"I was drawn to the SCAD architecture program because it challenges students to push the limits of design," says Juan Diego Perez (B.F.A., architecture, 2020). "The university fosters a spirit of exploration and experimentation which I could both feed from and contribute to." 

As a junior architect at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Juan has contributed to projects including the winning design proposal for the new Dock A at Zurich International Airport. Sitting in an open-plan space of BIG's home base in New York City, he took a break from his collaborative work to discuss entering the professional world of the built environment.

Main arrivals and departures hall, Zurich Airport. Rendering image courtesy BIG.

"One of the most important ways SCAD prepared me for my role at BIG is that I learned how to think critically and creatively, and to never be afraid to push boundaries in my designs," he says. "This is a key aspect of the BIG philosophy, which values innovation and experimentation in architecture. I was fortunate to be surrounded by students with different backgrounds and cultures. This has been crucial in my current role at BIG, where we work on projects all over the world and of all sorts of typologies, so we must be versatile and adaptable."

Juan points to Architecture Design Studio I: Human-centered Design (ARCH 301) with Professor Scott Singeisen as formative: "We were tasked us with creating a polysemic drawing as a non-architectural representation of our designs. This exercise incentivized creativity and the exploration of different mediums. I learned that architecture doesn't have to be limited to plans and sections, it can be expressed through any medium that you think communicates your design intent. This early discovery of the power of narrative and representation behind architecture helped me realize that I was on the right path. As I progressed through my studies and began working in the built environment, the technical aspect of architecture became fundamental, but this early lesson in creative expression stuck with me at heart."

The lessons learned while at SCAD continue to have an impact on Juan's work at BIG. As his BIG colleague and associate/project leader Blake Smith says: "Juan has been a critical member of many teams at BIG since joining the firm in 2020. He is a talented and driven designer with an expanding set of technical capabilities. His background influences his process and provide a unique perspective within the office. In addition to enriching BIG's projects through design, he is a valued collaborator and team player." 

Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Juan honed his time management skills at SCAD. As member of the men's golf team under coach Amanda Haverstick, he earned the 2019 Daktronics NAIA All-American Scholar-Athlete award. He looks back at his rigorous SCAD experience with fondness. 

"Inspiration and influence runs through the halls at SCAD, from foundation courses such as drawing and color theory to courses in majors such as fashion, industrial design, and interactive design and game development. Being willing to explore and experiment will make your craft unique."

As for the future of architecture, Juan states: "One thing I'm certain of is that architecture and design can always contribute to shaping our environment and remedying past mistakes. Hopefully the future will allow me further opportunities to create something that impacts people in a positive way."

Connect with Juan Diego Perez.

Cora Andreoli is on her way to the taxidermist. "He works at a warehouse in the woods," she says, somewhat ominously. Then with a laugh: "I'm not focused on the gory elements, I'm interested in the finishing process."

The screenwriter is in a finishing process of her own. Cora's thesis short "Stitched"—which she also directed and produced—is the story of a horticulturist and a speechless suitor navigating connection and compatibility. A specific blue yarn threads the story together. "Everything is connected," Andreoli explains.

Dory Goocher (B.F.A., film and television, 2023) in "Stitched."

"Stitched" was filmed largely in Savannah, including key scenes at plant boutique STUMP. For the final day of filming, Cora is en route to Rock Hill, South Carolina while discussing embracing chance. "We'll film whatever the taxidermist is working on and what his process is like in the moment. I want to get macro shots to capture a lot of detail. Taking Shot Design (FILM 329) with Professor Lubo, I learned it's more interesting to show certain details first, then pull back to reveal the scene."

Certain details: Andreoli (B.F.A., film and television, 2023) is from Owasso, Oklahoma. Her favorite novels include Murakami's After Dark and Ann Patchett's The Dutch House. Her twin sister Aidan is an accomplished trombonist. She loves "research and the research process." She is minoring in dramatic writing.

"Cora is a highly talented writer with a strong sense of what makes a story work, and I have great confidence in her storytelling ability," says dramatic writing professor Greg DePaul, who taught Andreoli in Writing the Television Drama Pilot Script (FILM 438). "She creates compelling characters and engaging situations and conjures worlds that challenge the audience. Her strong grasp of the form of TV drama will allow her to collaborate with seasoned professional writers."

In conversation, Andreoli emphasizes how different courses at SCAD have affected her sense of possibility. This quarter, Introduction to Playwriting (DWRI 272) has pulled her in unexpected directions. "It's been challenging developing my playwriting distinct from my screenwriting."

Cora is enthusiastic about Professor Sandra Daley's rigorous assignments and "amazing feedback" and class readings of plays by Tony Kushner, Will Arbery, and Antigone. "I'm so glad I took Introduction to Playwriting. Professor Daley is very encouraging and not afraid to laugh."

Laughter may be a subtly organizing principle of Cora's work. Though her writing is seldom expressly comedic, notes of humor make a dark premise sparkle. The protagonists of "Stitched"— yarn-based spoiler alert—have their mouth and eyes sewn shut.

"I didn't want it to be garish and disturbing," Cora says. "The look of those stitches was done with spirit gum by my friend Tessa Kuhlman (B.FA., film and television, 2023), a writer and cinematographer who has experience with special effects makeup."

After wrapping the day's shoot in Rock Hill, Andreoli is focused on finishing "Stitched."

"With taxidermy, you're giving something a life-like presentation. And that's what you do when you make a screenplay into a film. Bringing potential to life."

Connect with Cora Andreoli.

"Stitched" will screen at Trustees Theater on Friday, June 1, 9 a.m. during the SCAD Senior Film Showcase.

"Stitched" still images by Anthony Morabito (B.F.A., film and television) 

"It's important for my students to know they don't have to compromise, you can make your creativity your career," says digital communications professor Natasha Vasiljevic. "Figuring out how to make that passion sustainable means everything."

She knows of what she speaks. Before joining SCAD faculty full-time in Fall 2022, the professor ran her own studio in Toronto while teaching university-level masterclasses in still life photography. "I talk in class about my experience as a professional photographer and business owner, so my students understand what I'm teaching has substance behind it."

At SCAD, Vasiljevic teaches Digital Communication (DIGI 130), a required course where students gain the digital competence fundamental to all creative professions. That includes building their professional identity in an online world, and "being able to speak about their digital portfolio, and discussing and representing their own work," she says.

The fact that her Herstand Hall classrooms are filled with underclassmen is a boon. "My students are from all over the world. They are from different majors and have different ideas about what they want to do, and I am impressed by how open-minded and accepting of each other they are. I so admire this generation now at SCAD."

Vasiljevic was 24-years-old when she came to Canada as a refugee of the Yugoslav Wars. She earned her M.F.A. at Ontario College of Art and Design for her thesis project "When Tito Went on Vacation" featuring kinetic mobiles constructed as a way of "reimagining nostalgia."

The experience gave her a lasting understanding of what it means to be in a country without the support network of immediate family and familiar language. At SCAD, she encourages international students to engage with the deep resources provided by ISSO. "SCAD offers important support services, and I emphasize the positives of using this help."

A good-natured hour-long conversation with Vasiljevic includes references to the visions of Bosnian poet Mak Dizdar, the creative efficacy of a good cappuccino, and her time in Haiti using Photovoice methodology "to teach kids how to represent their own lives through photography." When she says she is running off to class, she may be speaking literally.

With her training partner (a.k.a. Nancy, her dog) at her side, she has explored much of Savannah on foot, and won her age bracket at this year's Savannah Women's Half Marathon.

Now, entering the homestretch of spring quarter, Vasiljevic and her students are focused on the academic year's final assignment, an artist statement in video form. "They take all the elements of their personal brand and narrative and make a little movie, about a minute long. I tell them, it's a smaller project, only fifteen percent of your grade, but boom! They make these amazing movies. Each student speaks about their research and ideation before they show their work. I bring popcorn."

For Vasiljevic, SCAD is a new lens. "As a professor you are leading from in front of the class. But what's most fascinating to me is seeing what my students think and make."

"Slow cinema exists to draw the viewer in by making them wait, expecting a pay-off that may not arrive," said professor Fatemeh Hosseini (M.A., motion media design, 2019). "This concept could be taught over twenty sessions, but today we will do it in two hours."

"Poetic Motion: Shot Design in Slow Cinema" took place on a Friday afternoon. Coffee and coconut biscuits were provided. Yet abundant curiosity was the prime motivating factor for those who attended the opt-in workshop.

As film and television majors flowed into the upstairs classroom at Arnold Hall, they were joined by students in motion media design, animation, and sequential art. Everyone was hoping for applicable tips.

Sans preamble, Hosseini screened a clip of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1975 film Mirror. "How do you feel about this scene?" she asked.


"I was captivated, because it seems comedic in the beginning, then it becomes very serious," said Alicia Horton (B.F.A., film and television).

"Oh good, I thought maybe you would say you were bored!" laughed Hosseini.

From that point, there was no turning back. A spirited discussion of structureless time, eye direction and camera movement, blocking and staging, restraint and release—Hosseini led with an artist's ardor and a technician's acumen.

Students watched scenes from Under Electric Clouds (dir. Alexy German, Jr., 2015) and Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day (1991). What exactly did this Taiwanese crime drama have in common with a Russian sci-fi conundrum?

"The camera moves with the characters, and you stay in the moment," observed Anna Robinson (B.F.A., sequential art).

A sense of narrative elusiveness was part of the point. Hosseini quoted screenwriter and director Paul Schrader: "If you use boredom as a device, when is it effective, and when is it simply boredom?"

This seemed contrary to notions of popular entertainment, pointed out Ponta Azarmginhaghighi (B.F.A., animation). Hosseini nodded and pressed forward: "Your creative opportunity arises when you decide how much restraint to show, and when to provide release."

Release arrived at the workshop's seventy-five-minute mark. Hosseini sprang a challenge: split into two groups, and plot and film a scene where people are separating, without the use of dialogue. "You decide what kind of separation takes place," she added.

Was the professor really asking students to incorporate novel concepts into short films to be shot in under a half-hour—and screened by the end of the workshop?

Yes. 

Students, many of whom had never met before, plunged into a flurry of focused work, filming in stairwells and by windows, followed by rapid editing sessions on laptops. Then the one-minute films were screened, like a self-contained mini-film festival. Students applauded each other's wonderful work.

"You all impress me. With no lighting, just a camera phone, you have achieved something here: an understanding of poetic motion," Hosseini said.

Special thanks to the students who attended "Poetic Motion: Shot Design in Slow Cinema":

Alicia Horton (B.F.A., film and television)
Anna Robinson (B.F.A., sequential art)
Brennan Haley (M.F.A., film and television)
Chandler Wills (B.F.A., film and television)
Dhruv Nambiar (B.F.A., sequential art)
JoJo Jin (M.A., motion media design)
Muta Fatin (B.F.A., film and television)
Ponta Azarmginhaghighi (B.F.A., animation)
Yuchan Yang (M.F.A., motion media design)


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Film editing has been called "the invisible art." During THE CUT, the names and faces behind the work take center stage, bringing the SCAD Editors Club up close.

"In every classroom, students have day-to-day concerns about their assignments, and then there are big-picture concerns, like what their studies are leading to professionally," says film and television professor Alexander Newton. "THE CUT helps demystify the process of becoming a professional, enabling our students to manifest their editing skills as a career."

The virtual networking event, this Thurs. and Fri., May 11-12, connects SCAD film and television students studying editing with alumni and industry professionals from top post-production companies.

A keynote address from industry luminaries Bill Kinder and Bobbie O’Steen, authors of Making the Cut at Pixar (Focal Press, 2022), opens proceedings on Thursday at 10 am ET. Kinder is founder of the editorial and post-production department at Pixar, while film historian O’Steen has written books including Cut to the Chase (Wiese, 2002) with legendary editor Sam O’Steen (The Graduate, Chinatown). All of THE CUT’s panels and workshops feature esteemed SCAD alumni.

"Our alumni are excited to help nurture the next generation of professional editors," explains Newton. "I’ve had the privilege of watching my former students become professional editors developing their careers, being promoted and making interesting moves professionally. THE CUT creates the very real sense of the baton being passed, and that’s a wonderful thing as we continue to grow editing as a specific discipline within our film and television program at SCAD."

The Alumni Panel (May 11, 11 am ET) will feature Isabella Herrera (M.F.A., film and television, 2021); Hannah Terry (M.F.A., film and television, 2022), associate editor, Gearbox; Jayda Cardoza (B.F.A., film and television, 2020), 2nd assistant editor, Marvel Studios; Jake McKee (B.F.A., film and television, 2016), freelance colorist; Laura Minto (B.F.A., film and television, 2015), associate editor at DreamWorks.

Isabella Herrera (M.F.A., film and television, 2021)

"I love giving back and helping out SCAD students," says Herrera, who worked on the Academy Award-nominated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and as lead assistant editor on the Passionflix series The Secret Life of Amy Bensen. "The CUT is a way to show and share with students that they can achieve their dreams. In editorial and post-production, editors are involved in everything from documentaries to big budget franchises to social media—there’s a world of opportunity. My only wish is that they had THE CUT when I was at SCAD!"

A portfolio workshop will be led by alum Scott Boyd (B.F.A., film and television, 2019) and LooseWorld founder Dane Reiley (Impractical Jokers, How to Make it in America). All students are invited to portfolio reviews with post-production companies including Moonshine Post, Jupiter Entertainment, Scripps, Harbor Picture Company, Good Company, Magnolia Network, and 2K Games. 

THE CUT is presented by SCAD Career and Alumni Success and the SCAD Editors Club.

Learn more about THE CUT including a full schedule of events here.

"I am of the school of thought of not interfering with nature," says Monica Valle (B.F.A., architecture, 2020).

If Valle's statement sounds antithetical to the very idea of the built environment, it is essential to a new design discipline called Bioplanning.

On a misty Tuesday afternoon in New York City, Valle sat to discuss her work as project manager at Supernature Labs. Supernature is "not a design studio," she emphasizes, but a start-up that is both "a marketing agency for licensing ecological products" — foremost the dwelling called the Supercell — and a non-profit engaged with research and education.

"What we want to do with Supernature Labs is create systematic change in the way that we build our communities," she says. This means moving on from the boxlike structures that dominate architecture globally into shapes based on nature, "a geometrical shift into Bioplanning."

A native of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Valle lived through her country's 2009 coup d'état and the consequences inflicted on a nation and its people. That experience eventually informed her studies at SCAD, where the architecture faculty inculcated "my fascination with the policy issues behind master planning and urban development, and the social advocacy issues that go with it."

As SCAD architecture professor Scott Singeisen says: "Monica's work at SCAD indicated the high level of expertise that she brings to her professional career. Her vision and commitment allow her to translate solutions for world housing, while advancing architectural conversations around sustainability and culture. This is important work."

The work will happen on a global stage this November at COP 28 in Dubai. Supernature Labs founder and CEO Dror Benshetrit — who came to Savannah last month to speak at SCADstyle 2023 — will deliver the Bioplanning Open Report to global leaders during the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The report includes research-based policy recommendations that, per Supernature's precis, "[will] save enormous resources and energy and create a better future for both inhabitants and the natural environment."

As Valle explains: "Supernature is focused on the collaboration between industries, while giving a platform for architectural talent in emerging markets in different countries—Indonesia, South Africa, Morocco—to bring their own perspectives to what the architectural dialect can look like. Our Cop 28 activation will provide a global platform for us to invite talent to participate in the movement."

As the afternoon's conversation about her work winds down, Valle adds, almost as an afterthought,  "Oh, and I'd like to invite you to my pop-up this weekend."

A three-day collaboration between Estudio Valle and Kajal New York, "reframe" is a showroom and installation presented by Valle with fellow alum Kajal Goel (B.F.A., fashion, 2019).

"Our installation is a play on how we consume garments, and the relationship between patterns of consumption in fashion and in architecture," Monica says.

Thinking outside the box? By creating a world of positive possibility, Valle is reshaping it entirely.

While the forecast called for rain, Sidewalk Arts 2023 was a shining success. On Saturday, April 22, the 42nd edition of the beloved festival—the pinnacle of SCAD Family and Alumni Weekend—made Forsyth Park the place to be. Nearly 1,000 SCAD students, alumni, and local high school students created chalk compositions in a profusion of Bee-tific inspiration.

A highlight of SCAD Family and Alumni Weekend!

"Once again, the SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival brought students, guests, and our Savannah neighbors together in a beloved celebration of the creative spirit,” said President Paula Wallace. "Our Bees chalked every color of the rainbow across the pathways of Forsyth Park. Pure exuberance, elevated and underfoot!”

Prizes were given for Best of Show, SCAD Alumni Spirit, SCAD Student Spirit, Student Individual, Student Group, Graduate Student, Alumni, and High School divisions. In addition to the chalk art, alumni artist Abigail Tankersley (B.F.A., fibers, 2022) installed a breathtaking sculpture on the west side of the park near the fountain which appeared to traverse the earth.

SCAD's elite performance ensemble The Bee Sharps and SCAD alum and American Idol winner Candice Glover delivered a rousing concert featuring songs from legends like Gladys Knight, James Brown, and Outkast.

When the rains finally came, the festival had just finished, and the judging was complete. As the chalk artworks sluiced from the squares, it was a reminder of the nature of impermanence. Except for the winners, whose names will remain in the SCAD record forever.

SCAD Student Spirit Award: Jebrulo!
Sofia Denise (B.F.A., animation)
Otavio Santos De Albuquerque (B.F.A., illustration)
Jon Fackler (B.F.A., sequential art)
Arana Vazquez (B.F.A., illustration)
Alex Volkov (B.F.A., illustration)

SCAD Alumni Spirit Award
Lexi Mangieri (B.F.A., illustration, 2019)

Best of Show
Will Penny  (M.F.A., painting, 2013; B.F.A., painting, 2008)

Graduate Student Award
Junwei Huang (M.F.A., sequential art)

SCAD Student First Place
Yilan Zhang (B.F.A., animation)

SCAD Student Runner-Up
Parker Schovanec (B.F.A., painting)

SCAD Students (group) First Place: Slayers
Katriella Britt (B.F.A., visual effects)
Charlotte O’Dell (B.F.A., production design)
Julia Paiewonsky (B.F.A., animation)

SCAD Students (group) Runner-Up: Immersive Reality Club
Jacob Alexander (B.F.A., immersive reality)
Christian Wheeler (B.F.A., immersive reality)
Andrea Castro Yaines (B.F.A., user experience design)
Kushi Dharien Bhatt (B.F.A., immersive reality)
Jesse Fazzini (B.F.A., immersive reality)

SCAD Alumni First Place
Kaitlin Westbrook (B.F.A., industrial design, 2020)

SCAD Alumni Runner-Up
Britt Spencer (professor of illustration; M.F.A., painting, 2011; B.F.A., illustration, 2005) 

High School Student Award
Catherine Bock, First Place
Maya Eurich, Second Place
Kyrin Fox, Third Place

Chalk art by first place High School Award winner Catherine Bock.

Sidewalk Arts Festival 2023 was sponsored by Savannah Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Bon Appetit, Collins Quarter, Ex Libris, Sunstates Security, First Transit, The Kicklighter Company, Yates-Astro, and Brightview Landscaping. Read the event coverage in Connect Savannah, and review the full gallery of winners. See you next year!

"Designer brain is always active," says Harshitha Uddagiri (M.F.A. themed entertainment design) with a knowing smile. After finishing a barista shift at Art's café, she waits for the SCAD bus while sketching the Scottish Rite building outside. This unflagging, engaged ethic suggests why Harshitha is a prime ambassador for one of SCAD's lesser-known degree programs.

"As a second-year graduate student, I'm all for bringing people together to understand the major called themed entertainment design," she says.

From Visakhapatnam, India, Harshitha earned her undergraduate degree in interior design from Manipal University in 2020 before arriving in Savannah in the spring of 2021. She soon helped found a SCAD club called Grad MAPPED that facilitates networking opportunities for THED grad students, including off-site visits to companies like Sally Dark Rides.

While the highest-profile instances of themed entertainment are Disneyland and Universal Studios, THED designers "design any themed space that has a narrative," Harshitha explains. "That can mean a café, a hotel lobby, restaurant, resort, casino, or museum—anywhere with a story and connectivity."

Professor William Gorgensen taught Uddagiri winter quarter in Themed Environments and Attractions: Design Development (THED 775). "Harshitha is driven to excel," Gorgensen says. "I remember she told me she was going to use unfamiliar software because she felt she should have that working knowledge, even though she could use software she already excels in. This demonstrates her drive to become the best themed entertainment designer she can be."

Render from "Club Enchanted" by Harshitha Uddagiri.

In Gorgensen's class, Harshitha created an invite-only attraction called "Club Enchanted," where visitors to an abandoned castle engage with hosts (who may be ghosts) en route to solving a mystery room. Currently, spring quarter is devoted to her master's thesis, a project provisionally titled "Vishnuloka: A Walkthrough Realm of Lord Vishnu."

"My thesis is about how Indian mythology can be incorporated into themed entertainment design," explains Harshitha. "I want my culture to show up in my work."

By cosmic kismet, Harshitha meets for this interview just as "Naatu Naatu" from the Indian Telugu-language film RRR wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song. (SCAD Cinema Circle screened RRR some weeks prior.) As a native Telugu speaker—she is also fluent in English and Hindi—Harshitha is delighted. "It is a big deal!"

An acolyte of "clean lines and sophistication," Uddagiri will expand her comfort zone as she embraces Dravidian architecture dating back more than a millennium in her thesis. She explains that Vishnuloka will be a place where visitors can learn about Lord Vishnu and his ten avatars: "I am incorporating the temple-shrine into the space for visitors who pray, and it will also be entertaining and educational for everyone."

In addition to her thesis coursework and job at Art's, Harshitha is an orientation assistant at SCAD ISSO, helping new international students adjust to SCAD life. (She mentions a recent ISSO-sponsored trip to iFLY in Jacksonville, where she went indoor skydiving.) It's all part of Uddagiri's integrated approach to life, work, and service. As she says: "Designer brain is always active!"

Visit Harshitha Uddagiri.

Approach the freestanding wall inside Savannah Cultural Arts Center to find "Vulnerable." Seen at an angle, the soft sculpture's coils of wall-mounted black rope form a dimensional ovoid, loosely framed by gauzy drapes. Now step closer. Look head-on. What appeared abstract becomes figurative. With dark red locks dangling from her head, "Vulnerable" is a prone Black woman.

"I wanted to give form to vulnerability, comfort, and the self-love necessary to give and receive the concept of divine love," says artist Larissa Miller (M.F.A., fibers). "One big thing for me is affording Black women that privilege of being soft and vulnerable. Yes, we know about strong empowerment—but there's a weight to that. We need that break from always being on-guard because we can't trust the moment."

"Vulnerable" is one of two pieces by Miller in the group exhibition ‘…But Some Of Us Are Brave,' featuring works by local Black women artists that, as the show notes declare, "encourage viewers to consider the nuances within one's identity and the importance of representation."

Larissa M. Miller, Vulnerable, 2022, textile, 30 x 40 in.; as seen in Savannah Cultural Arts Center.

Born in Riverdale, Georgia, Miller was raised in the North Carolina Triad, and received her undergraduate degree in Consumer Apparel and Retail Studies from UNC Greensboro. Nearly five years of working professionally in her chosen field followed. Larissa then decided to fulfill her dream of attending SCAD and "finding autonomy in my craft." She is now 12 weeks shy of earning her master's degree.

"From the very first day of class, Larissa was intellectually curious and engaged," says art history professor Dr. Arthur DiFuria, who taught Miller in the course Image, Text, Print (ART 436). "Her thinking was always at a high level because she wasn't afraid to be vulnerable and ask questions. As a result, the project she presented was among the most challenging. It was an honor to teach her."

At SCAD, Miller has gone deep in multiple disciplines, including ceramics ("I learned how to slipcast molds") with Prof. Yves Paquette, and printmaking with Prof. Debora Oden ("she helped me let go of having to be perfect"). "My love for engravings and etchings came from my class with Professor DiFuria, where we studied the classical iconography of mythology. He supported my interest and helped me own the imagery of Tarot and its history as an approach to divination."

Depth of feeling, attention to cross-disciplinary craft, and a deep awareness of both history and the present moment all manifest in Miller's work.

"When I use rope, I'm thinking about printmaking and how each engraving or etching is made by cross-hatching and how each line is intentional in creating a figure. I use that in my fibers work."

While conceiving of her particular "Vulnerable" pose, Miller says, "I was looking at Gustav Klimt's Danaë. That pose was vulnerable. Do Black women have that luxury to experience bliss in a way that's unguarded? I wanted that, so I created it for myself."

"Vulnerable" and Miller's Jacquard textile "Foundations" are on view at Savannah Cultural Arts Center through Saturday, March 4. Meet Larissa at SCAD Fibers Open Studio this Friday evening, March 3, at Pepe Hall.

See more of the work of Larissa Miller and follow her on Instagram.

Banner image: Larissa M. Miller, Foundations, 2022, 50 x 60 in., Jacquard textile, detail.

Photo of Larissa Miller: Daniel White.

"I am passionate about using color and light to explore emotion," writes Laura Correal in a statement on her portfolio. "Life is full of magical moments, and I'm inspired to share those feelings with others."

Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, Correal (B.F.A., animation) is an artist of astounding depth. She achieves this often through lightness of touch. Her sensitive work is essential to the success of multiple projects, including "The Sun is Bad," a forthcoming thesis collaboration co-helmed by Rachel Mow (B.A., animation) set in Hong Kong in 1980s. As Laura says: "Even though we had different upbringings, Rachel and I have a similar aesthetic sense, and share a passion for animation."

"Bogotá Sunrise (Hacienda Santa Barbara)," digital illustration, 2023, for StreetsOfZine.

Growing up, Correal attended Colegio Anglo Americano ("very demanding") and aspired to study art in the United States. As a teenager, she attended local ACM SIGGRAPH events and developed her digital portfolio. She calls receiving a full scholarship to SCAD "one of the happiest moments of my life" and began at SCAD Savannah in 2019.

Now a senior, Laura is taking classes including Historical Adventures in Cinematic Animation (ANIM 223) while working on her thesis. With "The Sun is Bad," she is also tackling a new role: art director. "I've always done my part as a collaborator and done my best, but now I have to make sure everyone else is too!" she says.

"Laura is one of our best concept artists at SCAD," says John Webber, Associate Chair, SCAD Animation, who oversaw Correal's work on SCAD Animation Studios' "The How Book." "Her sense of color and design is phenomenal. I love having her aboard our collaborative projects because she sees the entire vision of a film. As an art director, she knows how to critique and push her peers yet does so with charity and is humble enough to take direction."

Concept art for "The Sun Is Bad (2023)

In December 2022, Correal flew to L.A. to attend CTN Animation Expo, where she received a one-on-one portfolio review with Pixar Animation Studios art director Deanna Marsigliese. "We were sitting at a table in a Marriott ballroom, and I could feel her real enthusiasm for art," Laura says of Marsigliese. "She had a positive reaction to my portfolio and explained about process and reference when designing in a time period as something I can work on."

Correal came away emboldened to apply for a Pixar Art Internship—one of her potential outcomes after graduation. In the meantime, she is happy to extol buñeulos paired with hot chocolate, reveal that Ponyo is her favorite Miyazaki movie, and explain she works best while listening to "groovy music, like Kaytranada." Sociopolitical topics are also on the table. It turns out Laura's devotion to animation is indivisible from her care about the world.

"After your work becomes part of your identity, assignments help, giving you structure and deadlines, but I think the key is having a community," she says. "That means people who help you with ideas, perspective, and motivation. That's part of what I love about being here at SCAD. It makes me excited to keep going."

See the world of Laura Correal.