Head coach Adrienne Berkland is building a dynasty. Her three-peat national champion SCAD women's lacrosse team opened their 2020 season with a decisive 23-13 win over Benedictine – the very team the Bees beat in last year's NAIA national championship title game – followed by a 29-0 decimation of conference opponents Columbia.

The winning mindset transcends the field. In 2019, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) named SCAD a Zag Sports Academic Honor Squad, and the team consistently exemplifies the NAIA Champions of Character initiative.

As the NAIA expands to include 40 colleges and universities, collegiate women's lacrosse continues to evolve. So does Berkland's approach to coaching.

Adrienne Berkland:

When I stared coaching, I was fixated on conditioning and x's and o's. Now that I'm in my sixth year at SCAD, I focus on the relationships I build with my student-athletes, and getting to know them as people. What are they doing off the field, and how does that impact what they do in lacrosse? Being in tune with the players and their academic challenges contributes to team chemistry.

I started taking classes at SCAD in summer 2018, and have continued to take one class a quarter. I took Survey of Computer Art Applications (CMPA 100), then I took Fashion and Accessory Sketching and Illustration (FASH 502), and signed up to earn my digital publishing certificate. Taking classes has helped me better understand the academic workload of the team, and emphasize the fact that academics come first.

At SCAD you have an entire team you can come to for creative advice. There's not one “art kid” – they're all art kids! My own undergraduate experience in art history and art education helps me better engage with my players and guide them throughout their SCAD careers.

I believe there's a connection between being an artist and being an athlete. The artist-athlete has heightened attributes of visual/spatial perception. Field awareness and hand/eye coordination are qualities that go hand-in-hand with being an artist.

There is an incredible range of academic majors on our 30-player roster. We have players majoring in fashion, advertising, illustration, interior design, performing arts, business of beauty and fragrance, visual effects, fashion marketing and management, film and television, industrial design, photography, animation, and user experience design. It's like a mosaic representing the university's diverse degree programs.

When our players graduate, they become successful professionals. Olivia Vieira (B.F.A., industrial design, 2019) was an NAIA Daktronics Scholar-Athlete and a key to our national championship teams as a goalkeeper. She now works as a designer with Newport News Shipbuilding, who design submarines for the U.S. Navy. Liv is just one example of how our players represent our program after graduation.

This year we're in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). We have a 13-game schedule, our biggest schedule since my first year here, with potentially six more games in our conference tournament and nationals. Our first two games of the season sent a message to the rest of the NAIA: We may have graduated some talent last year, but we aren't missing a beat. Starting with a decisive win against #2 Benedictine and a shutout in our conference opener against Columbia shows we want to go hard and win big.

It all leads to the NAIA National Invitational Championships, which will be hosted by the Savannah Sports Council in conjunction with SCAD at the newly renovated Memorial Stadium here in Savannah, May 6-9. We're looking forward to defending our national title at home.

SCAD women's lacrosse start their home season this weekend with two games at the SCAD Athletics Complex: Sat. Feb. 15, 10 a.m. vs. Ave Maria, and Sun. Feb. 16, 2 p.m. against #4-ranked Keiser.

The momentous exhibition featuring timeless designs by legends of style Azzedine Alaïa and Gilbert Adrian is open: Alaïa-Adrian: Masters of Cut, Feb. 11– Nov. 25, 2020, at the globally renowned SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta.

Masters of Cut brings together sleek designs and impeccably tailored looks by beloved designers Azzedine Alaïa (1935–2017) and Gilbert Adrian (1903–1959). Garments on view display the intricate detailing of Adrian's suits — the mitered stripes, clever seaming, and unexpected appliqués — in dialogue with Alaïa's body-celebrating designs.

Pairing their work, the exhibition reveals the designers' intertwined and enduring legacies. Alaïa was a consummate collector of Adrian's work, reveling in the designer's fit, form, and proportion. The Adrian garments on view, held by the Association Azzedine Alaïa, Paris, are presented in partnership with SCAD FASH. In addition to tailored looks from both designers, Masters of Cut features a selection of Alaïa's career-defining gowns worn by fashion icons including Grace Jones. SCAD FASH is honored to host the designer's first posthumous U.S. museum exhibition, nearly 20 years after his last stateside show.

"Our SCAD FASH exhibition of Alaïa and Adrian conveys the unique energy of a couturier collected by a couturier," said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. "The young Azzedine Alaïa so admired Gilbert Adrian — famous for Dorothy's luminous ruby-red slippers and much more — that he ultimately collected more than 150 of Adrian's original pieces. Using the precision of laser cutting to achieve designs perfectly fitted to the body, Alaïa himself, like Adrian before him, became an exacting master of intricate and elegant couture. Genius knows genius!"

Widely known for his fanciful designs for The Wizard of Oz, Adrian was the head of costume design for MGM during the Golden Age of Hollywood (1928–41). His garments for stars like Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer were praised by the fashion press and emulated by stylish moviegoers worldwide. In 1942, Adrian established his own atelier in Beverly Hills, and for the next decade his chic, strong- shouldered, narrow-waisted suits and gowns changed the fashion industry and the lives of women everywhere. Alaïa, who trained as a sculptor, left Tunisia for Paris in the mid-1950s to pursue fashion design.

His gift of construction and his obsession with cut and fit shaped garments that are unrivaled in accentuating the female form. Recognized internationally in the 1980s and early '90s for designs draping iconic supermodels Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, and Linda Evangelista, Alaïa continued to dominate the world of fashion throughout his celebrated career.

Alaïa-Adrian: Masters of Cut is curated by fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard and organized for SCAD FASH by Rafael Gomes, director of fashion exhibitions.

www.scadfash.org

Vibrance shines via research and resonance as the globally renowned SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta unveils the new exhibition "Derrick Adams: Patrick Kelly, The Journey," Jan. 14–Jul. 19, 2020.

"Patrick Kelly, The Journey" colorfully re-visits the archive — found at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York — of the late Patrick Kelly, the prolific and groundbreaking Mississippi-born artist, fashion designer, and the first American member of Paris' Chambre Syndicale du Pret-à-Porter, the prestigious governing body of the French ready-to-wear industry.

Derrick Adams is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist working in painting and sculpture as well as performance, video, and sound. His work focuses on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, exploring the shape-shifting forces of popular culture on self-image. Adams is a close friend of SCAD and was the featured lecturer at deFINE ART 2019. The artist is also a contributor to the upcoming "Jacob Lawrence: Lines of Influence" exhibition catalog, to be published by the university in February 2020.

In his research, Adams discovered a trove of correspondence, sketches, swatches, photographs, and other memorabilia, as well as a proposal for a book about Kelly's life written by his friend, the esteemed poet Maya Angelou. "Patrick Kelly, The Journey" references Kelly's legacy as a formalist who infused social context and humor into his creations. The exhibition presents Adams' abstract collages and sculptural works that incorporate Kelly's vintage clothing patterns, iconic fabrics, bold and colorful geometric forms, and embellishments. Kelly spent several formative years in Atlanta in the 1970s, and the exhibition highlights his connection to the city through a selection of his original, vintage pieces and memorabilia loaned by his friend Carol Martin, an Atlanta resident and former model.

"I admired Patrick's tenacity to get his name out there, back in the day, before clothing lines were even called brands," recalled Martin. "I was mesmerized by how he would make something you thought wouldn't work but it would always work. This exhibit is important because it will help people realize it's okay to think outside of the box. That's what Patrick did."

"Patrick Kelly, The Journey" is curated by Alexandra Sachs, executive director of SCAD FASH and Atlanta Exhibitions. It is presented as part of SCAD deFINE ART 2020, the university's annual program of exhibitions, lectures, and performances held Feb. 18–20 at locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.

"Patrick Kelly, The Journey" highlights the university's ongoing mission to showcase emerging and established African American artists. In recent years, SCAD FASH and SCAD MOA have exhibited dynamic work by artists including Fred Wilson, Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, Jacob Lawrence, Lorraine O'Grady, Radcliffe Bailey, Andre 3000, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Stephen Burrows.

The exhibition exemplifies a significant aspect of SCAD FASH as a teaching museum, and the essential role it plays in helping prepare SCAD students for their creative careers. SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film celebrates fashion as a universal language, garments as important conduits of identity, and film as an immersive and memorable medium. Situated within the SCAD Atlanta location, SCAD FASH focuses on the future of fashion design, connecting conceptual and historical principles of dress. The museum welcomes visitors of all ages to engage with dynamic exhibitions, captivating films, and enriching events.

Visit scadfash.org.

This Thursday, January 9, SCAD Hong Kong presents the sixth annual Fashion Showcase. Over thirty fashion designs will be showcased around SCAD Hong Kong in the heart of Sham Shui Po, including collections designed by students Ivy Lam (B.F.A., fashion) and Yasmin Baratova (B.F.A., fashion).

Design by Yasmin Baratova. Photo: Chester Siu.

New collections by top senior and graduate fashion students and recent alumni from across SCAD's four global locations are chosen to participate in the annual event. Each year, Fashion Showcase is curated by Michael Fink, Dean of SCAD's School of Fashion. The showcase is a reflection of SCAD's highly ranked degree programs.

In 2018, the prestigious Red Dot Design Rankings placed SCAD as the No. 1 university in the U.S. and in the top two universities in the Americas and Europe. Career preparation is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. According to a recent study, 99 percent of SCAD Class of 2018 alumni were employed, pursuing further education or both within 10 months of graduation. 

The annual Fashion Showcase demonstrates the university's dedication to prepare students to lead the ever-evolving world of style through a curriculum anchored in creative thinking and innovative technology. Providing a platform for students to connect with the industry's leading names, SCAD prepares students for the commercial world after graduation. 

Design by Ivy Lam. Photo: Katie Ulsh and Mathushaa Sagthidas.

Ivy Lam's collection "Bloom" was inspired by the Chinese phrase "floral world" (花花世界), symbolizing numerous types of flowers as a metaphor for our diverse society. An orchid is the focus for the design elements in terms of prints, style lines, shapes, forms, textures and layers. The concept defines self-expression and identity through the experimentation of hybridising different styles and silhouettes.

Yasmin Baratova's collection "HE CMOTPИ" embodies the resilient, rebellious and romantic spirit. The construction techniques, silhouettes, and prints originate from traditional and the Soviet references. The tactile human element is emphasized through crudely hand-embroidered and hand-painted details and rust dyeing.

"The collections highlighted in the Fashion Showcase 2020 are a true reflection of our comprehensive fashion curriculum, which is both professionally focused and intellectually rigorous," says Khoi Vo, Vice President of SCAD Hong Kong. "Each year, the designs we see at SCAD Hong Kong seem to be more innovative than the last. We hope this year's Fashion Showcase inspires both current and future SCAD students."

Learn more about SCAD Hong Kong.

SCAD AT MIAMI, a wondrous celebration of contemporary art and creative education at Design Miami/ during Miami Art Week, took place December 4-8, 2019. Artists and experts conversed in a state-of-the-art media suite, and experienced dynamic new work by SCAD alumni. Current M.F.A. candidate Justin Armstrong (B.F.A., painting, 2016) discussed the inspiration and process behind his sensational bespoke work.

Justin Armstrong:

SCAD reached out to me with a proposal for working on the official SCAD AT MIAMI space, commissioning a large-scale painting covering the entire interior and exterior walls of the booth. Of course, I said yes.

The SCAD booth that I helped design is a large-scale painting split with vertical lines with primary colors and holographic light. The second you come around the corner you see this all-over explosion of eye-catching color and light. I wanted people to have an aesthetic experience and absorb the moment.

I look at my work, at its core, as a conflict of visual interest. I create repetitive line paintings that cause optical vibrations in the vein of Bridget Riley and Carlos Cruz Diaz. I work with paint but I also work with holographic vinyl. Holographic vinyl is an amazing material that refracts light across the entire color spectrum. Then I create vertical lines of paint to divide that holographic space. Working in repetitive lines can look mechanical, but I'm not a machine. If people see a curved line, that's a component of the work.

Even though my work works well on social media, I use the holographic component because I want people to actually come see the work in person. It's a different experience when you see it with your eyes instead of your iPhone.

The install process started with a digital mockup file to give a general idea. From there, we had the holographic vinyl installed, then lay vertical lines of tape from top to bottom. We lay the one-inch wide tape, because we want one-inch negative space. It's repetitive so there's no focal point except for the whole. After we lay the tape, I paint the entire space with red, teal and yellow while the tape is up. Then we peel the tape when it's done. When the tape is up, it's strictly a painting, because you can't see the holographic vinyl, but when I peel the tape I'm technically removing half the painting. As I like to say, half my painting has to die for the other half to live.

See more at justinarmstrong.net.

One of the cornerstones of a SCAD education is gaining professional experience beyond the classroom. For architectural historians, for whom formal presentation skills are essential, this means participating at academic and professional conferences.

Fall quarter witnessed the architectural history department's highest number of student conference paper presentations, with three at the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH) annual meeting and two at the Society of American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH) conference – a significant achievement.

Like design competitions for other majors at SCAD, conferences involve a competitive process of submission and selection. Students author a one-page proposal for a paper and submit it for consideration alongside proposals submitted by professionals and academics.

To prepare students for participation at a conference, the SCAD School of Building Arts hosts a "Peer Practice Session" dress-rehearsal. An important component of these sessions is to invite students as well as faculty from other departments to provide feedback. Faculty also present work at such sessions, and students experience the process of refinement based on peer feedback. Dr. Geoffrey S. Taylor, dean of the School of Building Arts, noted: "Peer Practice Sessions expose students to current research, demonstrate shared interests amongst the students and faculty from across our disciplines, model professional engagement, and create a dialog celebrating a curiosity for and the critical assessment of the built environment."

At SESAH, held in Greenville, South Carolina, three students, three faculty and two alumni all presented papers, and another alumnus was elected to the SESAH board of directors. Graduate students Madi Alspector (M.F.A., architectural history) and Monica Gann (M.F.A., architectural history) and undergraduate Clara Miller (B.F.A., architectural history) presented papers that grew out of their respective term papers from Chair Robin Williams' "Power and the Built Environment" winter 2019 research seminar. Madi spoke on "Driving Out Destruction: Preservation Activism and Highway Revolts" of the 1950s and ‘60s in American cities. Monica analyzed "The Power Dynamics of the Courtroom Layouts," an examination of how courtrooms have evolved in response to the professionalization of lawyers, and how the configurations of courtrooms may affect the perception of justice. Clara's talk on "Urban Carnage and Social Disempowerment: Buffalo's Failing Blight Removal Campaign" challenged the wisdom of demolishing thousands of historic houses in an effort to revitalize a city.

Faculty members served as mentors at the conferences, helping guide the students through the appropriate ways to hear papers in different concurrent sessions, making introductions to facilitate networking, and supporting presentations. At the SESAH conference it was especially gratifying for current students to interact with alumni Nathaniel Walker (M.A., architectural history, 2006), an assistant professor at the College of Charleston, Marisa Gomez Nordyke (B.F.A., architectural history, 2007), a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Ruben Acosta (M.F.A., architectural history, 2010), an architectural historian at the Florida State Historic Preservation Office.

SCAD at SESAH (left to right): Chair Robin Williams, Clara Miller, Madi Alspector, Monica Gann, alumnus Ruben Acosta, alumna Marisa Gomez Nordyke, Professor Patrick Haughey, Professor David Gobel and alumnus Nathaniel Walker.

Lean more about SCAD architectural history degree programs.

This week, SCAD presents its inaugural activation at NYC Jewelry Week, Nov. 18-24. NYC Jewelry Week is dedicated to promoting and celebrating the world of jewelry through educational and innovative focused programming.

SCAD will partner with leading furnishings and home decor company Industry West at their flagship store in Soho New York. The pop-up will include live demos and a workshop with SCAD jewelry professor Adam Grinovich. The activation will highlight the university's top ranked jewelry degree program offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Fifteen-plus SCAD students and alumni will showcase their innovative designs, allowing visitors to view and purchase one-of-a-kind pieces and learn more about the cutting-edge program. In addition to the pop-up experience, SCAD will host events, faculty and alumni demonstrations, and tours of New York's top legacy brands throughout the week including a reception on the evening of Friday, Nov. 22. 

The SCAD x NYCJW pop-up and initiatives will showcase the creative success of SCAD students and alumni. SCAD has the largest and most comprehensive jewelry degree program in North America, the largest degree-granting program in the U.S. and is known for its 100% employment rate in the field of study.

SCAD jewelry students learn to shape works of art with an eye for the finest detail in the program, and collections are created for contemporary, luxury, and fine art markets and industries every year. Within a 13,800-square-foot studio environment named Fahm Hall at SCAD Savannah, jewelry students have access to cutting edge resources and software including laser welders, casting machines, Orion arc welding systems, wax printers, and Roland JWX-10 milling machines. Fahm also includes a certified Rhino Fablab allowing students the opportunity to achieve Rhino certification through the program. 

Through rigorous focus on career preparation and a cross-disciplinary curriculum approach, the SCAD jewelry department prepares students to excel in creative careers including accessories designer, corporate jewelry designer, fine artist, design consultant, studio goldsmith/silversmith, studio artists, and technical specialist. SCAD alumni have secured roles with top brands and industry leaders including Chanel, David Yurman, Swarovski, Tiffany & Co., Henri Bendel, and Coach. 

Learn more about SCAD jewelry.

Hope Kemp-Hanson (B.F.A., fashion) has won top honors in the 2019 Woolmark x adidas Performance Challenge. The annual global competition challenges students to utilize the benefits of Australian Merino wool while designing new applications in the sports and performance market.

Kemp-Hanson, the only undergraduate among the ten finalists, was selected as winner out of 1,060 student entries from 115 universities in 21 countries, and received her award at the Woolmark x adidas Performance Challenge final event, November 14 in Munich, Germany.

In addition to a monetary prize, Kemp-Hanson receives a three-month internship with adidas, a professional international training workshop, and the opportunity to pitch and sell her concepts to global brands.

Hope Kemp-Hanson:

SCAD has prepared me with technical development and skills that I wouldn't have gained anywhere else. I received close guidance and support from SCAD School of Fashion associate dean, Dejan Agatonovic and SCAD communications coach Kelly Kilgore. They spent many hours helping me cultivate my presentation. 

My presentation was inspired by the underground skateboarding scene that has emerged in South Korea. They are searching for an escape from societal pressure. I have such an appreciation for the sport because of the culture and mindset of skateboarders. It's incredible the way they value camaraderie (despite differences), independence, risk, rebellion, self-expression, and creativity. Skateboarding always finds a way to have an influence on the streetwear/sportswear industry.

I focused on product need, market opportunity, and a story that needed to be heard. I built a highly holistic project targeting a specific consumer, making it scalable to live through horizontal cross-category growth.

The adidas ideal is "through sport we have the power to change lives." The judges appreciated that I authentically used story-telling to share about the lives of South Korean youth/skateboarders. They felt that my project utilizes design to change lives through sport.

My design process is derived from problem solving. Everything I put on a garment has a purpose or a reason. I love to push the limitations of textiles and functionality of apparel through biomechanics, science, technology, medicine, and working closely with the body. I love the idea that we can make a person fearless or their best selves on the field or in sport and they can take that mindset off the field with them as well.

I want to create a greater channel of accessibility in the industry for young creatives and diverse voices that aren't at the table yet. I want to focus on sustainability and give people the tools to consume more intentionally and less wastefully. I want to focus on inspiring that feeling of wonder and curiosity in people, and on connecting the world through apparel design.

Standing on stage at the award event in Munich, I felt excitement and pride that I don't quite know how to put into words.

Learn more about the SCAD School of Fashion.

Visit www.hopekemphanson.com!

"I still remember that feeling of being a kid and playing so much that you believe everything you're playing," said Samantha Morton, recipient of the Virtuoso Award at the 22nd SCAD Savannah Film Festival. "That's the thing I bring on set and into character."

Morton's excellence spans all cinematic metrics. From big screen to hand-held, art house through blockbuster, the Nottingham, England native spoke about notable roles in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999), Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" (2002), and Carine Adler's "Under the Skin" (1997) during her "In Conversation" appearance at Gutstein Gallery with SCAD professor Michael Chaney.

Spontaneous ovations greeted the mere mention of her work on television shows "The Walking Dead" and "Harlots." "If the great role happens to be in a great TV show, you're going to do that," Morton said. "It's not always about film."

Samantha Morton:

"When I was younger and lots of scripts were coming in the door, [the choices I made were] about what I thought had a message, a political message, a feminist message, or tackled mental health issues. I always had to have conscious reason for that role. When I got older, I still turn things down if I think it's written for the wrong reasons or is exploitative. I can't just make tea. I've never been the pretty girlfriend role. When they offered me Alpha [in ‘The Walking Dead'], I thought wow, what an iconic role! I was so proud the opportunity came my way and I could get my hands on it.

"Recently I've been working on a show called 'Harlots.' 'Harlots' is produced by Debra Hayward and Alison Owen, women I really admired in the film industry who decided to make their own television production company, Monumental Productions. 'Harlots' is produced by women, directed by a woman, written by a woman, starring women. I'm not saying we're kicking the geezers out. But this particular show was about the sex industry in Georgian London. It was kind of a female perspective on something we always have a male perspective on. When the opportunity came my way, I cried.

"It brings me right back to 'Under the Skin.' Carine Adler made 'Under the Skin' when she was 50-years-old. This was a film written by a woman, produced by a woman, about a woman. At the same time, Lars von Trier was making ‘Breaking the Waves.' [The films] came out at the same time. It would be very interesting for you as film students to watch both of them and ask yourselves questions about what the films were about, why these two films were made at the same time, what was the female director saying, what was the male director saying.

"With the ‘Walking Dead' I'd not done American television before, and it was very important for me to understand from Angela Kang the show runner what her vision was from beginning to end of a season. The episodes come in weekly, so you don't know what's happening. You can say anything as a character as long as you know the character. You can pick that person up and drop them in any environment.

"Do all the work yourself, so when you turn up you're not asking, ‘What do you want from me? What do I do now?' You can answer all of those questions by instinct. You just be. It's like the zen of acting. You're present and you get on with it."

Thanks to Samantha Morton and all the attendees of the 22nd SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

"The Biggest Little Farm" is a documentary about dirt. Writer/director John Chester and his wife Molly quit their cramped city apartment to go back to the country; specifically, to try to revitalize 200 acres of arid farmland in Moorpark, California. "It all circles back to the health of the soil," Chester says, sifting earth in his hands.

The Edenic epic unfolds over eight years. The classic "human versus nature" trope is dispensed for something more micro: chicken vs. maggot, owl vs. gopher, and duck vs. snail are all subplots that rage as husband and wife and their team introduce purpose-driven organisms into their ecosystem in search of awesome harmony, what their biodynamic farm guru Alan York calls "tapping into a power you can ride without extraordinary effort." As Chester says: "Observation followed by creativity is becoming our biggest ally."

An Emmy-winning filmmaker, Chester came to this year's SCAD Savannah Film Festival to screen and speak about "The Biggest Little Farm." At the same time, across the country, wildfires in southern California were flickering within a few hundred yards of his Apricot Lane Farms gate. The precarious nature of existence, underlined.

"For the first five years of filming I was not admitting to anyone else, or really myself, that I was making a film," Chester said from the Lucas Theatre for the Arts stage. "I was just documenting things that were inspiring to me. In year five, I realized I'd been inadvertently filming and photographing the keystone players in the reawakening ecosystem, and how that was going to reintegrate into our problem solving. In year five I took the footage and put it together, then spent the next three years filming and finishing the film."

The ultimate success of farm itself, Chester explained to the film festival audience, "was really about building the immunology of the land. The soil system, the biodiversity, that is the immune system of our farm, and it happens to also be the ecosystem of our planet. The next layer of immunology is how we communicate to each other on the farm. That has to start with Molly and I and how we handle tough situations, and how we pass that on to our team.

"We never evangelized [to neighboring farmers] about why you should farm the way that we do. Nor do I look at them as the problem. They're a symptom of a voting mechanism that is voting for the cheapest food possible. Industrialized agriculture has responded to the same vote.

"Now I'm watching some of our neighbors use cover crop, which is the single most important thing any farm can do when it comes to the restorative methods of soil and biodiversity and the health of the food you eat. It's starting to happen, but it needs to happen through the lens of example, and it can't be polarizing. Innovation happens in a bipartisan environment."

The "lens of example" is key: "The Biggest Little Farm" is a portrait indivisible from its subject, itself a metaphor for filmmaking. As Chester told the Lucas Theatre audience: "My excitement for storytelling has been reawakened through my deep experience with the ecosystem. I thought I was out, but realized I have a lot more to tell."

Thanks to John Chester and everyone who attended the 22nd SCAD Savannah Film Festival.