10/4/2010 Featured Art Center Students

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news + events Art Center at Night is more than just a school; it is a unique educational experience where students and professionals unite to gain
general info greater knowledge and perspective on their art, their work and their inner passions. ACN students have two stories to share—the
story of what brought them to Art Center at Night and the story of how it changed them.
courses
registration info Dr. Tibor Balint
calendar ACN Class: Graphic Design and Information Design
faculty Designing the Final Frontier

contact As a Mission Architect at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, I design future robotic solar system
gallery exploration missions. I’m currently planning missions to Venus, but in the past I’ve worked on missions to
Mars and the moons of Saturn and Neptune. Much of my job involves communicating complex mission
videos
designs to engineers, scientists and managers, and also to the general public at conferences or public
people lectures. This is a significant challenge, because familiarity with the topics often varies greatly among these
partners groups. I knew that using visuals and information design could help reach diverse audiences—in fact, I’ve
been using 2D and 3D graphics for many years for this distinct purpose—but I felt professional guidance
my registration through Art Center at Night could deepen my understanding of these methods.
my account
my profile

Over the past year I took two evening courses, Graphic Design with Annie Huang Luck, and Information Design with Magda
Gonzalez. My instructors’ guidance, along with the weekly classroom reviews and critiques, helped me improve my artistic vision. I
found it fascinating to bring the missions out of the NASA environment and into the classroom, and it was a great opportunity to
practice communicating complex and technical scientific information to the public. Often, illustrations that my NASA colleagues
thought were perfect were actually difficult to follow for my classmates. In some cases, I had to create three or four iterations of my
d i b f th t tb d t d bl Th ti t tl Il d th t ill t ti i tj t
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decoration, but rather it should clearly convey all the key concepts. I’m now using this approach and all the other techniques I
learned in my work for NASA–whether it’s conference posters or written proposals. Based on my positive experience, I’m planning
to take additional courses to assist with my artistic journey and to further benefit my work and career.

Caroline Craven
ACN Class: Introduction to Graphic Design
A Career Lost, A Passion Found

“There are times in life when you know something very special is taking place. I’m fortunate enough to have
felt this a number of times: while training horses with an Olympic team coach, while guiding commercial
rafting trips down the Kern River and when founding the Assistance League of San Luis Obispo County.

Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). I “lost” my career as a marketing executive. I
got rid of my belongings and moved in with my family. But through these struggles, I learned to walk and
see again. And I discovered that even becoming afflicted with MS was a fortunate experience.

MS has directed my life toward new experiences by giving me time to

explore. It has given me the desire to try my hands at the type of creative work
I used to oversee. I had always been interested in design, but had
approached it from the perspective of a “suit.”

Last year I took Warren Wilson’s Introduction to Graphic Design. Not a

moment passed in class when I didn’t learn something new. One of the best
things about the experience was being in a classroom with seven incredibly
intelligent and creative people. We shared so many different perspectives. As
somebody who mostly works alone, that was huge.

As a teacher and designer, Warren Wilson was brilliant and inspiring. I’d
encourage every creative student, potential designer or freelancer to take his
class. I clearly remember his reaction to a comment I made in class. When he
asked me about trying a specific design direction, I copped-out and said,
“But that’s done all the time.” He reminded me that even if something like it’s
“been there, done that,” it’s still the designer’s job to make a concept unique
and effective. That was a challenging lesson.

Art Center at Night is an experience I will cherish and use throughout my life. It
taught me to look at the world differently and to start stepping out of my
comfort zone. A class at Art Center? Wow. One more thing to check off my
“bucket list”.

Sandra Reboucas Johnson

ACN Class: Illustration
During the Spring 2009 term I took the
Introduction to Communication Sketching
course held at Oakley's headquarters in
Orange County. The class was taught by
three very talented instructors: Jae Shin, an
Art Center alumnus and senior product
designer at Oakley; Mun Ng, a product
designer at Oakley; and Cedric D'Andre, a
transportation designer at Hyundai and also
an Art Center alumnus.

I have no words to describe how much I loved this class! I learned

more about design during that one course than I learned in all my
previous art classes combined. The instructors were knowledgeable
and extremely supportive of all the students. I found their in-class
demonstrations particularly helpful. Even though it took me nearly
three hours round-trip to commute from San Diego, I never missed a
class. The assignments were energizing and I couldn't wait to see what we'd learn next.

I currently work as an engineer for ATA Engineering, where I simulate

and predict stress levels for mechanical and aerospace structures.

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my artistic skills to make products that are appealing, safe, easy to
use and less expensive to manufacture. I'm interested in a wide
variety of products, including toys, which I ended up focusing on for
my final project in Sketching. For that project, I designed a plastic
dinosaur that shoots colored bubbles up into the air, and a
companion racket that digitally records the number of bubbles
caught.

Communication Sketching was definitely the best course I could

have taken to give me direction on my new career path. I now have
more confidence in my work and believe my dream of becoming a
product designer can become a reality. I'm currently taking the
Perspective course at South Campus and plan on taking a few more
in the near future to further improve my skills.

Craig Alshin
ACN class: Introduction to Advertising
Last year I decided to shift gears and pursue a career in copywriting. I had worked in a number of sales
positions—my most recent job had me travelling between the United States and Colombia—but after a
while, the work began to feel hollow. I realized I needed a more fulfilling career.

My brother, a creative director in New York and an Art

Center alumnus, had suggested for years that I go to
the College to test the waters. I’ve been creative all my
life—I’ve always enjoyed drawing—and felt that I had
finally reached that “now or never” moment. So I took a
big gamble: I quit my job and signed up for Jim Wojtowicz’ Introduction to
Advertising at Art Center at Night.

My goal was to learn the basics of advertising so I could build a portfolio and,
with any luck, land an internship. I ended up receiving much more than I
expected. My instructor was a major inspiration. Through hands-on training,
Jim taught me creative thinking techniques and the necessary skills to execute
my ideas. I received tons of constructive feedback from both him and the
talented students, and my eyes were opened to books, artists and styles that
helped me grow as a creative professional.

After my
course
was
over I
showed
my
book
around with the hope of landing an internship—a lofty goal
for someone with such little experience! The feedback I
received on my work was overwhelmingly positive and
having Art Center on my resume made people pay attention.
The book may have been a bit rough, but people responded
to the thinking behind the ideas.

I ended up getting a paid creative internship at Berlin

Cameron United in Manhattan. The internship began in June,
and just five months later they brought me on board full-time. I now collaborate closely with an art director, and I’ve worked with a
number of high-profile clients, including Ford Motor Company, Amazon.com and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.

If it wasn’t for Art Center at Night and its amazing faculty, I wouldn’t be living my dream.

Marianne Agnew
ACN classes: The Art of Storytelling, Digital Illustration, Interactive Design 1, Illustrating and Writing Books for
Children and more
In the early '80s I studied graphics and packaging at Art Center College of Design. Before I could graduate,
I was plucked out by the design consultancy Landor. I spent five years at Landor as a designer and project

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director, working for high-profile clients like Bank of America, ARCO and General Electric. After Landor,
and following a three-year stint running a design consultancy in San Francisco, I moved to Napa Valley and
started M. Agnew and Company, a boutique design firm with a focus on serving clients in the wine industry.
The company has had a nearly 20 year run, and some of my clients have included: Duckhorn Vineyards;
Beringer Vineyards; and Cindy Palwcyn, an executive chef and owner of three Napa Valley restaurants.

With last year’s economic downturn, I could see that

business was going to be harder to come by for a while. I also learned a few
things about myself. First, I realized that I had been shot out of a cannon right
after college—I started working immediately, and projects continued to come my
way at a frenzied pace, but I had never taken the time to think about what I really
wanted. Second, I realized that I had been stuck for a while in terms of self-
promotion. I never really needed to promote, and now for the first time, I actually
had to find some work.

So I used this new freedom to head back to Art Center for a tune-up.

Through Art Center at Night, I created my own "full-time" class schedule. I rented
an adorable little cottage in South Pasadena and ran my business via my laptop
and cell phone. For my first term I took seven ACN classes. The workload just
about killed me, but the experience proved so wonderful that I extended my time
in Pasadena for a second term. The next term I took a more reasonable four
classes. I studied a number of topics, including Web/interactive,
animation/motion, digital illustration, letterpress and a class in which I built a
digital print portfolio and a website.

The whole experience was an incredible wakeup call. I feel

like I took full advantage of the energy that comes from being
back at Art Center. I was electrified by being surrounded by
some of the best minds in design—students and teachers—
and completed many necessary steps to groom a new
company, Magnum Wine Design, which I plan to launch over
the next year.

I even took some classes that extended beyond the scope of

my company. For 10 years I had been trying to write in a
variety of different formats but was having difficulty moving forward. To remedy this, I enrolled in Michael Gottlieb’s "The Art of
Storytelling" and Tim Egan’s "Illustrating and Writing Books for Children." The process of having somebody expect something
wonderful from me caused work to pour out that otherwise would have just stayed inside. Now I have a finished product that I'm
taking to the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators convention to be reviewed by an editor—a scary but exciting
prospect.

Thank you Art Center, and Art Center at Night, for helping me fulfill a lifelong dream that continues to unfold.

Justin Park
ACN class: Motion Design 1
I’m an Art Center graduate and a fashion illustrator and graphic designer for 2BB Unlimited, Inc., a five-
year-old fashion manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles. I work for the company’s MIMO division,
which specializes in junior tops and bottoms that are sold at specialty chains and some of the finest
department stores. We have a great line of products, but we also have many competitors, so we need
more exposure.

Thinking about ways to make our brand stand out, I had the idea of putting together a video—a quality clip
with motion graphics and set to music. Generally, companies just send out picture packets and catalogs.
As an Art Center graduate, I knew about Art Center at Night, and saw that it was offering a Motion Design
course with Dario DiClaudio. So I proposed this deal to our vice president: pay for the course and I’ll create the video. He loved the
idea and took me up on the offer.

Returning to Art Center was great. Even though it was

a different campus—South Campus was still being
built when I was an undergrad—it still had the same
vibe. I enjoyed being surrounded by students who
were engaged with their work The class itself was

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very challenging. Dario taught us everything about
motion design, from A to Z. It wasn’t always easy
going to class after work and I’d sometimes spend up
to 12 hours a week working on my assignments. But it
was all worth it.

The video I made—a series of photographs showing

off the MIMO line, mixed with images of buildings,
urban environments and graphics and all moving to
the beat of music—surprised everybody, particularly
our sales rep. The video ended up being a valuable tool for him, and it resulted in opening several new accounts.

In fact, the response was so positive that the company asked me to make another video for MIMO Jeans a few weeks later. And
they recently decided they want a new video every season, so now I’ll be making four of them a year. I may have been busy before,
but now I’m really busy!

Louis Davidson
ACN classes: Intermediate Photography and Advanced Photoshop
I’ll never forget the first day of Intermediate Photography.
Our instructor, Ken Merfeld, turned off all the lights. We sat
there in the dark for five minutes—it seemed like an
eternity! Why did he do this? To remind us that
photography is all about light. He wanted us to always
consider the quality and the source of the light.

I’ve noticed that student photographers seem most

comfortable when working with subjects already familiar to
them, whether it’s buildings, travel snapshots or puppies. Merfeld gave us
assignments that forced us out of our comfort zone, like shooting a subject lit only
by candles. In other words, we couldn’t just shoot photos of puppies!

Last summer I took Advanced Photoshop with York Knowlton. Knowlton gave us
assignments that seemed just beyond what we could do. But he was teaching us
how to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. He was really saying, “There’s the
door. Now just go through it.”

One of the most

memorable and challenging
assignments in Knowlton’s
class was the dream
sequence project. He had
us pick a single scene from a recent dream and then gave us the task of
illustrating it. At first I thought, “I can’t illustrate a dream. I just take
photographs!” But sure enough, I figured out how to do it.

After a diversified career in architecture and other businesses, I’m now

enjoying the opportunity to improve my photographic and graphic arts skills.
As a graduate of both Brown University and MIT, you can imagine that I’ve
run across many good instructors. The two Art Center at Night courses I’ve
taken, and their instructors, rank among the best. Both Merfeld and
Knowlton taught their classes with the energy and excitement of a first-time
teacher. As I attended these classes, I wondered if the young students
surrounding me had any idea how good these guys are.

Dolores “Tido” Kent

ACN Class: Collage and Assemblage
Dolores Kent, M.D., has been in private practice in Los Angeles
for over 20 years and recently fulfilled a career-long dream by
opening a spa for the “comprehensive care of the complete
woman.” Her career is at an all-time high, but as she explains,
entering the medical field was not an easy choice.

“Art has always been my first love,” says Dr. Kent. “It was a big

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soon as I finished my residency and had a second of free time, I
started taking evening classes. I just felt I couldn’t practice medicine without having art in
my life.”

Dolores Kent, who originally expressed herself through oil painting, found a new medium
and a new way to indulge her creative senses in Franklyn Liegel’s “Collage and
Assemblage” course, a class she has taken not once, but five times.

“Franklyn makes each student feel like an individual, so you don’t feel like you’re taking
the same course over and over,” says Kent. “I attribute some of my love and the
development of my artistic talent to him and his teaching methods. He’s very intuitive and
has the ability to bring out the best in anyone. He’s a brilliant mentor.”

As a doctor, Dr. Kent uses her left brain

most of the day and says that art, and
specifically the medium of collage, gives her
an escape where she can engage her creative senses.

“Collage satisfies my interest in so many areas. It allows me to indulge my curiosity,”

Kent says. “I like working with multiple mediums and techniques. I work with fabric,
wire, paper, canvas and paint and I’m able to manipulate them to create the kind of
work that can deliver my message, even if it’s just a sense of beauty and symmetry.”

Despite an extremely busy schedule, Dr. Kent says she plans to continue making time
for art. “I plan to take many more classes,” she says. “Art Center at Night has
undoubtedly deepened my ability to transform and grow my own art. It has also
enhanced my appreciation of art in all forms and heightened my curiosity for more. If
time allowed, I would apply for a Masters in Fine Art.”

Deanna Lau-Ino
ACN Class: Introduction to Graphic Design
After spending several years working in the healthcare
industry, Deanna’s friends convinced her it was finally time to
pursue her artistic dreams. Deanna was excited by the
possibility of a new direction, but worried that going back to
school would prove too difficult.

“Then a friend suggested going to Art Center at Night,” says

Deanna. “I didn’t even realize that was an option. So I set up
an appointment with program director Dana Walker. She
encouraged me to never give up.”

Deanna decided to take one Art Center at Night class per term, starting with
Introduction to Graphic Design. Five years and 15 classes later, Deanna now works
as a print production designer in Disney’s worldwide technical services department.
“Not only was I able to change my career, but it’s given me the confidence to move
from freelancing to doing what I want full-time,” says Deanna. “I hope I’m also setting a
good example for my kids. I want them to know that learning doesn’t stop when you
graduate or get a degree. You learn your entire life.”

Jini Lyn Keasling

ACN Class: Illustration
“Art Center at Night has been a significant part of my career for at least a
decade. I took my first class when I was looking to build my portfolio for
entrance to the Undergraduate program at Art Center. In Robert Jew’s
Illustration course, I found a fresh perspective on editorial illustration and
completed my portfolio for admittance to the degree program. Now, as an Art
Center graduate (ILLU ’00), I'm the creative director for an international exhibit
house in Los Angeles called Skyline Exhibits. My previous career roles include
being a product designer for LEGO and a brand design manager for Airstream
Trailers.

My company is keen on funding any extra

ed cation that o ld enhance m position

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and I recently returned to ACN for several
continuing education courses. I took Stan
Kong’s Marker Sketching for Graphic
Design, as well as Art and Design of
Creative Teams and The Perfect Pitch.

All of these courses have had direct results

on my career as an art director. The skills I learned have been directly
applied to enhance the design projects I currently work on. It’s a delight to
have such a great resource nearby and to share it with my fellow alumni
and colleagues.”

Louise Sandoval
ACN Class: Life Drawing
I took my first Art Center at Night class in 1965 — Life Drawing with Charles Mooshian. He was a great
teacher because he gave all his students equal attention and answered every question. He had respect for
everyone and received it back in return. Mooshian also provided me with one of the most valuable tools for
future career success – to see the whole figure at once for blocking and proportions. I took three more
classes with him. I also enrolled in two classes with Harry Carmean, who was a fascinating and dynamic
teacher, and I took Illustration with Donald Putman. With all these drawing and illustration classes, I can’t
help but feel indebted to Art Center at Night for the last 40 years of my successful career as an illustrator.

I worked at Hanna-Barbera when I began taking classes at ACN. They were having
a hard time finding enough realistic background painters for the television series Jonny Quest, so my
illustration sketches from Putnam’s class landed me the job working as a background painter for that show.
When Jonny Quest ended I accepted a position with Filmation to become its first female Assistant
Animator.

I worked at Filmation as a journeyman animator for more

than 20 years, until 1989 when, sadly, it shut down. Since
then, I’ve moved to Las Vegas and am now working as an
animator and illustrator for a slot machine company. It’s very similar to computer
games but on a somewhat smaller scale. I’m enjoying my career even more now
that I can do everything digitally that I used to do on paper or canvas. I just don’t
have to clean brushes and worry about matching colors. I’m having a ball.

Javier Verdura PROD ‘91

ACN class: Introduction to Product and Transportation Design
“Art Center at Night was the doorway into the unparalleled world that is Art Center”

Art Center at Night was the doorway into the unparalleled world that is Art
Center. Stan Kong PROD’83 was my instructor for Introduction to
Transportation and Product Design back in 1987, and he was great for
several reasons; he did not sugarcoat what we were getting ourselves into.
Having gone through the rigors of Art Center student himself, he had first-
hand experience as to what we could expect. Basically, if you are not serious
and passionate about design, don’t waste your time or money, just leave
now. If you are passionate and serious about design, then buckle your seat belts, because you are in
for a rough four years. I have to say they were some of the best years of my life.

Through Art Center at Night, I developed a portfolio

of 12 pieces to be considered along with my
application as a full-time student. I was accepted in
my first attempt, and I know there is no way I could
have been accepted had I not taken that Art Center
at Night course, I got so much out of it. I still have some of the car renderings from that class. Not
only did I gain my first design instruction, I can also attribute my first business instruction to Stan’s
class. When I write an email to a client Stan taught me to refer to myself as “we.” He said, “you want
to sound as if you are not an individual, but a whole company that shares the same opinion.” So I guess my design career really
got started off on the right foot the moment I stepped into Stan’s class.

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John Anthony Sahs TRANS ‘92
Senior designer, Nissan Motor Co
ACN Class: Introduction to Product and Transportation Design
“I remember driving under the Art Center Bridge; I had never seen anything like it. As I walked around
the campus, I could feel the energy vibrating through air and I knew this was the place for me.”

In 1988, I stumbled across an Art Center catalog. I was looking through

the pages and saw amazing photos of futuristic cars. Suddenly I knew
what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I contacted the school and
asked what I could do to get into Art Center. They recommended an
Art Center at Night course called Introduction to Transportation and
Product Design. I quickly signed up and headed to Art Center. I
remember driving under the Art Center Bridge; I had never seen anything like it. As I walked
around the campus, I could feel the energy vibrating through air and I knew this was the place for me.

Stan Kong was the course instructor and I was so impressed by how he gave each one of us a
chance to do well. Stan taught us the principles of what a designer should be, and would share his
professional experiences with us. I was determined to get into the full time program, so after
finishing my 14 weeks of hard work, I put my new portfolio together and shipped it off to the
admissions department.

I don't remember how long it took to get the answer, but it felt like a lifetime. One afternoon, I saw
this big Orange and white envelop on my doorstep. I opened it up and all I could see was
“Congratulations! You are accepted into Art Center.” I will never forget that day. Art Center at Night
changed my life, and I cannot say thank you enough to Stan Kong and to Art Center at Night for helping to shape my future.

Art Cole TRANS ’97

ACN Classes: Introduction to Product and Transportation Design,
Sketching and Rendering in Multimedia
“I was caught hook, line and sinker by the mystique and prestige of Art Center. After one visit, I knew all
other efforts at an education were futile.”

I was caught hook, line and sinker by the mystique and

prestige of Art Center. After one visit, I knew all other
efforts at an education were futile. I had even finished the
CORE curriculum at California College for the Arts and
Crafts in Oakland, Calif. My portfolio showed promise, but
it was not quite up to par.

I was advised to enroll at Art Center at Night to

prepare my entrance portfolio by a member of the
admissions staff. I enrolled in Introduction to
Product and Transportation Design and Sketching and Rendering in Multimedia. These two classes
were a winning combination. The instructor’s practical, no-nonsense approach to design helped me
cope with the enormity of going full-time at Art Center, and gave me two solid design projects that
proved successful. Sketching and Rendering in Multimedia gave me a whole new skill-set on
multimedia sketching. I also learned about the anatomy and craftsmanship of a rendering and a
sketch in layers of media.

The skill, instruction and leadership I gained are things I have held onto since 1992, and I hope I can
give back to others in my lifetime the way Art Center at Night’s talented and passionate staff have
given back to me.

Dana Hursey PHOT ‘86

ACN class: Portrait Photography
“At times I get entrenched in "the job" and lose perspective on the bigger picture (why I started doing this
in the first place, what I love about it, etc.) Thankfully every few years something comes along to "snap
me out of it." My Art Center at Night class was one of those things.“

I know that as a creative person and a teacher, every couple of years I need
a kick in the butt to go out and shoot some work that is not job-related.

I had been a teacher at Art Center for o er 15 ears and had ne er taken

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advantage of the "free class" I got each term. A good friend of mine, Wynne
Wilson PHOT ’94, was teaching a portraiture class that term, and so I opted to take it.

It was a great experience. It gave me structure and deadlines by

which I had to produce something, a fun and relaxed environment
in which to play and be creative and a place where I could have
someone I respect push me to explore areas I might not normally
explore on my own. In short, it revitalized me. I even got a few
shots that wound up in my portfolio!

At times I get entrenched in "the job" and lose perspective on the bigger picture (why I started
doing this in the first place, what I love about it, etc.) Thankfully every few years something comes
along to "snap me out of it." My Art Center at Night class was one of those things.

Rick Leddy
ACN Class: Essential Typogrpahy
“Art Center at Night worked for me. I’m a professional who wanted to improve a job skill and really
needed to do something different to restart the creative juices.”

I am the art director of a magazine called WaterShapes, a trade publication for professionals who design,
engineer and construct projects with water (pools, fountains and sculptures in which water plays a pivotal
role).

I put together the magazine every month, which basically means

designing the features, illustrating columns, color-correcting
photos, coordinating with the printer and getting it all out on time. I’m more like a one-man
art department. After doing this for eight years, my designs were becoming a little boring.
Artistic input from others is a very, very good thing and the problem with being the art
director and the art department, is that it’s awfully hard to fire yourself. Never having been
exceptionally strong in typography and wanting to become better at it, I signed up for
Essential Typography with Magda Gonzales.

Magda taught me that there is an inherent beauty in a typeface that makes it a work of art
unto itself. Each curve or serif in a letter is its own design. After designing and art directing
for over 15 years, it was great to gain her fresh, new perspective. It’s this new perspective
that has made me a better designer. I think about the lessons I learned in her class every
time I sit down in front of a blank computer screen and I have to design an editorial feature.
I look at type a little differently, from a more informed space, and it truly has made my
designs, and more importantly, my thoughts concerning design stronger. Art Center at
Night worked for me. I’m a professional who wanted to improve a job skill and really
needed to do something different to restart the creative juices. There are many things I regret, like buying an iPhone at full price, but
going to Art Center at Night is not one of them.

Pearl Suh (ADVT ’07)

ACN Class: Introduction to Advertising
“My life has been a whirlwind of new and exciting experiences since I have found something I love doing, and Art Center at
Night helped me find it.”

My Art Center at Night experience changed my life. I only took one class called, Introduction to Advertising with Mikio Osaki. After
that I knew what I wanted out of life—to get a degree and work in advertising. Now I am a recent grad of Art Center’s ad program
(class of Spring 2007), working in New York. I got a job at Arnold Worldwide one month after graduating, and I am working on a
wide variety of cool brands. Only four months into my new job I am working on super bowl commercial ideas! My life has been a
whirlwind of new and exciting experiences since I have found something I love doing, and Art Center at Night helped me find it.

Onna Young
ACN Class: Intro to Communication Sketching
“I started with Intro to Drawing, Intro to Graphic Design, and Intro to Communication Sketching at Art Center at Night. I have
never looked at anything the same ever again. I went from being someone who could not draw to someone who knows they can
draw anything.”

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After 10 years as a mortgage industry professional, I found myself wanting a more satisfying life experience. I had always thought
that working in the art world was a frivolous endeavor, until I met a few Art Center graduates who were working professionals
working, with great jobs at toy companies, architecture firms, automotive manufacturers and even as art directors for video gaming
companies. I was struck by how amazingly talented these people were, and how they all had these amazing careers. It made me
jealous that they were all so talented and I wasn’t. Extremely creative, successful and knowledgeable people, my friends all had one
thing in common–they inspired me to go to Art Center at Night.

I started with Intro to Drawing, Intro to Graphic Design, and Intro to Communication Sketching at Art Center at Night. I have never
looked at anything the same ever again. I went from being someone who could not draw to someone who knows they can draw
anything. I cannot begin to thank my teachers (Hans Mortiz, Mary Yanish and Dan Hoy) enough for opening the floodgates of my
artistic world and taking the time to share their passions with beginning students.

What Art Center at Night taught me has changed me entirely—my art perspective and my drawing confidence. I discovered a
strong creative foundation inside of me and a new set of skills that deeply satisfy me in ways that regular work simply doesn’t and
never will. I am forever grateful.

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