Tag Archives: Bia Gayotto

An early peek at Art Center at Night’s newest offerings for makers, change-makers and career-changers

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Need a career makeover? Ready to explore a new path? Have a dream to fulfill?

Consider your wait over.

Next Wednesday, Art Center at Night (ACN) is holding its annual open house at Art Center’s South Campus from 7–9 p.m. At the event, visitors have a chance to explore the broad range of opportunities available through Art Center’s continuing education program.

At Experience Art Center at Night, visitors can: sit in on classes (see participating courses); observe student presentations and critiques; meet ACN’s instructors; see student work; register for Fall courses; learn about Art Center’s full-time degree programs; enter a raffle to win a free ACN course; and share their ACN experiences in the event’s first ever video confessional booth.

The event is also the perfect opportunity to learn more about and sign up for ACN’s newest courses. This coming Fall term, the program is offering more than a dozen new courses, including:

Digital Painting for Entertainment
Painting can seem complicated. But by understanding the medium and combining foundation skills with more lateral approaches, you can discover the joy of digital painting. This introductory digital painting course is designed specifically for aspiring entertainment design, entertainment arts, and illustration students. Instructor: Justin Pichetrungsi

Dimensions: Exploring Dynamic Objects
Before you can successfully create sculpture or make art, you must expand your definition of objects and object-making past the notion of craftsmanship. This course will challenge you to consider how objects can engage us emotionally and conceptually and offer you the opportunity to work with new tools and materials. Instructor: Mason Cooley

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For Art Center at Night director Dana L.Walker, “Diversity is really about all of us.”

Dana L. Walker, Photography and Imaging alumna and Art Center at Night director. Photo: Ken Merfeld.

Many students who end up studying at Art Center are first introduced to the College through Art Center at Night (ACN)—Art Center’s continuing studies program headquartered at South Campus. And chances are that at some point many of those students also came into contact with Photography and Imaging alumna Dana L. Walker (PHOT 1995). Walker serves as both the director of ACN and the managing director of Public Programs, Art Center’s suite of programs that also includes Art Center for Kids (grades 4–8), Saturday High (grades 9–12) and Summer Institute for Teachers (for K–12 educators).

In addition to her Public Programs duties, Walker is also co-chair of Art Center’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion, which the College created in 2011 as part of its Create Change Strategic Plan. She’s also a board member of the 120 Group, an ethnically diverse, alumni-based organization that promotes educational and career opportunities in art and design for underrepresented minority populations.

We sat down recently with Dana to talk about diversity, her work as an artist and what it’s like to be a student in her own program.

Dotted Line: You’re on the College’s diversity council. How do you define diversity?

Dana Walker: I don’t define it. In fact, one of the things we’ve done on the Council is purposely not define it. Because once you define it, it becomes a quantity rather than a quality. Diversity is not just about race, ethnicity or religion. It’s also economics, geography, gender and more. In fact, diversity includes so much that it’s really about all of us. And that’s what makes it challenging. To become a better artist or designer, you need to understand the world that you live in and the people who live in it. Whether it’s learning about another culture or learning how to work with different people, you can’t design for the world if you don’t understand large parts of it.

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