"When the hammer fell, my jaw dropped."

In a plum-striped button-down beneath a fitted midnight blazer, a gold ring glinting on his expressive right hand, Sotheby's jewelry vice chairman Frank Everett paused for effect. It was a mid-week afternoon on the top floor of River, and the special guest was delivering "The Art of the Jewel," his hour-long talk detailing the value points for art at auction. As he gestured toward a photograph of a breathtaking 19th century pendant, a full house of jewelry, fashion, fashion marketing, and luxury and brand management students leaned in.

"This pearl was worth about a million dollars," Everett said. "But because it could absolutely be traced to the collection of Marie Antoinette — it was still in the same family two hundred years after her death — we knew there was going to be a bidding war."

Everett summoned a collective gasp as he revealed that the last Queen of France's pendant wound up selling for $36 million. His talk was just getting started.

"I'm going to tell you about what I do at Sotheby's, why I think jewelry is art, and some of the best stories that highlight how we value objects of all kinds at Sotheby's," he said. "It's the same procedure whether it's a Rothko, a piece of Victorian silver, a watch or a wonderful piece of jewelry."

The Pope's Ferrari, Jackie O's fake pearls, Daisy Fellowes' Tutti Frutti necklace — the value of these items is increased by the association with its owner, Everett explained. Calling jewelry "that most personal of categories," he emphasized how emotion and psychology can drive art at auction.

"You try to let the market get excited about provenance," he said as he introduced a five-minute video detailing "The Alluring History of Ownership" where experts like Jonquil O'Reilly testified to the thesis. Then he showed an image of a Cartier lapis and gold bracelet that had been "a gift to Marlene Dietrich from Erich Maria Remarque." "I remember bidding on the phone with my client. I told them to keep bidding, they wouldn't regret it." The client won the auction; no regret ensued. "The value has to do with Dietrich's forward-thinking style, an aesthetic that endures today."

Everett spoke in the rapidly flowing cadence of an art auction setting, which worked quite well for a lecture to highly engaged students. An end-of-hour Q&A featured questions about industry trends and curating selling exhibitions. Ruth Wudtke (B.F.A., jewelry) asked, "Where do you think other market segments like fine jewelry and art jewelry fit within the idea of jewelry as art?"

"Artist jewelry is very interesting," Everett replied. "I had a gold necklace by Alexander Calder, which I thought would be worth five times as much as a silver one, and it wasn't, because that market doesn't want the gold one, they want the silver one. It's not always about the material — sometimes it's about what the market wants."

Backlit through River's tall windows by a cloudless blue sky, "The Art of the Jewel" was exactly what this market wanted. The event glittered like a gem. "It's my first time in Savannah," the special guest said. "I've been here twenty-four hours, and I think I might stay."

Like a diamond: Everett (center) visits with jewelry students in Fahm Hall.

Display space in Sephora is at a premium, so when a beauty brand wins a place in the leading cosmetics store, they better make the most of it. "I wanted to do a big piece of furniture with trays that show the inspiration behind our product, a cabinet of curiosities," said Violette Serrat, founder and CEO of VIOLETTE_FR. "My team was like, ‘It's cute, but…"

Serrat — lithe, gap-toothed, radiating denim-clad Jane Birkinesque chic — was onstage at SCADstyle in the museum theater for Refinery29's 'Grab a Mic for Gloss Angeles' live with hosts Sara Tan and Kirbie Johnson. Over the course of an hour's chat, topics included the power of a red lip, why it's okay to apply makeup with your finger, and what it means to "have a Bridget Jones moment." Yet everything kept coming back to Sephora, where VIOLETTE_FR products went on sale "just three weeks ago, which is so major," Tan said.

Serrat, who worked as global beauty director for Estée Lauder before launching VIOLETTE_FR in 2021, offered some context: "Sephora had reached out to me the first week of launch, and I was humbled, and I told them, let me see where this goes, I'm not ready yet."

This year, Violette was ready, and Sephora was waiting. Products like Bisou Jelly (a sheer matte hydrating lipstick) and Petal Bouche (liquid matte lipstick) have been instant hits.

"Trust me, I went to the biggest Sephora in Los Angeles, and I went to the Sephora here in Savannah, and everything is completely sold out," Johnson told the audience. "The cast member there was like, ‘Whether they're 8 or 80, they're coming in and buying them all within the hour and we don't see it again until it's restocked.'"

Serrat, ever decorous, smiled: "What matters is we focus on building a healthy business. Not everything is about sales. Connecting emotionally is our biggest marketing asset."

That connection is made in part through VIOLETTE_FR's cabinet of curiosities — which appears amidst the precious space at Sephora, showcasing inspirations from Italian Renaissance art to Bowie's "mind-blowing" Starman. "People stop to look," Serrat explained. "No one is talking to them or selling to them. They connect on an emotional level, then come to the products. This thing that doesn't create direct sales, actually it does."

A high point came during the Q&A, when student Kai Cameron (B.F.A. business of beauty and fragrance) stood and asked, "About your product Objet de Reflexion, how were you able to connect the dots in the mind of the consumer between surrealism and fine art and beauty?"

"We created a story," Serrat said. "Objet de Reflexion is brass, brushed so well that you can see yourself in the reflection, even though there's no mirror. I thought, how can I help you look at yourself as a gorgeous creature instead of chasing perfection?"

The reflection became clear. As with VIOLETTE_FR, Serrat ruled SCADstyle 2025.

Strike a pose: question time at SCADstyle!

Style's biggest names arrive at SCAD for SCADstyle 2025, March 31-April 3. Tory Burch, Willie Charvarria, Peter Copping, and Eileen Fisher will all appear in person across four days of the university's premier design symposium, ready to connect with SCAD students a welcome public. It's time to challenge the limits of fashion, design, interiors, technology, and beyond.

Tory Burch is the executive chairman and chief creative officer, Tory Burch LLC. Designer and founder of her globally recognized fashion house, Burch continues to redefine the who, what, and wear of luxury. Having grown up on a farm in Valley Forge, Penn., and later studued art history at the University of Pennsylvania, Burch moved to New York in the 1990s, honing her expertise at Zoran, Harper's Bazaar, Ralph Lauren, and Vera Wang before launching her debut collection in 2004. She built her brand with a clear purpose: to create a lifestyle label that champions women. Burch's accolades include the 2024 TIME 100, Harper's Bazaar's Designer of the Year, and Forbes' Most Powerful Women in the World. Her book, Tory Burch: In Color, became a New York Times Best Seller.

California-born designer Willy Chavarria is the founder of WILLY CHAVARRIA. He began his creative career in commercial art before heeding his true calling in fashion. Chavarria's work channels a commitment to human dignity while uplifting the underrepresented through the transformative power of design. His collections blend a cinematic approach with contemporary political themes, creating garments that tell stories of resilience and identity. Inspired by his Mexican American heritage, street culture, and civil rights movements, Chavarria's work speaks to the beauty in everyday life. Chavarria received the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2021 and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's National Design Award for Fashion Design in 2022. He was honored as the 2023 CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year.

Lanvin Group artistic director Peter Copping is a graduate of Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London. The British designer began his career at Sonia Rykiel with the "Queen of Knits" before joining Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton as head of womenswear, showcasing his ability to redefine and celebrate femininity. After more than a decade at Louis Vuitton, Coping was named creative director of Nina Ricci in Paris and Oscar de la Renta in New York. More recently, Copping served as head of couture at Balenciaga where he directed the ateliers for the reintroduction of the couture collection. Now, as the newly appointed artistic director of Lanvin, Copping lends his expertise and immaculate leadership to the legacy fashion and design house.

Eileen Fisher is the legendary founder of EILEEN FISHER, Inc., her namesake heritage brand known for understated, timeless design. Fisher established her original concept in 1984 — a system of shapes that work together to help women get dressed easily — that still defines her signature label today. A forerunner in sustainability, Fisher implemented a circular manufacturing model starting with the launch of her innovative Renew take-back program in 2009, designed to preserve the value of the brand's clothes at every stage, in any condition. To date, EILEEN FISHER has collected more than two million garments. The eco-atelier is a certified B Corp, leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Fisher was the 2021 FIT Changemaker in Corporate Sustainability honoree and was named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 Visionary list that same year.

See you there!

Last year, while organizing Raul De Lara's solo exhibition at SCAD MOA, curator Haley Clouser received an email. It was from the artist, and he had some news: Born in Mexico and raised in Dallas, Texas, De Lara had the opportunity to return to San Miguel de Allende for the first time in 20 years.

"When I got the chance to go, I told you, ‘We're going to have to put a pause on the final body of work because I want to go experience something.' I knew it was going to change my practice," Raul recounted during his conversation with Clouser during deFINE Art 2025.

The results are now on display in Raices/Roots, visible in the museum's public-facing jewel boxes on Turner Street. Installation names include splashy hues "Guanajuato Purple," "San Miguel Orange," and "Mexico City Green." "All inspired by the colors I saw back home," De Lara said.

Inside the vivid boxes are giant leaves of monstera deliciosa, hobby horses with cactus saddles, and what appears to be a pleather-upholstered chair. These are De Lara's artworks, what Clauser described as "uncanny, playful wooden sculptures imbued with personal and culturally significant stories to celebrate and foster a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience."

"The monstera leaf shapes are direct replicas of two leaves I saw while walking around my uncle's neighborhood in Mexico City," De Lara explained of the hanging sculpture "Como Las De Mi Tierra / Like The Ones Back Home." Regarding native notions, De Lara explained that he left Mexico at age 12 for in the United States, where as a DACA recipient, he is not wholly free to leave. "However, I was granted emergency advance parole by USCIS to visit Mexico and see my grandmother one last time before her imminent passing."

Those deeper roots of Roots were unpacked by Clauser and De Lara during deFINE. As the smart artist and insightful curator spoke, De Lara wondered: "What part gets to be revealed through the artist, and what part gets revealed through the object? How do I share a personality, how do I share a spark of life?"

Humor plays a role. De Lara's woodwork brings materiality into question. "Over the years, I discovered the difference between a chair and a sculpture of a chair, which presents an interesting distinction for me to play with." 

Outside on Turner Street, pedestrian passed by on the sidewalk, glanced at the jewel boxes and did doubletakes. Were the jewel boxes now nodes for a home décor showroom? The title "Soft Chair" lands like a punchline.

"That playfulness is activated after the production of the artwork," Clouser said.

"My ethos with the work is that I like it to be modular, to be able to exist in place that maybe I can't travel to, or places where someone else will be taking care of the sculpture," De Lara said.

With Raices/Roots, that place is SCAD.

Installation view of Raul De Lara: Raíces/Roots at SCAD Museum of Art.
 

Tapestry artist Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989) has a particular affinity for allegories, narratives, muddy riverbeds and hand-dyed cotton. His new SCAD MOA exhibition the shape of survival, presented in the gallery of the museum's Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies, "charts the small everyday expressions of living and dreaming," according to the artist.

The nearly seven-foot tall artwork "through the summer triangle" depicts a pair of eloquently posed silhouettes rond de jambe-ing on an orange-and-pink plaid dance floor. An inverted triangle adds symbolic depth, invoking African American cultural inheritance and queer identity.  The blackness of the silhouettes, Brackens says, is "a way to talk about the psyche."

The Mexia, Texas-born artist came to SCAD for deFINE Art 2025, and sat with SCAD MOA chief curator Daniel S. Palmer before a standing-room-only museum theater for an in-depth conversation.

"I'm always thinking about myth and storytelling," Brackens began. "The centerpiece of the show is called ‘birth of humility.' I was thinking about being from the South, being from a rural context. There's a trope that happens a lot with politicians [who] talk about their humble beginnings. You come from pig farmers? I was turning that imagery over in my head and using these pigs as a way of thinking about how people try to shape themselves as being from the humblest of beginnings."

Diedrick Brackens, "birth of humility," 2024, cotton and acrylic yarn. Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires.

Influenced by pioneers including Aaron Douglas ("one of the first African American artists I knew"), Kara Walker ("one of the first contemporary art exhibitions I saw") and the quiltmakers of Gee's Bend, Brackens emphasized the connection between the words text and textile: "It's there at the root in the Latin word texere, which means to weave or write."

Curator Palmer pointed out that the way some of the works are installed "allows us to see their actual tactility, the way they're made, the front and the back, while others are installed on the wall. I'm curious how you see your relationship with your art form and painting."

"The painters were jocks when I was in school, and I was never interested in being a painter," Brackens replied to general mirth. He added insight: "Color is transparent in textiles, and in most of painting color is opaque, so the way you build color in textiles is you have to see into the colors to arrive where you need to go."

When the floor was opened to questions, graduate student Sammy Baker (M.F.A. fibers; B.F.A. fashion, 2024) stood up: "Is it crucial to your work to be referencing stories that actually happened?"

"I have made explicit references to real life or historical events in works in the past, and I started to unintentionally become a steward to things that I did not experience," Brackens replied. "It's something I've built a different ethic around now. I have become much more careful about how I tell stories and what I'm pointing to. Sometimes what I'm after is a very lyrical thing."

As students leaned in, the artist wove them home: "There is something meditative about the full body sensation of weaving — I recommend it to anybody who's interested. It's the perfect language to tell almost any story."

Thanks to Diedrick Brackens and everyone who attended SCAD deFINE Art 2025!

On a Wednesday evening in fall quarter, 2023, Logan Kilde (B.F.A. writing) sat beside the midge-combating high-grade industrial fan in the observational tower at the SCAD Athletics Complex in Hardeeville, S.C., busily entering the final stats for another win by the women's soccer team. Then a realization struck: "I realized they had an undefeated season going."
 
It was a scoreboard light bulb moment. The junior from Albemarle, N.C. decided to act fast: "I interviewed the coaches and wrote the article immediately, I was just so excited."
 
The resulting 450-word piece "SCAD Women's Soccer Coaches: It's all about bravery, relentlessness, and classiness" (published by SCAD District on Oct. 17, 2023) had the frisson of prediction: last year, the team won the NAIA women's soccer national championship for the first time in program history. The experience also changed Kilde's academic path: they switched majors from film to writing.
 
"I originally got involved in SCAD athletics just to have a part time job," Kilde says. Fortunately, that meant being hired as a student assistant to sports information director Colena Roberts. "Colena is the best, and it's really about SCAD athletics as a whole because almost every person there in a leadership position is a woman. It has changed my experience working with sports."
 
"Logan is one of the hardest working student workers I have ever had," Roberts says in typically frank fashion. "When they switched their major to writing, we began discussing how to integrate their studies into what they do for SCAD athletics. Logan had the idea to write about our student-athletes, and has gone ahead and did that, finding the athletes to write about, interviewing them and posting the stories on our website. What Logan does is so important."
 
Kilde's first profile, of Sun Conference All-Academic lacrosse standout Emma Roch, used techniques gleaned from courses in the writing program: Story Research (WRIT 285) with award-winning novelist Jonathan Rabb, and Writing for Arts and Entertainment (WRIT 205) with former Runner's World executive editor Tish Hamilton.
 
Hamilton is teaching Kilde again this quarter in Professional Freelance Writing (WRIT 353). "Logan is curious about the world, attentive to details, and committed to accuracy, which are qualities every professor hopes to see in a budding creative nonfiction writer and arts journalist," says Hamilton. "I admire Logan's fearlessness and commitment to bringing the skills learned in SCAD writing classes to the page with clarity and elegance."
 
In recent weeks, Kilde has penned perspicacious profiles of student-athletes from the cross country, equestrian, and bowling teams, in each instance illuminating what makes SCAD athletics unique.
 
"I believe that sports and art and design have an interesting connection, and that's one of the things I like writing about," Kilde says. "I am fascinated by SCAD athletes and their schedules and their respective sports and how it all ties into the creative work they do."

Glory awaits.

Connect with Logan on LinkedIn.

Food provides a window into a culture’s traditions, values, and history. The captivating docuseries chefATL, the latest project from SCAD Atlanta students, opens the kitchen door on the expansive culinary scene in the city.
 
"ChefATL utilizes a different host for each episode to get to the heart of what's most important to the series: exploring the people, stories, and philosophies behind the dishes," said SCAD associate chair of film and television Quinlan Orear. “It provides students with a valuable opportunity to learn from new mentors in every episode, with over 200 students participating in the series across nine SCAD degree programs."
 
Niranjana Karumampuram Arunkumar (M.F.A. film and television) played a crucial role in the production of chefATL as the second assistant camera operator. Her responsibilities included assisting with lens and filter changes, maintaining detailed camera reports, and managing equipment.
 
"Through this docuseries, I've gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for the rich cultural tapestry that defines Atlanta," Arunkumar said. "Each episode introduced me to different neighborhoods, local chefs, and unique culinary traditions, helping me feel more connected to the community."
 
This sense of connection is a key aspect of the chefATL experience. The show's format includes scripted and improvised elements, allowing the chef's personality and culinary expertise to shine through. Each episode involves shooting on location.  "One memorable behind-the-scenes moment was our visit to a bustling fresh market," Arunkumar recalled. “Besides capturing its atmosphere, we had the chance to explore and even buy some fresh ingredients to take home."
 
Aishwarya Goyal (B.F.A., fashion, 2024) enhanced chefATL's visual storytelling as a wardrobe coordinator. Goyal was responsible for creating lookbooks, ensuring outfits were camera-ready, and collaborating with the art department under SCAD associate chair of film and television Emma McGill and stylist Mitchell Hall (B.F.A., fashion, 2006).
 
"Fashion is about conveying a story through colors, fabrics, and designs, much like how we wanted to tell the story of food and culinary artistry through our docuseries," Goyal said. "Understanding how to curate looks that speak to different personalities and moods helped me create wardrobes that fit the cast and enhanced the narrative."
 
One of the primary challenges was balancing practicality with visual appeal. "Chefs need attire that allows them to move comfortably and handle the rigorous demands of cooking, which sometimes conflicted with the stylish, polished look we aimed for on camera," Goyal said.
 
Rajeev Pillai (M.A. advertising, 2024) served as the art director and postproduction lead for chefATL marketing initiatives led by SCAD professor of advertising Reginald Harrison. Pallai’s role involved generating innovative ideas and creating post-production assets aligned with the show's theme and target audience. Working on an episodic TV series presented new challenges, like developing a campaign that highlighted Atlanta's food scene—one that he was unfamiliar with.
 
"Our goal was to aid the process and enhance efficiency for everyone involved," Pillai said. "Fostering a heightened sense of curiosity allowed me to understand Atlanta's cultural fabric better, and my biggest takeaway was the importance of tact when pushing ideas forward."
 
Pillai proposed a multifaceted strategy to adapt the chefATL campaign to the dynamically changing advertising landscape, leveraging digital platforms, localized marketing efforts, and strategic partnerships with local food influencers and bloggers. 

"Pillai and team had to consider who the viewing audience would ultimately be and what kind of content would attract them to want to return episode after episode," Harrison said. " I’m very proud of the work they contributed."

As the series continues to grow, chefATL becomes more than just a culinary docuseries — it is a testament to Atlanta's rich cultural tapestry and the collaborative excellence of SCAD students.
 
After a sneak peek last week at SCAD TVfest, chefATL will premiere in the coming months on WABE TV (PBS-30). The series will be accessible to audiences nationwide via PBS Passport. Local chefs who appear in the series include James Beard award-winning and nominated chefs Steven Satterfield (Miller Union), Deborah VonTreace (Twisted Souls Cookhouse), Terry Koval (The Deer and The Dove), Parnass Savang (Talat Market), Jiyeon Lee (Heirloom Market), and Hector Santiago (El Super Pan).

Connect with the writer of this article, Surabhi Khare, on LinkedIn.

“You are here because you are all beauty disruptors, and you don’t become a disruptor without taking a risk,” said Allure features director Dianna Mazzone Singh, pinkie-zagging the air for emphasis. The event was Beauty Unlocked, the panel’s theme was “Disrupting the Beauty Scene,” and Shiseido global chief digital officer Angelica Munson, e.l.f. Beauty chief integrated marketing officer Patrick O’Keefe, and Roblox beauty global client partner Jana Barocas held the keys.
 
Held in a glammed-out May Poetter Gallery, “Disrupting the Beauty Scene” was part of two primer-packed days of presentations and portfolio reviews. Students from degree programs as diverse as business of beauty and fragrance, fashion marketing and management, and user experience design filled the second floor of Poetter Hall to learn more. What they had in common was an interest in the professional journeys of Beauty Unlocked’s marquee guests.

“We are bold disruptors with a kind heart, and we are super proud of the work we do every day to democratize beauty,” said e.l.f.’s O’Keefe. After discussing brand collabs involving corpse paint and competitive wrestling, O’Keefe brought up the Indy 500 — specifically Katherine Legge, the only female driver in the race in 2024, and the ninth woman of all time to compete in Indianaplis. Last May, Legge took to the track in an e.l.f.-branded suit, helmet, and car, making e.l.f. the sole beauty brand to serve as a primary sponsor of a driver in the world’s largest single-day sporting event. “There are 350,000 people who attend the Indy 500, forty-eight percent of them are women and girls, and no brand was representing them,” O’Keefe said.
 
O’Keefe and Barocas were on the same panel for good reason: they are professionally conjoined via the branded experience “social tycoon game” inside Roblox called e.l.f. UP! “For Gen Z, inclusivity, creativity and self-expression are incredibly important, why they come to Roblox, and what we love about partnering with e.l.f.,” said Barocas. “Our users love to collaborate with their friends in real time, and we love partnerships with brands who can amplify that.”

Listen, hear: Allure's Dianna Singh (left) with Jana Barocas of Roblox. 

Roblox has 90 million users logging on every day, each averaging two-and-a-half hours on the immersive gaming and creation platform. As rewards proliferate, promoting products digitally becomes permeable, as Barocas explained: “Fifty-six percent of Gen Z say that styling their digital avatar is more important than styling themselves in the physical world, and we see many of our users updating their avatar daily. We know this generation is willing to spend when it comes to styling their avatar, and it all comes back to the reason users come to the platform in the first place: to have fun.”
 
For Roblox, e.l.f., and Shiseido alike, impressive global reach requires intent. “The channels are different in the UK and Asia,” explained Munson, leader of Shiseido’s digital transformation office. “You need a strong brand book and operating model on how you can train your team in those markets.”
 
Shiseido is the parent company of over 30 brands including Drunk Elephant and Narciso Rodriguez. Having started Shiseido’s center for digital excellence in New York with “a nimble multi-national team,” Munson now works at company headquarters in Tokyo, bringing healthy disruption to the 153-year-old business.
 
And the work never stops: During the Q&A, SCAD graduate student Trenton Jones (M.F.A., UX design) asked Munson to predict omnichannel job opportunities for user experience designers. She told him that she was, in fact, looking for a UX designer and that “we should talk.”
 
That’s Beauty Unlocked.

 With a smile: Shiseido's Angelica Munson.

Thanks to moderator Dianna Singh, and to everyone who attended SCAD x Allure Beauty Unlocked.

Special thanks to Glothar.

Justin Zielke has clay on his hands. The sculptor and digital conjuror, who has created videos for musicians as diverse as Joy Oladokun and Dave Matthews, is a daily devotee of malleable minerals and a keen observer of the human form. "The body is a point of interest to me," he says. "You add your own emotion to who this person is."
 
Zielke (M.F.A. animation, 2017) is speaking specifically about "The Missing Piece," his stunning new video for electronic musician Max Cooper. The clip uses oil-based clay renderings of human heads — they form, flow, fall apart and face off — to explore what Zielke calls "the absence of a loved one, the longing for the past, or the ephemeral nature of existence itself." YouTube comments range from "I'm trying to imagine exactly how the stop motion was pulled off so smoothly" (ChrisGuerra31) to "WOW!!!! MASTERPIECE!!!!!" (wandrahodge8908).
 
"The Missing Piece" incorporates some 30,000 individual images occupying a terabyte of data. "I take a photograph after I make every mark in the clay, which brings my attention to the moment I connect to an emotion," Zielke says. Working with capricious substances means his process and intentions are indivisible. "When I make a mark in clay, I don't go backwards. It's about finding rhythm and creating beauty in the moment and adapting to what I just did."
 
Call it equipoise: the calm and cool Kansan is a SCAD superstar. Featured in the SCAD Dreamers and Makers docuseries, the Alumni Atelier ambassador created site-specific work for the SCAD Lacoste Promenade de Sculptures in 2022. As SCAD MOA curator Ben Tollefson observes: "From a large-scale bronze sculpture to a cutting-edge stop-motion music video, Justin creates moving reflections on who we are as human beings."

Nuance in Repetition, bronze. 37x70x34", 2022, SCAD Lacoste.

Now, ten years after he first arrived in Savannah, Zielke reflects on his stint as a student: "I came to SCAD with the intention of flourishing in the animation industry, going to work for a big company in Hollywood. Then my professors pushed me to ask myself ‘Why are you creating this?' and I started gravitating towards fine art."
 
He praises motion media professor Michael Betancourt, whose "media theory class rocked me to my core," and animation faculty Christoph Simon "for his wide film knowledge and eye for aesthetic theory" and Jose Luis Silva "for encouraging me to show in a fine art situation."
 
"Justin was an amazing student," says Silva. "His genuine desire to advance his artistic abilities demonstrated his high expectations for himself. His master's thesis project [on Henri Bergson's theory of duration and habit] reflected that commitment. Justin's ability to improvise and push the conventions of traditional animation techniques has led to breakthroughs in his work."
 
Now, as collaborator Max Cooper continues his 3D/AV World Tour, Zielke explains that a new visual iteration of "The Missing Piece" will accompany him. "It's a two-part screen where Max stands in the middle and projects onto the front screen. Then there's a projection onto a back screen, and you can see through everything, and project your own emotions onto it."
 
The missing piece is in hand.

See more of the work of Justin Zielke.

When the Godfather talks, sneaker students listen.
 
Steven Smith, known as the "Godfather of Modern Sneaker Design," came to SCAD Savannah this fall as marquee guest at the second annual SCAD SNKR Culture Week. "This was such a great moment to share and pass on knowledge and career insights to these amazing students," he enthused.
 
The spry designer connected with SCAD sneaker design students through master’s workshops, class visits, and a full capacity "In Conversation with Steven Smith" live event hosted by design mentor Jessica Del Genio and SCAD sneaker design professor Mike Mack.
 
"Sneaker culture has always revolved around the people who shape it, and very few embody this like Steven Smith," said sneaker design professor Mike Mack. "Steven is a truly versatile and industry-defining sneaker design icon, and we were thrilled to have him here at SCAD, sharing his expertise, dropping sneaker science, and mentoring our students throughout the week."
 
Smith’s revolutionary work makes him a pivotal figure in sneaker design over the past three decades. As the creative mind behind iconic models for New Balance, Reebok, Yeezy — and now as the new head of creative innovation at Crocs — he is known for changing the boundaries of form, function, and fashion.
 
During his week-long visit to SCAD, Smith engaged with students to explore the art, innovation, and sneaker culture. Students from sneaker design and accessory design had the opportunity to present to Smith reinterpreted designs of some of his most iconic footwear designs.
 
"Working with Steven during his visit to SCAD was eye-opening, and his expertise and creativity are extraordinarily inspiring," said graduate student Valentina Garcia (M.F.A., sneaker design). "As I pursue my master’s degree in sneaker design, Steven's mentorship will deeply influence my future."
 
During SNKR Culture Week, SCAD highlighted the transformative role that sneaker culture has assumed in global fashion. As Long-Nam To, Chair of SCAD’s Sneaker Design Program, explained: "In our lifetime, we’ve gone from not truly considering sneaker culture as a career opportunity, to educating our students to understand there is a career path moving forward."
 
The SCAD sneaker design program prepares students for the full spectrum of footwear possibilities in a booming, $80-billion field that exceeds the hype. Students hone skills in sketching, rendering, concept development, digital prototyping, and branding, guided by accomplished industry insiders.
 
SCAD SNKR Culture was exclusively curated for SCAD students, exemplifying the unparalleled access the university provides for students to learn from groundbreaking design leaders. As Mack put it: "Steven coming to SNKR Culture confirms we’re building something special at SCAD."
 
Smith agreed: "I look forward to helping SCAD students again in the near future, and I'm honored to have been part of this amazing program."

Learn more about sneaker design at SCAD.