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ART CENTER NEWSWIRE - 27 March 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.


OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Los Angeles MagazineArt Center College of Design president Richard Koshalek, architect Thom Mayne, Which Way L.A.? producer Frances Anderton, and author Michael Datcher, lay the right foundation for a discussion about "Architecture L.A." at UCLA's Hammer Museum.

San Diego Union TribuneAgainst a backdrop of nationwide economic blahs, Los Angeles is experiencing a boom of large civic and commercial projects, including several designed b some of the world's leading architects. This boom is sweeping Los Angeles now due to a confluence of factors, including a nationwide trend toward large, pedestrian-oriented redevelopment projects, a relatively strong regional economic climate and the fact that Los Angeles' headlong, post-World War II growth, having reached its outward geographic limits, has begun to turn back inward. A small cadre of movers and shakersincluding developer Ira Yellin, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, UCLA's Sylvia, (chairwoman of architecture and urban design, former Mayor Richard Riordan and Richard Koshalek, president of Art Center College of Design in Pasadenahave pressed the case for major civic projects and called for leading architects to design them.


AWARDS

I.D. MagazineStudent Silas Beebe's Sionic Eyeware was selected as an Honorable Mention winner in the Student Work category in the 2002 I.D. Annual Design Review. Winning designs will be featured in a special August issue of I.D. Magazine and selected projects will also appear on www.idonline.com in August.

CMYKRobert Hanson, Pei Ying Lin and Rueben Steinberg's placed second in CMYK's competition for their :30 second commercial for Fossil watches. The ad, named "Frannie and Norm," follows the antics of two senior citizens who have synchronized their Fossil watches so that when Frannie's daily train passes Norman's apartment window, she will be greeted with his "pale moon" pressed against the glass. The tag: "Fossil. Time on your hands."


ADVERTISING

CMYKArt Director Erwin Federizo was profiled in the quarterly magazine now that he's graduated and working in the advertising industry at The Ballpark in Los Angeles. Clients include ESPN, Fox Sports Net and The Might Ducks of Anaheim. "Art Center has given me a work ethic professional presentation skills, and a conscience or tasteful, effective advertising. I still hear a few instructors' voices ringing through my head every time I start concepting for a new ad. Most important: [School gave me] a competitive spirit that makes me hungry to be the best. It's be the top of the food chain for me!"

CMYKThe work of several Art Center students was featured including: "Love" by illustrator Ryan Sanchez; illustrator Coleen Smith; "The Landing" by illustrator Max Miceli; "Temptress" by illustrator Edwin Ushiro; "Stamp" and "Love & Pop" by illustrator Betty Kung; "Fourteen" by illustrator Daniel Chang. Also showcased was the work of designer Donna Milton for Sylvania light bulbs; designer Hugo Werner Freitas for "Memory_Identity" book cover and "Article 8"; designer Simon Grendene for "Perforum"; and designer Marcelo Garcia for "Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition and Festival."


ALUMNI

Spokesman ReviewSeeing the world differently has proven profitable for illustrator Richard Vander Wende. Vander Wende is the artist behind the giant genie in Disney's 1992 animated film "Aladdin" as well as a variety of other creatures found in CD-ROM games and films. "I like coming up with designs that are complex, yet simple and subtle at the same time, because that's what real animals are. That's what makes them believable," he says. His mastery in creating plausible creatures has made him a sought-after designer, but now he is turning his attention to creating word images. He is co-writing a script for a movie that he will be shopping around Hollywood this summer.

American Society of CinematographyPhotography alumnus Steve Poster was elected president of the prestigious professional organization.


CAMPUS

Kiplinger California LetterArt Center College of Design announced that the 10-acre former Douglas Aircraft testing facility and power plant in Pasadena was chosen as part of Art Center's South Campus.

MetropolisAccording to former Environmental Design Chair Patricia Belton Oliver, the goal of Art Center is to produce designers that not only get a job but make a difference within the community as well as industry. The college is expanding both its vision and its size by doubling the space on campus, creating a new curriculum and reaching out to designers in other cities. Industry continues to play a major role in the education process. Sponsored classes provide an opportunity not only for students to work under the direction of a corporation but for companies to learn what tomorrow's designers are thinking.


COMMUNITY

Southwest Art, Pasadena Star NewsRecent work of Art Center alumni was showcased at the Tirage Gallery at One Colorado. Included in the exhibit were paintings by Eric McLean, Greg Carter, Raymond Cuevas and Tom Steck.

Pasadena Star NewsArt Center hosted the Pasadena Conservatory of Music in a performance by Conservatory faculty of composition by women composers. The event celebrated International Women's Day and honored women leaders and women's organizations in the Pasadena area. Nearly 20 organizations participated in a reception after the concert.


FACULTY

San Gabriel Valley NewsFaculty member and alumnus Eric Robison "was commissioned by the Walt Disney Company to commemorate what would have been Walt Disney's 100th birthday. One Hundred Mickeys," an exhibit of stunningly diverse paintings, is on display through September at The Disney Gallery inside Disneyland. "The hardest part was trying to make each of the 100 a different mouse," Robison said. He looked at his own artistic influences and began creating Mickeys as an homage to such painters as Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Franz Kline and even the graffiti influenced Jean-Michel Basquiat. Leaning on all of his training and utilizing numerous mediums, Robison created an exhibit that spans the history of art and its countless personalities. Robison designed the Star Tours ride at Tokyo Disneyland, and has done several projects for the entertainment giant. He graduated from Art Center with honors in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in industrial design.

Photographer's ForumJeff Atherton, Co-Chair of Art Center's Photography Department, is one of three judges for the 22nd Annual Student Photography Contest sponsored by Nikon and the magazine. Over 25,000 photographic entries from student photographers competed for a place in the Best of College Photography Annual 2002. Winning images will be published in the May/Summer 2002 issue of the magazine.


FILM

DGA MagazineAs Emmy-winning director Nancy Malone says, "Finally! A definitive book for directors...In television where getting enough prep time is a rarity, working with a stroyboard artist saves your life and your budget." Faculty member Marcie Begleiter has written a groundbreaking practical guide and historic companion. Quotes from such directors as Sergei Eisenstein, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston and Steven Spielberg tout the benefits of through visual preparation. Three are plenty of examples of storyboard art and entertaining little stories from illustrators such as John Jensen (The Greatest Show On Earth) and Harold Michelson (The Birds; The Ten Commandments).


FINE ART

Los Angeles TimesInspiration comes in all forms, and alumnus Mark Ryden has made sure to surround himself with an assortment of inspiring, albeit strange, forms. In his studio is a sea of knickknacks that vary from little dolls, taxidermy animals and social icons that include Col. Sanders. They inspire him to create pastel-colored paintings of "less-than-innocent children in surroundings so compulsively packed with nutty detail as to try the eye severely," according to The New York Times critic Grace Glueck. Eight of his latest paintings, some drawings and a limited edition series of etchings were recently displayed at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana.


GRAPHIC DESIGN

ShootAlumnus and director Larry Frey has signed on with bicoastal production house Villains. He recently left @radical where his most notable commercial was for Hotjobs.com. He chose Villains because he was seeking out a smaller production company that could devote more attention to developing his career. He's hoping that at Villains, he'll be able to "delve further into comedy, people, dialogue and other story telling genres."


INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Hot RodStudent Jamie Seymour went on a quest for a recipebut not what you might expect. He was looking for instructions on how to make his own fiberglass parts. Lightweight fiberglass can reduce vehicle mass and larger automotive pieces, like hoods, bumpers and fenders can be found as aftermarket products. Smaller items are tougher to find, though, and may require some ingenuity to create. Jamie went through a step-by-step process on finding and using the materials to make a Bow Tie emblem.


PHOTOGRAPHY

Women's Wear DailyWhen pioneering paparazzo Ron Galella stepped into the Gucci store on Rodeo Drive, he was feted by Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Dustin Hoffman and other beautiful people he's surreptitiously caught on film over his oft-notorious, five-decade career. The party marked the release of the definitive compendium of his celebrity images, The Photographs of Ron Galella include photograms pf Jackie Kennedy, Bette Davis, David Bowie, Henry Kissinger and Elizabeth Taylor. Galella attended Art Center on the GI Bill as a photojournalism major, and learned the tricks of his trade and honed an eye for framing and cropping that distinguishes much of his best work from those of his peers. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh will present "Off Guard: The Photographs of Ron Galella" through the summer.

Photo District NewsTony Luna, a photographers' rep and faculty member at Art Center, spoke with PDN about his course "Operating a Freelance Photography Business." He has been teaching the class for 18 years to offer insights into how the working world works. "We wanted our students to be able to wake up the morning after the morning after graduation and hit the ground runningrealizing there is a career to be created. We address the tools necessary to get our students off to a strong start." The course covers starting a business, copyright law, legal and ethical issues, target marketing, expense accountability, billing and payment.


TRANSPORTATION

Los Angeles Times MagazineArt Center alumnus Freeman Thomas helped design Volkswagen's new Beetle and conceived the innovative Audi TT. "Nothing energizes Thomas more than cars. "Freeman's the most enthusiastic car guy I've ever met," says Dave Cole, another alum of the VW/Audi studio in Simi Valley. "I don't think I've ever met anybody who knows more about cars, who's more fanatical about them. His head is so full of information that he's a walking encyclopedia." Thomas' fusion of sunny Southern California playfulness and austere European classicism has fueled a meteoric rise to industry celebrity. Today he's one of the world's hottest automotive designers at a time when designers have never enjoyed more prominence of influence. Now he hopes to use his position at Chrysler as a bully pulpit to promote a fresh approach to design that's as much about marketing and brand image as it is about styling. "He's an amazing ideas man," says Jeff Teague, who worked with him in Simi Valley.The New Beetle revived VW's fortunes by conferring a vigorous new image upon a company that had all but fallen off American radar screens. Now Thomas is being asked to give Chrysler a similar make-over.

Los Angeles TimesAlumnus Frank Saucedo isn't too worried about the upcoming overhaul of General Motors Corp.'s design process. Saucedo heads up GM's Advanced Design Studio, launched two years ago in North Hollywood, California. Bob Lutz, GM's product development guru who ordered the overhaul, has lauded the Saucedo's studio for designing and building the new Pontiac Solstice convertible concept in just 15 weeks.