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ART CENTER NEWSWIRE - 21 January 2002

To keep abreast of the exciting and innovative ideas, people and projects at Art Center College of Design, the media and general public can subscribe to Art Center's news digest by sending email to requests@lists.artcenter.edu and in the body of the mail type "subscribe newswire" (without quotes). We highlight some of the newsmakers in our Art Center community monthly.

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(626) 396-2394; fax (626) 683-9233.


PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

Los Angeles TimesAn international competition for a new $171-million Caltrans headquarters building in downtown Los Angeles was won by Morphosis. The selection committee was co-chaired by Maria Contreras-Sweet, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency that oversees Caltrans, and Art Center College of Design president Richard Koshalek. Clearly the product of higher design intelligence, Morphosis' proposal has a conceptual clarity that is rarely seen in government buildings, according to Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff. With the completion of such projects as the Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, Morphosis has emerged as one of America's creative powerhouses.


AWARDS

Great Teachers AwardsThe fall 2001 graduating class of Art Center College of Design acknowledged and thanked 12 exceptional instructors for their inspiration, professionalism and friendship during their time at Art Center. Celebrated were instructors James Wojtowicz/ Advertising; Tracy Stone/Environmental; Michael Gottlieb/Film; Tony Zepeda/Fine Arts; Carla Figueroa/Graphics; Gary Meyer/Illustration; Paul Jasmin/Photo; Daniel Packman/Product; Seung-Jae Min/Transportation; Shou Zhi Wang/Liberal Arts; John Chambers/Computer Graphics; and Roland Young/Foundation.

International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply FairSeveral Art Center students placed in the IWFS-USA show. Eric Su Shin received first place in seating; Kelly Kyung Lee received first place in upholstery; a merit award in upholstery was issued to Claire Chong Mee Jung. Chiaki Kanda, Eugene Shon and Sky Kogachi were also finalists in various categories.

American Institute of ArchitectsEnvironmental faculty member Annie Chu's firm Chu+Gooding Architects received a merit award from the Los Angeles chapter for the design of "The Architecture of R.M. Schindler" exhibit at MOCA.

Mary Pickford AwardStudio director Vincent Sherman was the recipient of the 2001 Mary Pickford Award, presented by Film Department Chair Bob Peterson. The annual award is given to an extraordinary individual in the area of theater, film, and television. Sherman, 95, is one of the few directors left that worked in the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, directing more than 30 feature films that included such stars as Joan Crawford, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogard, Errol Flynn and Bette Davis. Sherman's son, Eric Sherman, is an Art Center instructor and recently hosted an on-campus screening and discussion of his father's film, "The Adventures of Don Juan." Mary Pickford, known as America's Sweetheart, starred on stage and screen for over 26 years, winning the Academy Award for best actress in her first talking film. Upon retiring from public life, she dedicated her energies toward philanthropic causes, Art Center being a recipient since 1985. Art Center instructor Francine Parker holds the distinction of being Art Center's Mary Pickford Professor, an honor established by the foundation to support the college's talented young filmmakers.

National Association for Art CriticsThe Critics' first place award for architecture/design exhibition was awarded to Environmental faculty member Annie Chu's firm Chu+Gooding Architects for the design of "The Architecture of R.M. Schindler" exhibit at MOCA.


COMMUNITY

L.A. WeeklyProvost Ron Jones moderated a panel discussion and slide show on "Public Art: What It Is, Isn't and Should Be" at the Armory Center for the Arts.

Pasadena Arts CommissionThe Commission recently honored community arts leaders Jay Belloli and the Light-Bringer Project for their contributions to the arts. Belloli was noted for his organization of numerous art exhibits, including "Radical Past: Contemporary Art & Music in Pasadena 1960-1970" and "The Universe." The Williamson Gallery was part of these innovative exhibits that raised the visibility of and generated public interest in local art venues. Art Center has partnered with the Light-Bringer Project in a variety of endeavors including the City of the Future project, Family Portrait Day and the annual Chalk Festival.

California Institute of TechnologyThe Graduate Media Design Program recently presented its summer 2001 Super Studio project, Code23, at Caltech's Moore Laboratory. Code 23 is a transmedia public information campaign designed to inform teens about the consequences of genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project. Code23 at Caltech is the first presentation of the LectureDemo Exchange Series, an interscholastic idea exchange project between Art Center and Caltech sponsored by Art Center's Office of Design Transfer.

The Starbright FoundationThe Digital Media Department announced a special project course for spring. "Creating Expressive Technologies for Seriously Ill Children" project will be a collaborative effort between Art Center and The Starbright Foundation, a national non-profit organization chaired by Steven Spielberg. Starbright is dedicated to the creation of media and technology-based programs that empower children to cope with the psychological and social challenges that accompany illness. This interdisciplinary course will be co-taught by Roland Young and Phil van Allen. The classroom experience will provide students with skills to use the tools of design to develop new strategies to help improve the quality of life for children and adolescents living with a serious illness. Students of all majors, fifth term and above, including graduate students will participate.


INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES

California Joint Committee on the ArtsSenior Vice President, International Initiatives Erica Clark was a distinguished presenter at a recent meeting. "The Arts Advantage to California in the Changing World" included presentations by Barry Hessenius, Executive Director of the California Arts Council, Nancy Glaze of the Packard Foundation, Robert Barrett, VP of the LA Convention Visitors Bureau, Harriet Miller, Mayor, City of Santa Barbara, Sonia Hernandez, President, LA Alliance for Student Achievement, Rudy Murrillo, Deputy Director, California Commission on the Californias and Caroline Beteta, Deputy Director, California Office of Tourism.

Korean ConsulateThe International Initiatives Department hosted the new Korean Consul General, Ambassador Jung Kyung Sung, and his deputy, Consul Kim.

Los Angeles TimesDistinguished architects Craig Hodgetts, Hsin-Ming Fung, Alvaro Siza and Frank Gehry were honored at Art Center College of Design's Four Masters Dinner. Hodgetts & Fung recently completed Art Center's student lounge, the Sinclaire Pavilion, which has movable walls and windows. Siza and Gehry are directing efforts in the expansion of the campus that include creating a new facility in downtown Pasadena.


GREAT MINDS

Toyota Motor Endowed Lecture SeriesKen Goldberg, associate professor of engineering at UC Berkeley, addressed students and faculty on the relationships between distance, authenticity, and the snowy things we call knowledge. Goldberg described a series of Internet-based tele-reality experiments including a new system that explores the dynamics of group behavior. He led the team that developed the first root on the Internet in 1994, and is editor of The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet.


FACULTY

Pasadena Star-NewsNewTown, an arts organization based in Old Pasadena, recently showcased the work of 23 artists at Lower Arroyo Park. Included was the work of instructor Jacki Apple, whose installation was a series of shrines, hewn together with rocks from the arroyo. A circular maze of dirt leads to each of the monuments, which reveal snapshots of sea gulls, architecture, koi and grasshoppers. The goal of NewTown is to give visitors an opportunity to experience art differently. Says NewTown spokesman Richard Amromin, "We want people coming away thinking they've experienced something new, that they've seen other viewpoints of art. Art doesn't have to stay within the confines of stuffy museums. Art should be everywhere. It's a humanizing factor."

Watts Star ReviewAlumnus Oliver Mayer tells a story of boxing and blues in the Tiffany Theater presentation of Joe Louis Blues. Set in a 1940's Harlem jazz club, the play follows the lives of eight people in their daily struggle of war and race and the music underlying it all.

Buffalo Business FirstMedia design instructor Brenda Laurel was part of a major international forum in which leading figures in medicine, psychology, sociology, physiology and technology development discussed the effect of digital technologies on life.

Daily NewsScott Young, chairman of the City of Angels Film Festival and instructor at both Fuller Seminary and Art Center, feels that the attacks of September 11 will delay the release of movies that have undertones of terrorism or plots reflecting evil. "The studio system is dominated by profit movies, so conservatism is the natural first response," he says. "We'll likely see fewer studio films exploring the dark side in the next couple of years and more comedies, romances and dramas with a soothing message."


ADVERTISING

The Idaho Business ReviewBoise partners in the interactive marketing agency Wirestone see strong growth for the coming year, despite aggressive competition and a flagging economy. Wirestone has 11 locations in the U.S. with its corporate office in Emeryville, California. The management team in Boise includes Brad Mitchell, an Art Center alumnus, who is vice president of Wirestone and creative director for the Boise offices. Pre-Wirestone, Mitchell worked with an advertising agency as senior art director before joining partner Tony Schlangen at Digital Effects as creative director. "Our largest client is Hewlett Packard," said Mitchell, "and we've done everything from channel driven CD-Roms and websites to marketing of those products, direct-mail pieces and high-end databases." With the acquisition of five other companies and organic growth within our own organizations, we're at about $22 million," Mitchell said, noting that the company has a couple more acquisitions in the pipeline with a lot of growth opportunity with current clients.


ILLUSTRATION

North Castle NewsAlumnus Christopher M. Magadini had a one-man exhibit recently at the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts. The collection featured landscape paintings done en pleine air in a Contemporary Impressionist style that captures the subtleties of natural light and color. His work has appeared as covers for Readers Digest Magazine, Guideposts, Angels, Field & Stream, Boating, Audubon, Flying, and Women's Day.


TRANSPORTATION

Communication ArtsTransportation design graduate Derek Jenkins and graphics graduate Victoria (Berry) Anscheidt were featured in the interactive design annual for their collaborative work on the Volkswagen Microbus show car.

Los Angeles TimesNewly launched Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa, California offers wine tasting and gourmet dining. Alumnus Jorge Pardo designed a tile floor for the center's kitchen. This permanent installation features a striped design in off white and graduated blues and greens.


WILLIAMSON GALLERY

San Gabriel Valley Daily Tribune, Pasadena Star-NewsThe Williamson Gallery's exhibit of "depictured: A Bitwall Installation by Christian Moller" was part of the multi-venue event Pasadena Art Night, sponsored by the City of Pasadena's Cultural Affairs Division. Other sites included the Norton Simon Museum, the Pacific Asia Museum, The Armory Center for the Arts and the Pasadena Historical Museum.