Tag Archives: Fred Fehlau

You go, grads: Let the Summer Graduation festivities begin!

Graduating students with friends and family following Spring 2015 commencement. Photo: John Dlugolecki

“Sun is shining. Weather is sweet. Make you wanna move your dancing feet.” Bob Marley

This Saturday, following a sometimes exhaustive, always intensive, memorably vigorous and astonishingly creative commitment to making and learning, 91 ArtCenter students will receive their diplomas. This will be the second graduation ceremony to be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, a thankfully climate-controlled venue conveniently located between Hillside and South campuses.

As the day approaches, let’s celebrate these creative and talented individuals who are about to take on the world. Here’s the lowdown for the week:

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Want to come to Art Center? Get to know Stan Kong

Nearly every current student and graduate passing through Art Center’s doors has encountered the mentorship and teaching of Stan Kong. While that may be a slight exaggeration, Stan (his chosen moniker over ‘Mr. Kong’) has been responsible for shepherding more students to Art Center than any other. He is a living embodiment of Art Center as both an alumnus (BS 83 Product) and long-time faculty member. Wednesday night over 150 alumni, parents and children of former students, current students, friends and past and present colleagues came together with raised glasses and warm embraces to celebrate Stan’s lasting impact on the institution. The reception included attendees both young and old, as well as legendary (Syd Mead, BS 59 Transportation) and influential (Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard). The student dining room filled with laughter, shouts of, ‘I love you Stan,’ and even a few tear-filled moments. Speeches were given, which included an announcement from Provost Fred Fehlau (MFA 88 Art) awarding Stan the well deserved title of Adjunct Professor.

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Art Center in the news, August – September 2013

Mego Lin and Jon Jon Augustavo on the set of “Same Love.” Photo by Craig Nisperos.

Art Center students, faculty, alumni and staff have been busy racking up awards, giving interviews and making news. Here is a selection of some recent coverage.

MTV.com, “Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Smash Hip-Hop Competition With VMA Knockout”
Two music videos directed by Art Center alum Jon Jon Agustavo with cinematography by Grad Film student Mego Lin earned some shiny Moonmen awards at the 2013 Video Music Awards.

SciArt in America
October issue featuring ACCD faculty Lita Albuquerque’s Stellar Suspension (from OBSERVE, Williamson Gallery, 2008) on the cover and a 4-page interview with Williamson Gallery director Stephen Nowlin.

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With Volunteers’ Help, Late-Night Breakfast Serves 400

For Art Center students, it’s the most anticipated meal of the term

Like holiday crowds at a big box store, students begin lining up well before the doors open. What’s the big attraction? Art Center’s Late-Night Breakfast, a longtime tradition sponsored by the Center for Student Experience (CSE), that treats students to a free breakfast buffet in the feverish final weeks of the school term. The student dining room is currently open 24 hours a day (even when food is not being served) and usually packed at this hour. The hard part, says Cafeteria Manager Ben Herrera, is clearing everyone out to set up for the event.

Provost Fred Fehlau joins fellow volunteers in serving students Late-Night Breakfast on Wed., April 10, 2013. All photos by Sylvia Sukop.

On this Wednesday night, Herrera joins nearly a dozen staff and executive team members—along with one student—volunteering their time in a show of support for students in the throes of finals. Donning black aprons and transparent latex gloves shortly before 10 p.m., the volunteers take their places behind eight stainless steel serving trays and two giant bowls of fruit salad spread out on a long table.

“What are you serving?” asks Betsy Edmunds, Associate Director of CSE’s Student Development Programs, as she walks the line greeting her team. They respond with a brightness usually reserved for daylight hours. Pancakes! Hash browns! Sausage patties! Scrambled eggs with cheese!

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Filling in the Blank: Students Bringing TEDx to Campus

Class shot of the TEDx Art Center College of Design Studio. Photo: June Korea.

Orange will mix with red this summer when the student-driven TEDx Art Center College of Design conference takes over the Hillside Campus on Saturday, June 9 to explore the event’s theme: “Design a ________ for Social Impact.” The “blank” in that title is a call-to-action designed to inspire conference attendees to come up with their own idea for how to effect positive change in the world.

Also on hand to inspire attendees will be an impressive lineup of speakers, including Doug Powell, national president of AIGA and the individual spearheading that association’s Design for Good initiative; and Cameron Tonkinwise, chair of Design Thinking and Sustainability at Parsons The New School School for Design, whose current research is exploring design-enabled sharing of resources. And for something completely different, Art Center Product Design alumnus and KILLSPENCER founder Spencer Nikosey has been tapped to provide the day’s musical entertainment.

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We Took Action: Art Center’s Second Successful Day of Service to the Community

Volunteers Receiving Instruction before working for Arroyo Seco Foundation. Photo Lucia Loiso/Art Center College of Design

Continuing a volunteer initiative launched in celebration of the College’s 80th Anniversary in 2010—and in support of the National Day of Service inspired by the life of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.—Art Center is proud to sponsor its second day of service.

“Art Center Takes Action: A Day of Service in Pasadena” kicked-off at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 18 at the College’s South Campus with a breakfast with College Provost Fred Fehlau and representatives from participating organizations. Volunteers picked up commemorative tee-shirts and mingled with leaders from the community organizations. “Designers, while expressing their own points of view, are also always working in service of others. This day is just an extension of what we as a community do all the time,” Mr. Fehlau told the group at the breakfast.

Moving Mulch for the Pasadena Boys & Girls Club. Photo Lucia Loiso/Art Center College of Design

From there, teams of Art Center volunteers grabbed a boxed lunch and were dispatched to locations around the city to take on such tasks as collecting food, facilities improvement, environmental cleanup, beautification projects and special activities.

Working in the garden of the Pasadena Boys & Girls Club. Photo Lucia Loiso/Art Center College of Design

We were reminded of President Lorne Buchman’s remarks at our first Day of Service, “when the Art Center community comes together to participate in volunteer initiatives such as this, we help elevate Art Center’s reputation not only as a good neighbor, but as a meaningful place to pursue an art and design education.”

Volunteers visited with the residents at the Villa Gardens Retirement Community, helped beautify the The Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena, removed invasive plant species from near Art Center for the Arroyo Seco Foundation and acquired goods and donations for the AIDS Service Center.

Volunteers came from the ranks of students, faculty and staff. All those involved expressed great satisfaction in being able to help the community in some way.

“In reaching out to local organizations—even more than those that participated in the Day of Service—we’ve already begun to build a volunteer network for future collaborations,” said Dean of Students Jeffrey Hoffman.

AIDS Service Center Food Drive. Photo Lucia Loiso/Art Center College of Design

Fred Fehlau Named Art Center Provost

Alumnus Fred Fehlau has been named provost of Art Center after a lengthy, global search that looked at hundreds of candidates.

Photo by Ken Merfled

Fehlau is a well-known figure on campus—as a professor he has taught in multiple departments across the College, earning seven Great Teacher Awards for teaching in the areas of Fine Art, Photography and Imaging, Graphic Design and Foundation Studies.

Over the years, he has taken on increasing roles of responsibility at the College, serving as interim chair of the Graphic Design Department, Chair of the Senior Education Committee and Chair of the Foundation Studies Department (now called Integrated Studies). Most recently, he served as institutional accreditation liaison officer and dean of Academic Affairs.

Fehlau has been involved with and highly committed to Art Center for many years. He earned both his BFA and MFA in Fine Art from Art Center, graduating with distinction from the undergraduate program and with honors from the graduate program. He is a working graphic designer and a professional studio artist whose works and curatorial projects have been featured in numerous one-person museum and gallery exhibitions around the world.

His appointment cements a new era of leadership at the College, following the announcements of Lorne Buchman as President in 2009 and Robert C. Davidson Jr. as Chairman of the Board of Trustees in February. As provost, Fehlau will lead faculty and Department Chairs in improving, designing and implementing changes to bring Art Center’s goals to fruition. Additionally, he will supervise student-related functions and services and will assist the president in various external activities, including fundraising.