art Center alumni at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood as part of their Design Loves Art program. The program features a series of rotating contemporary art exhibitions and talks with artists, galleries, curators and architects in ongoing project rooms as well as exhibitions, multimedia events and film/video screenings.

Comprised of three exhibits, Thater’s show opens this Friday, Nov. 6. Be sure to stop by!