Community Letter March-April 2011

April 30, 2011 Dear Otis Community, The academic year seems to have flown by and the exciting year-end events are almost here!

Please read on for a highlight of what’s to come as well as recent events and accomplishments.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! May 9 - Welcome Reception for Provost Kerry Walk Faculty and staff are invited to socialize with our new Provost on Monday, May 9, from 4-5pm in the Galef Lobby. Refreshments will be served.

July 1 – Annual Otis Picnic Celebrate the successful end of the 2010-11 academic year and the Fourth of July holiday at the annual Otis picnic. July 1 will also mark Chris Alford’s last day at Otis so please come and wish him a happy retirement! The picnic will be held on the Goldsmith Campus Lawn on Friday, July 1, beginning at 12:30pm. Look for your electronic invitation from HR sometime soon.

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ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP BENEFIT AND FASHION SHOW Judging from the student designs that were presented at the Fashion Jury Show in April, this year’s runway show will be fantastic. The Bob Mackie project in the finale will surely be another knockout (see image to the left). Kudos to Rosemary Brantley and everyone at Fashion for another amazing year!

The event takes place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, May 7. An afternoon Preview will begin at 3:00 and is always a fun celebration for students, families and friends. The black tie fundraiser takes place in the evening.

Heather Schraeder and Alexandra Cantle in Institutional Advancement have done a great job organizing the event and are busy with last minute details. If you need any information regarding the afternoon or evening shows, please contact hschraeder@otis.edu or 310-665-6858.

Thanks in advance to everyone involved in making this year’s Scholarship Benefit and Fashion Show a great success!

CLASS OF 2011 EXHIBITION The annual class exhibition provides a showcase for our talented students and faculty mentors to shine!

BFA-MFA Exhibition Preview on May 12 – This popular annual event for invited guests takes place from 6:00-9:00 pm on the Goldsmith Campus.

BFA-MFA Exhibition on May 13 – This public event takes place from 6:00-9:00 pm and usually attracts a few thousand people to the Goldsmith Campus! The Graduate Public Practice student work will be exhibited at the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery at Santa Monica College, May 3-14, with a reception on May 14, from 4:00-7:00 pm.

COMMENCEMENT 2011 Approximately 295 students will graduate during the 2011 Commencement on the morning of May 14 on the Goldsmith Campus. This year’s valedictorian is Paula Little from the Communication Arts department. Thom Miller (Chair) and Bronya Galef (Chair Emerita) will represent the Otis Board of Trustees during the ceremony.

This year’s Honorary Doctorate recipient and Commencement Speaker is Graphic Designer and public artist Sheila de Bretteville. We honor her for her many career accomplishments and her role as co-founder of the Woman’s Building and its Women’s Graphic Center in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Sheila founded Otis’ Communication Arts (formerly known as Communication Design) in the early 1980s. She created the first women’s design program at Cal Arts in the early 1970s.

Ms. de Bretteville joined the Yale School of Art faculty in 1990 as its first tenured woman when she was named professor and director of graduate studies in graphic design. She was designated “Design Legend” by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 2006. She is a published author and international artist. She received a B.A. in art history from Barnard College in 1962, an MFA from Yale University in 1964, and honorary degrees from California College of Arts and Crafts and Moore College of Art. Honoring Sheila is especially timely this year because the College will commemorate the important role the Woman’s Building played in the LA arts scene in the exhibition, “Doin’ it in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building,” part of Getty’s larger initiative Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980.

Thank you to Laura Kiralla and Julie Bryan in Student Affairs team for months of planning and hard work to ensure that this year’s Commencement is a success!

CITY OF ANGELS AWARD I was one of five honorees recognized by the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce at their annual City of Angels dinner on April 21, which had a theme of the creative economy. I was honored to accept the award on behalf of the College. The fellow honorees were Joan Weinstein, Interim Director of the Getty Foundation; Kimberly Davis, Director of LA Louver Gallery; LA Councilman Paul Krekorian; and Timothy Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG Worldwide. The dinner event was a great opportunity to connect with the Westchester community. Otis was mentioned multiple times during the event and the community appreciation and support of the College was evident. Two tables of Otis board members, administrators, and academic leaders were there to help share the recognition.

ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS NEWS Enrollment Update All signs point to a modest amount of enrollment growth this Fall. Early indications from both undergraduate and graduate applicant pools are that we will meet our expected targets for incoming students. Continuing students have just begun to register for next fall so we will have an

even better idea by late spring of where we are likely to end up come September. I would like to acknowledge Mark Meredith and the Admissions and Financial Aid teams for their vigorous recruitment efforts.

Admitted Student Reception The Admissions Office hosted a reception on April 15 and 16 for Admitted Students and their families. Close to 400 guests attended, 175 of whom were admitted students who need to make their college decision. Students joined us from as far away as Guatemala, and represented our brightest applicants from across the United States. The primary focus of the event was to allow students to interact with the faculty and continuing students at Otis and to learn about our curriculum, but they also saw our campus facilities, housing, financial aid, and participated in a fun T-shirt screen printing project on campus. The event was concurrent with an opening of the Fine Arts junior level students, and the closing of the Ben Maltz gallery show American Icons – Graphics of Patriotism and Dissent. The reception and activities provide admitted students with a glimpse of the academic and student experience at Otis. History indicates that admitted students who have come to this event have been much more likely to enroll. Thank you to Yvette Sobky and Celina Ng for organizing the program and to everyone involved in making it a great success.

Internship Fair Career Services hosted the annual Internship Fair on March 17 at the Goldsmith Campus and March 18 at Fashion. Close to 125 representatives from 75 companies were in attendance with roughly 200 Otis students showing portfolios to potential employers. Companies represented at the 2-day event included Mattel, GUESS?, Anthropologie, Nike/Hurley, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Dreamworks Animation, Aspen Medical Products, Armory Center for the Arts, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Trailer Park. This year’s event also hosted some first-time attendees, including outof-state and international companies such as Chico’s/White House-Black Market/Soma from Florida, Lilly Pulitzer from Pennsylvania, and Bestway Inflatables from Shanghai. Laura Daroca and Denise Gianoussopoulos did a fantastic job organizing the successful fair.

Career Services Laura Daroca, Director of Career Services, and Denise Gianoussopoulos, Assistant Director of Career Services, represented Otis this spring at two career services/student affairs conferences this year. Denise has been nominated to the Consortium of Liberal Arts Schools and Independent Colleges (CLASIC) Executive Board in the role of Program Director. CLASIC consists of over 25 colleges and universities. She will coordinate activities of each of the three annual meetings.

In late March, the Otis Career Services team participated as volunteers at the annual Building Bridges for Others event at Westchester High School, hosted by Loyola Marymount University’s

Career Development Services department. This annual program is a rewarding service project that allows career professionals to interact with local teens to help establish forward thinking regarding college and career skills.

Student Leadership Banquet The fourth annual Student Leadership Banquet was hosted by the Office of Student Affairs on the evening of April 20. Over 50 students were honored for their contributions to the Otis community.

Among the honorees were the Student Government Association board, this year’s Valedictorian, Class Marshals, and Outstanding Service Award recipients. Leadership skills are integral to an Otis education, and this event demonstrates the many ways student leaders make positive changes at the College. Many thanks to Michael Richards for leading the event organization and to the entire Student Affairs team for an excellent evening.

International Student Services I would like to acknowledge Dr. Carol Branch, whose leadership of Otis’ International Student Services and role as advisor to Under the Baobab tree has produced several fun events in the past few months, including: • Game Night on March 4 -- Under the Baobab Tree hosted an evening of board games – a chance for students to enjoy low-tech fun • Mardi Gras on March 8 -- the student organization, Under the Baobab Tree, and International Student Services hosted a fun event that featured Mardi Gras beads, masks and the traditional King Cake • Open Mic Night on March 11 -- Under the Baobab Tree along and the Student Government Association hosted the event at which students shared poetry, jokes, music, and laughter • Dinner Theater on March 20 -- a group of family and friends attended The Dinner Detective, a murder mystery dinner theater where participates in identifying the culprit th • 6 Annual Otis Community Potluck on March 22 -- an -going opportunity for Otis faculty and staff to come together to share food and conversation Casino Night Carnival The Student Government Association planned and implemented the second annual Casino Night Carnival on April 22. Over 200 students participated in the fun event that featured food, prizes, and music. It provided students with an opportunity to take a break from their studies and relax, and was a huge success.

ACADEMIC NEWS WASC Academic Resources Conference Debra Ballard, Parme Giuntini, Michele Jaquis, Laura Kiralla, Randy Lavender, Katie Phillips, Laura Kiralla, and Jean-Marie Venturini traveled to San Francisco in March to attend the WASC conference, “Higher Education’s Third Horizon.” The theme served as a framework, which Otis has used as well, for discussing how we can sustain what is good in our current practices while also working toward transformative innovation. Debra and Katie served on a panel led by Cal Arts Provost Nancy Usher; the topic of discussion was Integrated Learning: Best Practices and Initiatives. The Otis group learned of exciting and challenging large-scale organizational transformations related to the education landscape of the future.

Architecture/Landscape/Interiors (A/L/I) Six A/L/I juniors and seniors Rachael Fausto, Esther Lee, Cristina Luna, Gollacks Murray, Krystal Scott and MaiHoua Vang won a Single Design Merit Award in the Wherever the Need USA “Eco San and Sustainable Design Competition,” which was held to advance the state of the art in ecologically conscious sanitation and emergency relief systems. Their winning entry was exhibited at the A+D Museum in Los Angeles on April 6. Students from SCI-Arc and USC School of Architecture also participated in the competition.

Integrated Learning (IL) On Saturday, April 9 on the Goldsmith Campus, students, educators, community members and leaders, activists, artists, and policymakers assembled for the thought-provoking inaugural symposium From LA to the Bay: Community Collaborations and Creative Solutions to Urban Violence in California. Presented by Otis’ Department of Integrated Learning, the event explored dynamic strategies, successes, and next steps in developing effective solutions to urban violence. The symposium grew out of Otis LAS’ Homeboys History and Culture Project created and taught by Professor Ysamur Flores-Pena. In this class, Eastside meets Westside in a dialogue between trained artists and self-taught artists about social identity, politics, and culture.

Located in Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention organization of its kind in the U.S. From LA to the Bay was made possible in part by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Custom Hotel.

MFA Graphic Design Great student and alumni news from the MFA Graphic Design program: MFA candidate Gilbert Garcia (12’) was recently hired as Junior Designer at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Alumni Sarmishta Pantham (10’) has been selected as one of the Print magazine’s “20 designers under 30.” She was also recently hired for a job as Lead Consultant for Web Practice at Cognizant Technologies. Alumni Sudeshna Pantham (10’) had her work published in the book Save the Date: New Ideas and Approaches in Calendar Design in spring 2011.

Product Design Product Design senior Ashley Brown won the title of Boston’s Next Best Cake Decorator. She triumphed over a contestant pool of 100+ and decorated a cake on Skype while the bakery staff watched in order to win. Ashley will get to work as a senior cake designer/decorator at Cakes for Occasions. Her long-term goal is to open her own bakery and non-profit that can help support orphans. To view the great video she submitted with her winning application: http://bit.ly/gyzp8H. She’s quite an innovator and has already created cake stamps as seen at http://www.readymade.com/projects/block_printed_cake/next_step.

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT NEWS Foundations & Grants The Rose Hills Foundation has given Otis a generous grant of $150,000 over two years for student scholarships. The Ahmanson Foundation has given Otis a generous gift of $75,000 for student scholarships. These gifts play a vital role in fulfilling the dreams of our talented students, enabling them to worry less about finances and to focus instead on attaining degrees in their chosen creative fields.

CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) gifted Otis $10,000 for scholarships.

On April 6, VitaminWater (image to left) transformed the Otis Forum to launch a search for the next up-andcoming designer in a design competition, in association with CFDA. The event was open to all students in Los Angeles, 15 years old and up. CFDA Joe Zee, Creative Director of ELLE Magazine, and designers Shipley & Halmos introduced the project and shared their experiences and insights about the world of fashion design. They will choose 10 talented up and comers to join them in NY for an insider look at the fashion industry and will ultimately

choose a winner who will showcase her/his design to the masses. The winner receives a $5,000 grant.

The J. Paul Getty Foundation has awarded Otis $4,000 to support a Library Intern to assist with digital image projects.

The Pasadena Art Alliance has contributed $5,000 to support the exhibition catalog BROODWORK: It’s About Time.

Individual Giving Over $12,000 for student scholarships has been raised through the purchase of tiles for installation on the Wall of Inspiration on the Goldsmith Campus. The 33 additional participants include alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends.

Alumni Giving and Participation With two months of crucial fundraising time remaining before the end of the fiscal year, the alumni participation percentage is already at 11%, the highest ever in Otis' 93-year history. In addition to our record breaking alumni participation rate, we have raised over $50,000 for scholarship support through the O-Fund, the best year in Otis' short annual giving program history. The success of the program is credited to our student phonathon callers who call alumni and parents nightly for monetary support.

Alumni For the latest alumni news: https://blogs.otis.edu/theotistimes/ GALLERY NEWS Current Exhibition “BROODWORK: It’s About Time” is in the Ben Maltz Gallery from April 30 through June 11. The group exhibition surrounding the integration of creative practice and family life is curated by Iris Anna Regn and Rebecca Niederlander. Funding for this project has been provided in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance. Artist Eamon O’Kane’s participation in the exhibition has been made possible by Culture Ireland’s initiative Imagine Ireland – a Year of Irish Artists in America 2011.

For the list of artists participating in the show and events related to this exhibition, please visit: http://www.otis.edu/public_programs/ben_maltz_gallery/index.html FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS ACT/LAS/Public Practices Lecturer Krista Caballero has been selected as a summer resident at ART342, a nonprofit residency and artist community that provides the necessary time and space for independent creative practice. It is located in Fort Collins, Colorado. For more information: http://www.art342.org Act and Interdisciplinary Studies Director Michele Jaquis and Assistant Professor Patricia Kovic presented: NEIGHBORGAPBRIDGE: Community Collaboration + Future Context to the Skirball Center’s Museum Education Board in April.

ACT/LAS Lecturer Lorraine Cleary Dale curated “Habits of Mind: The Armory Fellows Exhibition” at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. The exhibition includes work by Otis MFA Alumnus, Crossman Wilkins, and runs May 14 – June 12, 2011, with a reception on May 20, 6 – 10 p.m. http://www.armoryarts.org/upcoming.php.

Architecture/Landscape/Interiors Senior Lecturer Chava Danielson, architect and principal of DSH, presented "Configure: Geometry, Architecture, Design," as the keynote speaker at LACMA's "Evenings for Educators" series on April 5.

Architecture/Landscape/Interiors Senior Lecturer Heather Libonati’s lighting design of the Plant Café Organic in San Francisco, done through her architectural lighting design firm, Luminesce Design, was featured in the January/February 2011 issue of EcoStructure. Heather’s lighting design for Giant Group in Shanghai, PRC was featured in the January 2011 Architectural Record and her lighting design for both the Plant Cafe Organic and Giant Group are being honored with Illuminating Engineering Society Awards of Merit.

Communication Arts Adjunct Professor Rebecca Chamlee has been awarded a Round VII Investing in Artists grant in the Artistic Equipment and Tools category for the purchase of book binding equipment. The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) received 374 applications from artists across California, and Rebecca’s application rose to the top based on an extremely rigorous and competitive review.

Fine Arts Chair Meg Cranston’s essay, Do It With Style, will appear in the inaugural issue of a RHINECLIFF, a journal published by the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College and edited

by Tirdad Zolghadr, 2007 Otis Critic in Residence.

Fine Arts Lecturer and Educational Advising Coordinator Siri Kaur’s work is in “Redefining Hollywood,” in The Factory Gallery at Fabrik Magazine in Los Angeles from April 30 to May 21.

For more information: http://www.thefactory.la/index.html or http://www.fabrikmagazine.com/content/.

She is also showing in “Fuck Pretty,” at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica, July 1- Sept.

5, 2011. For more information: http://www.robertbermangallery.com/.

Foundation Interim Coordinator Roni Feldman will be featured in “Shadowlighter,” an upcoming exhibition that will include two new series of work. The exhibition will take place from June 26 through Sept. 11 at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. An opening reception will be held on June 25. For more information: http://www.armoryarts.org/upcoming.php Foundation Adjunct Professor Maura Bendett will be in “Tel-Art-Phone,” at The Beacon Arts Building in Inglewood, CA, May 28 – July 3. For more information: http://beaconartsbuilding.com/ Foundation Lecturer Cole Case had a one night exhibition, “Headshots,” at POST gallery on January 5. For more information, and to view photos of the show as well as to read an artist statement regarding the inspiration behind this exhibition, please visit: http://postla.blogspot.com/2011/01/cole-case-january-5.html

Foundation Lecturer Nicole Duet’s work was featured at Cal State Northridge, Feb. 12 through Feb. 26, as part of their Faculty Focus program. For more information: http://www.csun.edu/artgalleries/west%20gallery.html

Foundation Adjunct Associate Professor Joyce Lightbody completed training with the Los Angeles City Crisis Response Team and received her certificate, badge and jacket from the Mayor of Los Angeles.

Foundation Professor Jim Starrett will be featured in a major respective exhibition in the Fall of 2011. The show will be held at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in Logan, Utah, which is an affiliate of Utah State University. The work in the exhibition will cover the period from 1975 through the present. For more information: http://artmuseum.usu.edu/ Integrated Learning Lecturer Christopher Michlig will have work in the 2011 LACE Benefit Art Auction on May 19. Online bidding opens on May 5. For more information: http://www.welcometolace.org/events/view/lace-benefit-art-auction-2011/. Michlig’s show, “Set in Concrete” was at the Steve Turner Contemporary, Mar. 18 – Apr. 16: http://steveturnercontemporary.com/artists/michlig/index.html.

Integrated Learning Professor Patricia Kovic will present “Can We Build a Global Community?” during the HOBY: Southern California Conference for Youth Leadership, at Concordia University in Irvine, CA on June 10-12.

Integrated Learning Lecturers Kim Karlstrud and Danny Phillips, co-founders of Greenaid, have launched a social enterprise, The Greenaid Seedbomb Initiative, through Commonstudio.

They have partnered with Chrysalis Enterprise that works to employ low income and formerly homeless individuals in the Los Angeles area. Greenaid is part of the “Art in the Streets” exhibition at MOCA through Aug. 8. For more information: http://greenaid.co LAS Senior Lecturer Scarlet Cheng’s article on the California Art Club and its annual show appeared in the LA Times on April 10.

LAS Associate Professor Heather Joseph-Witham traveled to Denver, Colorado in March to appear as a judge on the television program, Food Network Challenge. Teams of competitors created cakes dealing with ghost story themes. Witham is an expert judge for the contest theme as she holds an MA and Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology.

LAS Senior Lecturer Pamela Blackwell is a contributor to the homage to Kurt W. Forster entitled Art History on the Move. The book, published by diaphanes, Zurich 2010, is edited by Nanni Baltzer, Jacqueline Burckhardt, Marie Theres Stuaffer and Philip Urspring.

LAS Lecturer Karri Paul, an artist and poet based in Austin and Los Angeles, is showing in “compose project this image,” from May 5 to Sept. 2 at the Courtyard Gallery in the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The gallery features the artwork of faculty and alumni of the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.

LAS Associate Professor Adam Berg will be participating in “The last freedom from the pioneers of Land-Art of the 1960s to the cyberspace,” at the Ludwig Museum in Germany, Apr. 10 to Oct. 16.

Product Design Senior Lecturer Tanya Aguiňiga appears on the cover of the April/May issue of American Craft magazine and is the focus of the feature article entitled “Tanya Aguiňiga – Artist Without Borders.” The article highlights her exuberant work that crosses the boundaries between cultures, materials, genres and product. She will also soon be filmed for a segment of the PBS series Craft in America.

COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING NEWS Press Coverage Scholarship Benefit • Beverly Hills Courier (Apr. 22) – article and photos • • •

•

http://www.patrickmcmullan.com/site/event_detail.aspx?eid=36794 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2011/04/fashion-designers-entertainment-executivesand-musicians-mixed-with-legends-of-stage-screen-and-fashion-thursday-at-the-pen.html http://stylesectionla.com/blog/2011/04/01/bob-mackie-being-honored-for-his-mentorship-of-otiscollege-fashion-design-students/

On April 25, a story on Blick Art Materials’ support of the silent auction at the annual Scholarship Benefit and Fashion Show was picked up by CNBC, yahoo finance, financial info, and many other sites.

VitaminWater Event •

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2011/04/elles-joe-zee-and-shipley-halmos-to-speak-atotis-college-tomorrow.html

• •

http://la.racked.com/archives/2011/04/05/shipley_halmos_here_there_everywhere.php http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/04/joe-zee-and-shipley-halmos-team-vitamin-waterpresent-design-contest

Otis Campus Expansion •

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_17882433?IADID=Search-www.dailybreeze.comwww.dailybreeze.com

Otis and The Music Center Forum on 21st Century Learning • Article in The Argonaut (Feb 17) http://www.argonautnewspaper.com/articles/2011/02/17/news_-_features/westchester/w2.txt

Ventura Arts Panel •

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/15/panel-to-focus-on-how-to-sustain-and-grow-local-ar/

Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region: • http://www.artsed411.org/toolkit/docs/ARTS%20LEARNING%20IN%20ACTION%20FACTSHEET_ final.pdf (Arts Ed 411 website) • The City of Glendale issued a press release on April 19 about new business incentives for a creative corridor, citing the Otis Report on the Creative Economy http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/mgmt-svcs/press_release.asp?AnnouncementID=886

Other press: • The May Los Angeles Magazine “Tastemaker” profiles Robert Apodaca (‘03), an entrepreneur who started Fifth Floor Gallery (named after Ahmanson Hall’s 5th floor, where he studied Architecture/Landscape/Interiors) in Chinatown. Los Angeles Magazine • New York Times April 20 Fashion and Style “Up Close” profiled alumna Jade Lai (‘02) and her N.Y. and L.A. fashion boutiques, Creatures of Comfort: • • • •

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/fashion/21close.html?_r=1 http://www.dexigner.com/news/22711 - (faculty appointment)

Carrie Stewart’s Otis appointment appeared in The Argonaut (Mar 31) http://www.argonautnewspaper.com/articles/2011/03/31/news_-_features/westchester/w1.txt

Cynthia Vincent’s (‘88) new New York fashion, accessories, and lifestyle store Cynthia Vincent written about online in juli b. (Apr 19) http://www.julib.com/2011/04-192011/ny/vincent.html

Alison Saar’s (‘81) residency and exhibition written about in the LA Times (Mar 26) http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-allison-saar-20110326,0,4106993.story

I know that everyone at Otis is very busy preparing for the year-end events. Thank you for your contributions to making this another great year.

Best regards,

Samuel Hoi President