Organized by MFA Illustration student Erin McManness, BFA Painting student Trey Mosely (also an intern at ABV gallery) and Professor Manker to name a few, a group of illustration and painting students got together on Wednesday, April 24th at ABV Gallery to show off their amazing illustration and painting skills to the public.  The group sat at a large table drawing and painting for hours, while networking with curious patrons of the gallery.  Erin McManness mentioned that after an event like this, she receives a spike in “likes” and friend requests on facebook, which adds to her growing base of fans and supporters of her illustration.  The artwork that was created Wednesday evening hangs in the gallery for a month and is available for purchase.  Getting together like this is a great way to garner exposure, generate sales and add pieces to everybody’s portfolios.

Professor Ann-Marie Manker and Professor Robert Brown teamed up to assist ILLU 205 students in creating movie poster designs with stencils and monoprinting.  Paying homage to designer Saul Bass, students constructed their designs based on silhouettes and bold shapes.  Students learned basics printmaking techniques and enjoyed the out of class experience.  A demo was held on Friday, February 15 and the class worked in the print shop during class the following Monday and Wednesday.  Thanks to Prof. Brown and all of printmaking students and lab techs who helped guide the way!

Wednesday, February 6th, The UNI Intercultural Club hosted a Lunar New Year Celebration in the Hub to highlight all of the countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year.  Professor Manker’s ILLU 205 course participated by creating “Year of the Snake” poster designs that were on exhibit alongside the Lunar New Year celebrations, decorations and activities.  There were student performances, a character inking workshop, home made dumplings, games, prizes and more.  Check out some of the artwork that was on display by students James Atwood, Daniel Cheng, Vivian Hansen, Khalid Roseman, Kellisy Sarkisian, Chani Stanley and Shir Wen Sun.

Motion Media VJ projections fill the screen for the "Dream Machines" installation in Event Space 4C with experimental animation by David Howard (ANIM) on the far left (Photo by Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC)

Seventeen SCAD Atlanta students from seven majors enrolled in Animation, Motion Media, Sculpture, and Visual Effects classes created a joint installation show entitled “Dream Machines” at the end of Winter quarter 2012. Inspired by the work of pioneering experimental video artist, Brion Gyson, students created VJ segments, technological gizmos, and fine arts-oriented projections to convert Event Space 4C into an immersive light show environment, attended by over 200 guests. Expanding on Professor Sandro Imperato’s existing course, Alternative Methods in Motion Media Design (MOME 760), Professors Steve Jarvis, Clarke Stallworth, and Becky Wible Searles coordinated their respective courses — Technology in Sculpture (SCPT 315), Digital Fine Art (VSFX 321), and Experimental Animation (ANIM 426/764) — with Imperato to jointly develop and promote the show. All four professors are on board to collaborate on a second annual show for Winter 2013.

Left Above: David Howard (ANIM) helps Maria DelCastillo (MOME) set up her experimental animation installation before the show. Right Above: Rose M Barron (PHOT) coaches her actors before her Motion Media installation performance piece. (Photos by Jimmy Searles)

A "Dream Machines" guest views magic lantern-type device, "Permutation", by Cat Callero (SCPT) (Photo by Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC)

Jonathan Bayens (VSFX), Kyle Bolton (ITGM), Bo Cai (ANIM), and Hank Silman (ITGM) worked together in Digital Fine Art (VSFX 321) to create the video game, "Dreamscape and Ascendancy to Heaven" (Photo by Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC)

Left Above: Dan Wegendt (MOME) VJs in his over-sized self portrait cartoon head. Right Above: John-Michael Kirkconnell (ANIM) demonstrates his hand-cranked experimental animation gizmo. (Left photo by JImmy Searles; Right photo by Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC)

Animation Aesthetics (ANIM 705) students contributed sketchbook pages which Professor Becky Wible Searles printed on acetate and fabricated into the "Animator's Dream" (Photo by Becky Wible Searles)

Above Left: MOME VJ show in progress. (Photo by Jimmy Searles)

Above Right: Meredith Lear’s (PNTG) “Smart Quilt” featuring arduino interactive sensors. (Photo by Becky Wible Searles)

Whether the characters are made out of clay, foam rubber, cut-out paper, or mixed-media, students in Professor Becky Wible Searles’ stop motion classes work in partners and teams to make their puppets come to life. Shooting collaboratively mirrors industry practice while helping students learn faster by helping each other. After creating several short projects from research and design to model fabrication to final animation, students gain greater appreciation for the production challenges in current feature films such as the recently released Sony / Aardman clay animation, “Pirates!”, and upcoming mixed-media stop motion films, “ParaNorman” produced by Laika and Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie.”

Jennifer Avillar (PNTG) secures her puppet to the stage from underneath while Maureen Monaghan (ANIM) and Colin Wheeler (ANIM) position their puppets for the shot

Jenna Zona (ANIM) assists Stephanie Miranda (ANIM), smoothing out clay for a shot of Stephanie's character eating a shoe

Stephanie Miranda (ANIM) adjusts her clay character as Jenna Zona (ANIM) checks the latest shot captured in Stop Motion Pro

Interactive Design and Game Development students are familiar with the business of making games, but often don’t have the time to branch into the complex field of animation in order to spice up the movement elements. To promote industry-style collaborations, ITGM Professors Chris Dodson and David Spencer have reached out to Animation students in order to get them involved with senior studio game projects. In our first such effort, ITGM student Nate Lemieux and ANIM student Chad Cox (shown below) have begun collaboration on the game project Luminosity.

Interactive and Animation students working on Luminosity

Sculpture Professors Steve Jarvis and Susan Krause collaborated to create a scale model of “Humethane”, a Human Waste Composting System that captures methane gas which in turn can then be used as a fuel source. The project was included in Constructed Interference, an exhibition at the Rollins School of Public and Environmental Health at Emory University in Atlanta from March 26 through May 17, 2012. Focusing on the environmental implications of sanitation in contemporary society, Jarvis and Krause were invited to participate in a panel discussion about the work in the exhibition during the show opening.

This Spring, for the fourth year running, the Art History Department organized the Lost Art Contest and Symposium. Throughout the year, students submitted their own reconstructions of lost works of art or processes based on written descriptions and art historical research. Thirteen finalists were selected from those projects that best reflected their respective cultures through both the artistic visual representation and an accompanying written statement. The work was exhibited at the symposium on April 13 and the students presented their projects to an audience of peers and an interdisciplinary panel of judges, representing both the Fine and Liberal Arts. Winners included senior Illustration major Leslie Wright (Best in Show) for her Cubist painting after Picasso, junior Animation major Melissa Cordova (Best Artwork) for her Sophie Taeuber-Arp marionette, and senior Sculpture major Danny Ashby (Best Written Work) for his recreation of Salvador Dali’s paranoiac critical method.

Lost Art Exhibition, April 13, 2012, Event Space 4C

Lost Art Finalists 2012 (from left to right): Susan Kang, Sequential Art; Danny Ashby, Sculpture; Amie Brink, Photography; Brian Hathaway, Animation; Kali LaGue, Fashion; Cody Hard, Interactive Design and Game Development; Leslie Wright, Illustration; Kathy Ryan, Animation; Catlin Scroggie, Animation; Melissa Cordova, Animation; Andra Hiles, Fashion Marketing and Management; and Jordan Ling, Animation

Lost Art Winners 2012 (left to right): Danny Ashby, Sculpture, Best Written Work; Leslie Wright, Illustration, Best in Show; Melissa Cordova, Animation, Best Artwork

Best in Show Winner Leslie Wright and her Cubist painting after Picasso

Now accepting submissions for 2013! Contact Professor Emily Webb (ewebb@scad.edu) for further information.

After  discussions in Collaborative Learning Council meetings about how we can make SCAD Counseling and Student Support Services (CS3) more visible in the classroom, Prof. Ann-Marie Manker and Taffey Cunnien created House Calls. Faculty can now contact atlcounseling@scad.edu to request a counselor for a 10-minute wellness workshop during class on any of the following topics:

• Healthy Stress Management
• Managing Depression and Anxiety
• Substance Abuse Prevention
• Developing Healthy Sleep Habits
• Managing Time Effectively
• Study Skills
• Managing Test Anxiety

 SCAD Atlanta students from Animation, Motion Media, and Interactive Design / Game Development teamed up in Professor Becky Wible Searles’ ANIM 426 / 764 Experimental Animation classes to create short LEGO brick films, mentored by Keith Malone, Creative Director from LEGO Systems. Instead of using pre-made kits, students were challenged to create custom stop motion animation models from six giant boxes of mixed individual LEGO elements provided by Malone.

Three of the the films were selected for the 2012 SCAD Atantamation screening at the Landmark Midtown Arts Center: “Mix and Match” by John-Michael Kirkconnell (ANIM MFA) and Kaona McGowman (ITGM MFA), mixing chalk drawings with LEGO sculptures; “Your Brain on LEGO” by John McLaughlin (MOME BFA) and Kyle Parker (ANIM MFA) combining pixilation of a live action boy with “conjumble-mation” unattached LEGO constructions; and “Synthesis” by Erin Burke (ANIM MFA) and Jessi Esparza (MOME BFA) featuring continuously morphing scenes of “natural” LEGO elements. For more information, contact Becky at rwiblese@scad.edu

Kaona McGowan created LEGO typography for her collaboration on the stop motion and chalk drawing film, "Mix and Match" with John-Michael Kirkconnell (ANIM)

John McLaughlin (MOME) and Kyle Parker (ANIM) built and animated models in a loose LEGO style they called "conjumblemation" for their stop motion / pixilation film, "Your Brain on LEGO"

Jessi Esparza (MOME) positions LEGO pieces while her partner, Erin Burke (ANIM) gets ready to shoot frames for their stop motion film, "Synthesis"

John Michael Kirkconnel (ANIM) and John McLaughlin (MOME) create stop motion models from loose LEGO bricks