Agent Art

Where Creativity Takes Flight…. and Splashes Its Way onto Canvas

On October 28, The Art Institute of Washington – Northern Virginia held its grand opening celebration.  Being the new kid on the block hasn’t stop this new school from celebrating its successes… or taking part in the traditional Art Institutes grand opening paint splash.  Dignitaries and local community leaders joined campus director Sam Ortiz and students, faculty, and staff for this milestone event.  And media too – check out the Loudoun Independent’s coverage of the event.  The theme of the grand opening was “Where Creativity Takes Flight,” a nod to Dulles International Airport’s proximity in Loudoun County, Virginia. 

So please take your seat, fasten your seatbelt, turn off all portable electronic devices (just kidding!), and check out some pictures from the grand opening:

 

 
Guests were offered a variety of complimentary paint cans and brushes

 

 

Campus director Sam Ortiz, serving as pilot, greets passengers…er, I mean, guests!

 

 

Mark Herring, State Senator for Virginia’s 33^rd District, had Seat 1A

 

 

   
And we’re cleared for take off!

 

 

A bird’s eye view of the action

 

 

 

Meet the New President of The Art Institute of Virginia Beach

 

Ahh Virginia Beach – sun, sand, surf, and now, home to the newest addition to The Art Institutes system of schools.  The Art Institute of Virginia Beach is getting ready to open its doors to students in January 2010, and leading this effort is Marilyn Burstein, president of the new school.  Marilyn isn’t new to The Art Institutes family – she has previously served in academic positions at The Art Institutes schools located in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and most recently, Charleston. 

 
     

It's a wrap--Art Wars at SIGGRAPH, day three

It's the final day of Art Wars at SIGGRAPH 2009 and the competition has been pretty fierce to say the least. Art Institute alums and students, put their drawing skills to the test. Seven heats culminated in a final master's round, where the first-place winners of the previous rounds face off against each other in hopes of winning a 15" Macbook Pro.

The winner of the final Bayou Battle of day three is Demian Stevens, Media Arts and Animation student at The Art Institute of Indianapolis. Along with Jason Roll's win yesterday, this marks the second overall win for the school. [Go get 'em, Indy.]

With a suspense theme in mind, Demian drew a crowd looking up at a clock that's about to turn midnight. The scenery was dark and spooky. Take a look:

 

Demian's design is straight out of Unsolved Mysteries. Robert Stack would be proud!

 

 

Macbook Pro winner of the day, Demian Stevens.

Demian's win is bitter-sweet (more sweet than bitter of course), as it marks the end of our fun-filled time at SIGGRAPH. Thanks to all the participants and sponsors; you truly made Art Wars Bayou Battle a success. Until next time folks...farewell from The Big Easy!

 

         

The heat is on: Art Wars day two

Another day, another Art War. Day two of the Bayou Battle is underway. Look at the lines for sign up:

 

Day two heats are filling up! The first round is already in progress:

 

More to come on the winner...

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Duh da da duhhh! The winner of heat one of Art Wars, day two is Camilla Salgado, a student at The Art Institute of Houston. Here she is posing with her winning design:

 

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Moving on to heat 7...Mark Chong, SIGGRAPH attendee from Toronto, won the round with his bedtime themed design of two kids in a pillow fight:

 

 

Mark Chong winner of day two of Art Wars, heat 7.

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The overall winner of day two is Jason Roll, an animation student at The Art Institute of Indianapolis. He won a MacBook Pro with his "Big Easy" themed design of a saxophone player with colorful notes flowing out of it. Can you dig it?

 

 

Jason Roll, winner of Art Wars, day two

In other news, more than 15 Art Institute of Houston students came out to cheer on fellow student, Camilla Salgado who won the first heat of the day. Way to represent, Houston!

Birds of a Feather on tap for SIGGRAPH day two

Today friends of The Art Institutes will flock together from 3 - 4 p.m. to network at our "Birds of a Feather" event, where alumni, faculty, employers, students, and attendees can enjoy refreshments while connecting with each other and sharing their SIGGRAPH 2009 experiences. They'll also have the chance to win cool give-aways throughout the hour. All in all, it will be a time to mingle with like minds on The Art Institutes' turf at SIGGRAPH.

Speaking of sharing SIGGRAPH experiences, here is a recap from yesterday:

 
Miami International University of Art & Design students gather at Art Wars on Tuesday to celebrate a winning heat by a fellow student.
 

An Art Institute alum reviews a current student's work at the Portfolio station.
 

 
Crowds gather to watch various rounds of Art Wars.
 
 

Brian McGee of Atlanta, who hopes to be an Art Institute student someday, won a MacBook Pro. Brian says that he never wins anything. Imagine that!

It's gettin' hot in here: SIGGRAPH 09 Art Wars

We're in the thick of day one of Art Wars at SIGGRAPH 09. And let me tell ya--the battes have been intense! Four heats in, Rafael Machado from Miami International University of Art & Design emerged as the victor. The theme for the round was "Under Pressure" and Rafeal drew a student wedged underneath a safe labeled FINALS with chains around it. He'll go head to head with students from The Art Institute of New York City and SIGGRAPH attendees in the final round.

We've got three more heats to go. It's going to be a tough crowd because Rafael's cheering section consists of about nine other Miami International University of Art & Design students... And they're rowdy a bunch!

On to heat 5:

 

 

And the winner of heat 5 is SIGGRAPH attendee Tamara Gray from Orlando. Check out her entry on theme "Best Friends":

  

Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

And here's a pic of Tamara:

 

 

The Final Heat--Winner of Art Wars Day One

 

The crowd watches as the first-place winners of the previous seven heats face off in the final Art War of the day.

Brian McGee from Atlanta won a MacBook Pro as the day one winner of Art Wars. The theme for the final heat was "Under the Sea, and his winning design was an underwater craft with beaming lights in the midst of a dark ocean. Congrats, Brian--what a way to drown the competition!

 

Brian McGee, winner of the final Art War of the day, with his design.

 

Brian with his new MacBook Pro.

Portfolio review is on at SIGGRAPH 2009

So it's day one at SIGGRAPH 2009, and we're all raring to go at booth 2517 (also known as The Art Institute booth).  On tap for today? Art Wars and portfolio review. More on Art Wars later. As for portfolio review, knowledgeable alums will be critiquing student and professional work samples at the booth's portfolio stations. This year's reviewers include Deke Kincaid with Motion Theory, Steve Richardson with GC2, Inc., Anthony Cortez with Arup's 3-D Media Group, Ryan Maffesoli with The Quintek Group, Inc., Elizabeth Barndollar with BAE Systems, and David Lapekas with Red Eye Studios. All have varying levels of expertise, ranging from composition to engineering design to studio direction, and intend on giving honest, critical feedback.

The portfolio stations are pretty nifty--designed to facilitate a community atmosphere that encourages the sharing of ideas and resources, the stations help build upon networks. They are also conducive to the cultivation of referrals and suggestions. Here's a pic of what I'm talking about:

 

That's all for now. More updates from SIGGRAPH to come...

Kick off to SIGGRAPH Conference 2009

 For three days, August 4-6, 2009, New Orleans will be home to SIGGRAPH and The Art Institutes. The annual convention on graphics, interactive techniques and animation is a natural home to The Art Institutes. Employers, alumni and students can connect at The Art Institutes booth in a series of engaging activities, representing academic programs offered at The Art Institutes schools including Graphic Design, Game Art & Design, Media Arts & Animation, and Web Design & Interactive Media.

Professional connections will deepen at the Portfolio Station where employers and faculty will be on hand to review portfolios for students and alumni of The Art Institutes schools.

At The Art Institutes booth, visitors will have the opportunity to experience some of the best student work of today.  They can witness the debut of the “Best of Class” animation DVD showcasing the work of top animation from Media Arts & Animation students throughout The Art Institutes system.

Perhaps the most engaging aspect of the booth will be The Art Institutes ART WARS. Visitors can register for ART WARS at The Art Institutes booth # 2517 for seven daily competitions or “heats” occurring every hour. Competing artists will have just 20 minutes to create their drawn interpretation of a given subject matter or phrase.  All work will be done on a WACOM Cintiq and will be shown to the SIGGRAPH attendees at the end of the 20 minute time trial for judging by Art Institutes faculty members and a conference attendee. The winner of each heat will return at the end of the day to compete in the final “ART WAR” where the winner will earn a grand prize, a 15” Macbook Pro laptop.

Keep checking back for more updates.  

A Capitol reception of student designs

This year, more than 900 high school students proclaimed why their lives were better with art in it by entering The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts Poster Design Competition. Their designs dazzled and impressed, but 42 made it to the national round. Recently, grand prize winner Ciara Borchard of Helendale, Calif., represented these local winners at a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill. That same day, Ciara also attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for a gallery opening of the winning poster designs at the U.S. Department of Education. (Work it, girl!) The designs will be on display a bit longer -- until July 13, 2009 -- so if you're in the D.C. area, you only have a couple more days to check them out.

Below are some pics from both receptions:

 

Some peeps at the gallery admiring the poster designs.

  

Ciara Borchard with Congressman Jerry Lewis (R – CA)--Gotta love people who support the arts!

Ciara getting ready to cut the ribbon with Glenn Cummings, deputy assistant secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education to her right.

Her grand prize winning creation (as shown above right) also earned Ciara a $25,000 tuition scholarship to study at The Art Institute of California—San Diego. Pretty neat design, huh? We thought so.

V Is for Victor-y

As this year's grand prize winner of Quark and The Art Institutes annual graphic design competition, Victor Trevino of The Illinois Institute of Art—Chicago got to attend the National Student Show and Conference, April 2-4, 2009 in Dallas. The only national design conference for college students, Victor participated in breakout sessions, a portfolio review, roundtable discussions, and studio tours during his three-day jaunt. 

Here's a pic from the conference; lots of people, right?

 

Now, here's a pic of Victor cheesin' for the camera at the show:

What got him there? Peep page one of his winning design below. It also landed him a sweet two-month virtual internship at Quark.

  

Congrats to Victor, the victor! [Lame, I know.] Today — a student of design; tomorrow — designing the world.

To view the creative in full, visit http://www.ilovedesign.com/us/gallery/competitions/aicontest.