On the auspicious morning of July 1, the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus rolled into Reno. Six musically inclined youth from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada would soon climb aboard "the coolest mobile recording studio on wheels" to compose and record an original song and accompanying music video, set to debut at the downtown culture festival Artown. There were intimations, too, that Avengers actor Jeremy Renner would drop by to elevate "Imagine: A Musical Collaboration" with his sonic superpowers.
 
Mixing engineer and music producer Caleb Green (B.F.A., sound design, 2023) was ready. The 23-year-old Green was spending the summer working on the Lennon Bus, including a visit to Centennial High School in Compton, California, engaging students with free, hands-on learning opportunities in audio, video, and digital media. The work had been intense — and intensely rewarding. "Shout-out to SCAD for preparing me for such an incredible experience," says the genuinely upbeat Green.

Caleb's journey began as student at Cypress Creek High School in Houston, Texas, where he learned about SCAD through a visiting regional rep. He entered the pre-college Rising Star program, taking classes with foundation studies professor LaRaine Papa Montgomery. As an undergrad studying graphic design, he enrolled in Fundamentals of Audio (SNDS 110) with sound design professor Rob Miller; the elective was a revelation. As Green says: "I learned that my passion for sound is otherworldly compared to anything else on this planet."
 
He has leaned into that passion this summer. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, founded in 1998 by Yoko Ono and artist and educator Brian Rothschild, helps young people from underserved communities develop skills in music and career awareness in allied fields. The state-of-the-art bus currently counts Apple, Gibson, Genelec, and Adobe among its partners. "As technology has evolved, we're constantly updating the facilities on the bus to have the best studio possible," executive director Rothschild says. "Recently we brought on Dolby as a strong partner for a major upgrade, and we were looking for engineers who already had Dolby Atmos experience."
 
Green got the gig by being prepared for opportunity. Sound design professor Jamie Baker explains: "In October 2023, I went to the AES [Audio Engineering Society] convention in New York, where I met Brian Rothschild. He told me, ‘We're coming to Savannah on the bus.' So, we put out a blast on our SCAD sound design Discord server, for students who might want to see the bus. Brian had mentioned to me that they were hiring, with specific requirements, and in Savannah, as they showed their new Atmos set-up, Caleb was there."
 
At SCAD, under the tutelage of sound design professor Robin Beauchamp, Green had earned his Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 certification — only the 20th person in the world to do so. "Once we got Caleb on board, I could tell he could be the creative lead on projects right away," says Rothschild. "He has a great personality, he's fun and serious, and he can work very, very quickly. I would say Caleb is in the top percentage of crew members the bus has ever had." In Professor Baker's words: "I'm thrilled SCAD prepared Caleb to sit in any seat that opens up along his journey."

In Reno, Caleb and the kids laid down a new, original country-soul tune. When special guest Renner arrived, Green says, "He was just a real sweet guy, and a great singer and guitar player. We started going through the melody, and Jeremy laid down a couple ideas and was encouraging the kids to really belt it out."

With the song and video complete, Renner invited the kids and the crew back to his Camp RennerVation among the towering pines in Stateline, Nevada. In between sessions demoing the bus for campers, Caleb took a leap in ice cold Lake Tahoe.
 
"One great thing about the bus is that it's where young people realize that there's more to music than writing the song," Green says. "They learn about recording and mixing, and how to prepare for creative decision-making."
 
Caleb will return this fall to his job aboard the Lennon Bus, where he will be joined by fellow alum Panashe Mugadza (B.F.A., sound design, 2023) working the Dolby Atmos system.
 
"With music, you build so much mystique around it because it's such a magical thing, so when you see and hear everything that goes into it, it demystifies the process," concludes Caleb. "That, to me, makes working on the bus even more fantastic."

Connect with Caleb Green!

The three-peat is on. Following gold medal performances at the Paralympics Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016, the U.S.A. men's wheelchair basketball team is aiming for a third consecutive triumph at this summer's Paralympic Games in Paris. "We're focused on our goal and going for gold," says head medical support staff Jeremy Johnson (B.F.A. industrial design, 1998). Johnson, an esteemed alum and part of the SCAD industrial design program's first graduating class, knows what can happen when great design, hard work, and athletic excellence all come together.
 
Jeremy Johnson: I was born with what was commonly called clubfoot. I wore a brace my entire childhood. My mom and dad were told I would never be able to run. I pushed myself to where I got a cross-country scholarship in college. At 18, I was living in Savannah and studying sports medicine and lodging with a physician assistant named Mary Vacala who worked with SCAD Athletics. I told Mary that during my spare time I'd set up an athletic training room in Pepe Hall, that way SCAD athletes could come in for preventative and rehab care. I volunteered doing that for a year and then I was asked a very simple question which shocked me: "Hey Jeremy, why don't you come to SCAD on a full scholarship? There's a new major called industrial design…" I spent all my time at SCAD working on healthcare-driven designs. I graduated in 1998 and was handed my diploma by Sidney Poitier. The commencement speaker was Maya Angelou. An incredible experience.
 
After SCAD, I worked in healthcare operations, and gained knowledge and fuel by jumping on committees at the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), which meant powering up overall performance improvement for supply chain performance, service, and product design. The sweet spot for Paralympic wheelchair basketball and supply chain performance improvement teams is tying the work we do on and off the court to what they do on and off the court, so to speak. Recently, I was on multiple projects with Vizient as a consultant, while simultaneously working with the NWBA and Team USA wheelchair basketball. My story aligns with Vizient's values: be inclusive, be purposeful, be bold, and be accountable. The same goes for Team USA wheelchair basketball, with our emphasis on building strong communication, cohesiveness, and character every single day.

Being an athletic trainer and intertwining supply chain operations for over 20 years, I have been able to be part of and help build the best teams in the world. The baton was passed to me about four years ago from head athletic trainer Mary Vacala when Coach Robb Taylor asked me to rise from assistant medical provider to head team provider for the Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. We did not miss a beat, traveling to Dubai for the World Championships in 2022 where we won gold. Coaches, support staff, and players — we're all part of the big picture. It's really a family, working together towards a goal. Now we're heading to Paris for the Paralympics. One of the players, Paul Schulte, is a mechanical engineer who designs wheelchairs. I hope Paul and I can visit SCAD so industrial design students can hear our story. Even if we plant a seed for one person, it's worth it. I often reflect and say, how can I impact somebody else? That's why we're here.

When I look back at my SCAD experience, I see where it's gotten me, to the pinnacle of working with Paralympic athletes. We're ready to get out there and bring the gold home for the U.S.A.

Follow Jeremy Johnson and Team USA when the Paralympic basketball tournament opens August 29 at Bercy Arena, the same court where, two weeks prior, LeBron James and Steph Curry will lead USA basketball in their drive towards Olympic gold. 

(As told to Peter Relic.)

"Try to be more like the ground," wrote the poet Rumi in the 13th century, encouraging human connection to the earth. Some eight hundred years later, director, composer, cinematographer and producer Nina Miller (M.F.A., film and television, 2022) uses that Sufi suggestion in her graduate thesis film Invasion of the Bucket Snatchers, this time as a call to action in the present.
 
"The important thing is for the film to help people feel hopeful, connected to the world, and inspired to become involved in composting, and to see that it's a fairly easy thing to do," Miller says.

The wonderfully titled Invasion of the Bucket Snatchers follows Savannah locals and Code of Return Compost proprietors Maria Vaughan and Michael Wedum as they get their hands dirty turning the city's food waste into healthy soil. The loamy labor looks hot and daunting. It is also obviously rewarding and meaningful.

Hard COR: composters Vaughan & Wedum

"There's some lift to it," Miller says of her seven-minute advocacy-based documentary. "Originally, I had planned on showing the whole historical background of the composting movement. Instead, I wound up documenting the composting process start to finish without talking head interviewees."
 
With its rich visual language, the precise, concise film is closer to narrative poetry. (Rumi would approve.) Bucket Snatchers becomes both grander and more intimate when it introduces the Parker family: parents Rodney and Rosa and little girls Rebekah and Rae. At the film's end, a glorious cookout feast features food the homesteaders have grown themselves with compost provided by Michael and Maria. The cycle of life has never looked so sweet.

Like father, like daughter: the Parkers dig in

"Through profiling our neighbors, Nina has created a film that challenges our complacency and invites our immediate community into conversation," says film professor Michael Chaney, who served on Miller's thesis committee. "While she embraces innovative methods of storytelling to target a specific local audience, her film retains the power to generate conversations in other communities facing similar issues."
 
Professor Scott Ballard taught Miller in graduate course Thesis I: Production (FILM 791). "Nina kept an open heart throughout the filmmaking process, and that really helped how she shaped her documentary," Ballard says. "She offers viewers the chance to experience what these people are doing and why, and to gain a feeling for the community that grows from that. You see things differently when you watch her film. She shifts the prism."
 
Nina — a French speaker, acolyte of Octavia E. Butler, and huge fan of Earth, Wind & Fire — is the daughter of SCAD sound design professor Robert Miller. (Her younger sister Lucy is currently a fashion marketing and management student.) Nina's summer plans include traveling to France and Switzerland as cinematographer and field producer on the documentary Lost Snows of the Alps, directed by film professor Kevin McCarey, who — full circle alert — taught Miller in Environmental Filmmaking (FILM 421). "Kevin's really taken me under his wing and helped me understand the wide range of possibilities in environmental filmmaking," Nina says.
 
After local screenings at Front Porch Improv, Invasion of the Bucket Snatchers has found a home online at Beyond the Short, where it can be streamed for free. Prepare to be more like the ground.

Connect with filmmaker Nina Miller!

All images courtesy Nina Miller.

There is no party quite like SCAD commencement, and this year's event was the best and biggest yet. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff were delighted to honor the newest class of graduates at SCAD Commencement 2024, during the glorious first weekend of summer.

SCAD Savannah and SCADnow students participated in the Presidential Conferment of Degrees and Presentation of Degrees ceremonies for their academic schools on Saturday, June 1, while the ceremony for all graduating SCAD Atlanta students took place Sunday, June 2. All ceremonies were streamed live on YouTube.

This year's commencement caps off a milestone academic year as SCAD recognizes its 45th anniversary. As President Wallace said to the graduates:

"During our sapphire anniversary this year, SCAD has celebrated 45 Years of Star Power. And just as the cosmos creates the perfect conditions for a star to be born, so has SCAD provided the ideal environment for the birth of your star-studded career."

President Wallace reflected on the birth of SCAD in 1978, connecting its founding to its current graduating class. "At that time, in this quaint old seaport village, the very idea of SCAD was just so unlikely. At the time, I was already an educator, but to grow SCAD into an elite university, to prove the naysayers wrong, I would have to become something quite rare in education: an entrepreneur."

Vibes were high as President Wallace nodded with enthusiam. "And you joined me in this dream because you are entrepreneurs too!"

Acclaimed actor and New York Times bestselling author Rob Lowe shone as the 2024 commencement speaker. Known for his roles in "The West Wing" and "Parks and Recreation," Lowe addressed the largest class in SCAD history, representing over 40 top-ranked majors, including animation, fashion, and film.

"You are the storytellers," Lowe told the graduates. "You are the connectors that bridge the divides of our culture and unite the human spirit. We need you. We are depending on you. And you my fellow Bees can do this. Congratulations, Class of 2024!"

Congratulations to all our Bees, and to the valedictorian, salutatorian, and excelsus laureate in both SCAD Savannah and SCAD Atlanta.

SCAD Savannah:

Excelsus Laureate Morgan Eng (M.F.A. sequential art, 2024)

Salutatorian Tejumoluwa K. Olarewaju (B.F.A. sound design, 2024)

Valedictorian Caroline Gendron (B.F.A. illustration, 2024)

SCAD Atlanta:

Excelsus Laureate Katie Owens (M.F.A. animation, 2024)

Salutatorian Jayden White (B.F.A. film and television, 2024)

Valedictorian Melody Wu (B.F.A. UX design, 2024)

"Congratulations to the class of 2024. We did it!" —Jayden White

On a bustling Friday night at Bar Del Monte in Washington D.C., furniture designer Griffin Feeney's handiwork is in full effect: cherry wood chairs and a double-sided banquette teem with patrons enjoying Cantabrian anchovies and Neapolitan pizzas on white marble-topped tables. The new, already-feted Italian restaurant owned by Oliver Pastan, Bar Del Monte is a welcome addition to Mount Pleasant's food scene, and represents the stunning transformation of what was formerly a grimy garage.
 
"It was a pit," says Feeney (B.F.A. industrial design, 2019) with a chuckle. "They kept the bones [of the structure], otherwise it required a total excavation. I was there looking at the site since day one, trying to figure out where everything was going to go." While Pastan employed Feeney's younger brother Aidan's welding and metalwork expertise, Griffin began designing the restaurant's furniture and sourcing the wood.
 
"There was a four-month period when they had to get the flooring in, drywall, studs, everything," Griffin says. "During that time, I was prototyping tables, working on designs with Oliver, discussing details and different sizes. I convinced him to go with cherry wood because it has so much warmth and character. It was a really good experience on the first commercial job I've ever done."

Double-sided banquette, designed, built and installed by Griffin Feeney. Bar Del Monte, Washington, D.C.

A native of Tenleytown, Northwest D.C., Griffin attended Woodrow Wilson High School (now Jackson-Reed High) and took robotics classes as a kid. "I grew up with power tools in my hands in my father's shop, and I was always a fan of engineering and the arts. My mother suggested looking at colleges with industrial design programs. As soon as we visited Savannah, it was sunny and there were smiles everywhere, good vibes, and my choice to go to SCAD was made."
 
As an undergraduate, Feeney hunkered down in the Gulfstream Center for Design, home to SCAD's industrial design and furniture design programs. "Between the metal shop and the wood shop and the areas for 3D printing and laser cutting — oh, to have those resources under one roof again," Feeney says with affection. Professor emeritus John Pierson proved a big influence ("I learned about joinery in his Shaker table class"), as did industrial design professor William Woods. In Woods' course Model and Prototype Development (IDUS 212), Feeney built a dovetailed tea box, earning his professor's regard.
 
"Griffin's creative work is rooted in his eye for stunning materials, and he brings his designs fully to life with his hands and a few tools," says Woods. "Everything will eventually go 'out of style' except craftmanship, and Griffin is an excellent example of what great craftsmanship truly means."
 
Feeney's tea box caught the eye of David Colas (B.F.A. furniture design, 2012), who invited Griffin to visit Colas Modern, the woodworking shop and retail showroom in Savannah. "I was still a student when I met David and Lara Colas and they hired me on the spot," Griffin recalls. "I worked at Colas Modern for two years, doing everything with them in that shop. We built cabinets and cutting boards. David showed me round all the different makers and markets in Savanah and how he operates, and markets and sells his products. I absorbed a lot from him."
 
Colas, a renowned furniture designer and entrepreneur, admires Feeney for his deep respect for the artistry of woodworking. "Griffin fit right in during his time at Colas Modern," David says. "His passion for design and high-quality craftsmanship mirrors my own principles, and his relentless work ethic and sharp wit made him a joy to work with. Griffin's impact as a woodworker will continue to be marked by his dedication to excellence."
 
Enriched by these experiences, Feeney returned home to D.C. in 2021 to develop Feeney Furniture, making one-off custom dining tables and drafting desks before going to work on Bar Del Monte.
 
"By the time we finished the Bar Del Monte project, I had changed my mind about where I want to go with my work and my business," Griffin says. Two commercial projects now beckon: a restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, and a brewery in nearby Maryland. Meanwhile at Bar Del Monte, as the savory main course gives way to panforte with a nip of sweet wine, the pitched back angle of the Feeney-design banquette comes in handy.
 
"I love that I can make my mark on my city," Griffin says, "and I love bringing my friends and family here to enjoy it."

Griffin Feeney at work. Photo: Niko Bartash

The SCAD equestrian team won the 2024 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) Hunter Seat Team Championship on Sunday, May 5, capturing their fourth IHSA national title in school history. Nearly 500 collegiate athletes competed in the event, which took place at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. 

SCAD sophomore Alex Alston earned two individual national titles, winning Champion in Dover Saddlery Individual Open Equitation Over Fences and Dover Saddlery Team Open Equitation on the Flat events. Alston also had the highest overall score as an Interscholastic Equestrian Association alumnus in the Over Fences event. Peter Cavagnac (B.F.A. advertising and branding) was named Champion in the Chronicle of the Horse Team Limit Equitation on the Flat event, while Kameron Riggs (B.F.A. performing arts) was named Champion in Team Introductory. 

"This is such a significant win for our team and equestrian program and for SCAD as the home of champions," said Head Coach Ashley Henry. “This season has been the culmination of so much hard work and passion. From the beginning, our SCAD equestrian team has focused on getting to Nationals and we are proud to bring this banner home once again." 

SCAD competed against some of the best collegiate equestrian teams in the country, defeating Sacred Heart University, Skidmore College, St. Lawrence University, Penn State University, and the University of Georgia to win the Hunter Seat Team Championship 

"I am incredibly proud of our SCAD equestrian team," said Director of Athletics Amanda Workman Haverstick. “Their success this season has been earned through dedication and outstanding leadership by Coach Henry and the equestrian staff, who have led the team, nurturing these true champions." 

SCAD individual rider results include:

• Alex Alston (Sophomore) - Champion Dover Saddlery Individual Open Equitation Over Fences, Champion Open Team Flat, Highest Overall Score Over Fences 
• Celia Cram (Junior) - USHJA High-Point Hunter Seat Rider, Presenting the Cacchione Cup, Reserve Champion, Reserve National Champion in the Dover Saddlery Individual Open Equitation Over Fences, 3rd Dover Saddlery Individual Open Equitation on the Flat, 3rd Dover Saddlery Team Open Equitation Over Fences 
•  Hattie Bradford (Sophomore) - 4th Horseware Ireland Team Intermediate Equitation Over Fences, 4th Horseware Ireland Team Intermediate Equitation on the Flat, 4th The Chronicle of the Horse Individual Limit Equitation Over Fences 
•  Peter Cavagnac (Freshman) - Champion The Chronicle of the Horse Team Limit Equitation on the Flat, 7th The Chronicle of the Horse Team Limit Equitation Over Fences 
•  Karma Redman (Junior) - 8th The Chronicle of the Horse Team Limit Equitation on the Flat 
•  Carly Vujakovich (Senior) - 9th Individual Novice Equitation on the Flat 
•  Lexie Stoebenau (Sophomore) - 3rd Team Novice Equitation on the Flat 
•  Kameron Riggs (Sophomore) - Champion Team Introductory Equitation 
•  Chloe Lakloufi (Senior) - 4th Individual Introductory Equitation 

In April, SCAD took home the top trophy at the IHSA Collegiate Cup Zone 5 Team Championship, opening the gate for the team to advance to Nationals. 

Throughout this record-breaking season, SCAD has dominated with four Team National Championship wins: Overall Tournament of Champions National Title, American National Riding Commission (ANRC) Novice Division National Title and Reserve, ANRC National Division National Title, and Reserve and IHSA Collegiate National Title. The Bees were also the Collegiate Cup Champions in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2024, and the Reserve Champion in 2018, 2019, and 2023, establishing an elite equestrian program unlike any other. The SCAD equestrian team has been led by head coach and SCAD alum, Ashley Henry, since 2005.   

For more information on SCAD athletics, visit savannah.scadathletics.com. 

The weather was sublime, the turnout tremendous, and the chalk art beyond compare. The 43rd edition of beloved Sidewalk Arts festival brought SCAD Family and Alumni Weekend to its colorful culmination on Saturday, April 27, 2024, for a beautiful day in Forsyth Park.
 
This year, as SCAD celebrates its 45th anniversary, Sidewalk Arts "Star Power" prizes were given to a student and an alumnus for the best chalk art that celebrates SCAD at 45. Sidewalk Arts prizes were also awarded for Best of Show, Best Student Individual, Student Group, Graduate Student, and Alumni chalk art.
 
And the winners are….

 
Best of Show: Isabella Kiely (B.F.A., illustration) and Chris Demassa (B.F.A., user experience design).
 

SCAD Star Power (students): Sophie Hill (B.F.A., illustration) and Morgen Votaw (B.F.A., illustration).
 

SCAD Star Power (alumni): Lexi Mangieri (B.F.A, illustration, 2012).
 

Best Student Individual: Caitlin O’Toole (B.F.A., illustration).
 

Best Student Group: Sam Doejaaren (B.F.A., film and television) and Cole Patnoad (B.F.A., illustration).
 

Best Graduate Student: Zihan Zhang (M.F.A., illustration) and Yuchan Yang (M.F.A., illustration) aka Happy Puppy Group.
 

Best Alumni: Will Penny (M.F.A., painting, 2013).
 

See the full gallery with the rest of the winners at Sidewalk Arts 2024!

Thanks for everyone who made the day a resounding success. See you next year!

Choose your chalk, champions! It's time for the SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival this Saturday, April 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Forsyth Park. The treasured annual tradition brings together students, alumni, and the local community for the greatest outdoor art event in Savannah's spring schedule.

"SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival holds a dear place in my heart, as it was our university's first major event to host, ever," says President Paula Wallace. "What began more than 40 years ago as a public showcase for SCAD talent on the sidewalks of Bull Street and Madison Square has grown into Savannah's largest single-day outdoor event, filling Forsyth Park with tens of thousands of creatively energized students, alumni, families, neighbors, schoolchildren, and guests. The entire glorious park comes alive for an entire day with sweet SCAD vibes."

SCAD students, alumni, and local high school students will transform historic Forsyth Park into a technicolor landscape of chalk compositions, as more than 800 squares that traverse the park will serve as concrete canvases for the day.

This year SCAD is celebrating 45 years of Star Power at Sidewalk Arts. Prizes will be awarded for Best of Show, Best Student Individual, Student Group, Graduate Student, and Alumni chalk art. Prizes will also be given this year to a student and an alumnus for the best chalk art that celebrates SCAD's 45th Anniversary. Competitors will use materials approved for SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival entries.

Thousands of attendees, including SCAD faculty and staff, local Savannahians, and visitors to the city will come downtown for this event, shop in local stores, and dine in local restaurants. This event, like so many SCAD signature events, has a huge economic impact on Savannah. According to a 2019 study conducted by Tripp Umbach, the leading national consulting firm for not-for-profit, arts, and tourism sectors, SCAD generates $1billion annually for the Savannah area.

SCAD's elite performance ensemble The Bee Sharps will perform a 90-minute concert starting at 1:30 p.m. Food vendors will include Leopold's Ice Cream, Chick-fil-A, Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies, BowTie Barbeque, Roly Poly, Java Burrito, and Savannah Square Pops.

This year's Sidewalk Arts Festival is sponsored by Bon Appetit, Brightview Landscaping, Doki Doki Ice Creamery, Ex Libris, Sunstates Security, The Kicklighter Company, Samet, Savannah Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Visit Savannah, and Yates-Astro. Festival attendants are encouraged to share their imagination and creativity through Instagram using #SCADChalk.

See you there!

Just Jacob is being seen.
 
On April 13, producer Abigail Dickinson (B.F.A., film and television, 2023) and writer/director Halle Losordo (B.F.A., film and television, 2023) won the Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Scholarship Award at the Television Academy Foundation 43rd College Television Awards for their documentary short film Just Jacob.
 
Just Jacob follows Dickinson and Losordo's friend and fellow SCAD alumnus Jacob Thiele (B.F.A., interior design, 2023) who has a genetic disorder called Treacher-Collins Syndrome which affects the development of facial bones and tissues. The film shows Thiele's normal everyday life with his friends and family, along with his daily challenges. As recipient of the Loreen Arbus Award, the filmmakers have been honored for the student-produced project that best portrays disability issues and helps an emerging artist with a disability gain recognition.
 
The award ceremony, celebrating the best in student-produced television programs from colleges and universities nationwide, was held on Saturday, April 13, at the Television Academy's Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California. Dickinson, Lorsordo, and Thiele attended the ceremony along with their professor Sedika Mojadidi, chair of film and television D.W. Moffett, and chair of acting Mark Tymchyshyn. The film's editor Dahae Lee (B.F.A., film and television, 2023), director of photography Yuuki Shimizu (B.F.A., film and television, 2023), and sound designer Mark Otim (B.F.A., sound design, 2023) also attended.

Team Just Jacob (l-r): Mark Otim, Dahae Lee, Jacob Thiele, Abigail Dickinson, Halle Losordo, Yuuki Shimizu.

"To come to Los Angeles as a filmmaker, not just as a visitor, is surreal, exciting, and gratifying," said Dickinson. "This award reflects our many months and endless hours of hard work and shows that our film is doing what we hoped — Jacob's story is reaching people."
 
"Since I met Jacob in 2019, I have been inspired by his outlook on life and his determination to not let anything get in the way of his pursuits," Losordo said. "Our film is a reminder that life is more complex and more beautiful than outward appearances. I want to thank SCAD president and founder Paula Walllace and all my incredible professors for helping me make my dreams come true. They are always encouraging us to collaborate with students in other majors and tell important stories."
 
Just Jacob debuted at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival in October 2023 and won the Best Student Documentary Short category. Since graduating in May 2023, Dickinson and Lorsordo have been employed at Jupiter Entertainment. Dickinson is an associated producer for the television production company and Losordo is a production coordinator and social media manager. Thiele is an Event Design Manager at Interluxe Group in Bluffton, SC.
 
"This experience has been truly amazing, being able to share my story and raise awareness for people with disabilities and work towards breaking this glass ceiling around us," said Thiele. "I hope this film shows that people in similar situations can accomplish anything they put their minds to. Having this amazing team tell my story truly means a lot and I could not think of anybody better to do so."
 
Just Jacob is being entered into film festivals across the U.S. Follow the journey on Instagram.

SCAD excellence (l-r): Mojadidi, Moffett, Losordo, Thiele, Dickinson, Tymchyshyn.

(Photos: Danny Moloshok/Invision for The Television Academy/AP Images)

They say SCAD signature events never go out of style — and none stays hip like SCADstyle. Now in its 18th year, the dynamic four-day event in Savannah (April 8-10) and Atlanta (April 10-11) unites design and lifestyle leaders for insightful conversations exclusive to SCAD. An inquiry into fashion, interior design, graphic design, illustration, beauty, advertising, and more, SCADstyle promises career-making networking opportunities with iconoclasts shaping the future of design.

"I created SCADstyle to take our students BTS with today's foremost artrepreneurs and designers," says President Paula Wallace. "A beautiful bill of rockstars headline this year's festival for four days of master classes and convos—including the one and only Wes Gordon, receiving the coveted SCAD Étoile Award. Bees studying fashion, beauty, architecture, interiors, and beyond swarm SCADstyle for inspo on charting a career in design, harnessing social media, leapfrogging and leveraging AI, and more. I invite every Bee and friend of SCAD to seize every synergistic second of SCADstyle 2024!"

SCADstyle 2024 celebrates the culture, innovation, and global voices transforming all facets of design. Featured SCADstyle guests include Francesco Risso, creative director of Marni; Hillary Taymour, founder and creative director at Collina Strada; Craig Robins, co-founder of Design Miami/; Waterworks co-founder and SVP Barbara Sallick; architect, interior designer, and founder of Jayne Design Studio Thomas Jayne; fashion designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin; photographer Michael Bailey-Gates; editor, curator, and art consultant Stefano Tonchi; co-founder and partner of Yabu Pushelberg George Yabu; chief creative officer of Glossier Marie Suter; creative director of amika Matthew Stetson; Washington Post fashion journalist Rachel Tashjian; and fashion writer Charlie Porter.

Event highlights include a conversation between Whitewall editor-in-chief Katy Donoghue and Craig Redman, artist and illustrator of design duo Craig & Karl, and a discussion with zomer founders and designers Danial Aitouganov and Imruh Asha hosted by Family Style editor-in-chief Joshua Glass. 

SCADstyle 2024 also showcases the stellar achievements of the university's impressive alumni during the Alumni Voices panel featuring Emily Smith (B.F.A., fashion, 2001), creative director of Lafayette 148 New York; furniture and lighting designer Lulu LaFortune (B.F.A., furniture design, 2018); and Kan Ando (B.F.A, fashion, 2010), senior designer at Nike.

In honor of the university's milestone 45th anniversary, the trio will be presented with the prestigious SCAD45 Alumni Award for their exemplary contributions to their professions and for demonstrating the prominence and purpose of a SCAD education. More than 18 of the university's top-ranked degree programs are represented in SCADstyle 2024 programming, including fashion, accessory design, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, advertising and branding, illustration, furniture design, architecture, and photography. 

SCADstyle 2024 events are free and open to the public.
For a full list of events and more information, visit scad.edu/scadstyle.