Alumni Updates
April Wagner (CR-GL ‘97) and Jason Ruff (CR-GL ’94) were featured in a story on Detroit Make It Here, a website about metro Detroit creative professionals that is powered by Crain’s Detroit Business. To read the article, visit http://www.detroitmakeithere.com/article/20090728/DM01/907289994/-1
Hour Detroit magazine featured a profile of Earl Lucas (ID-TR ’97) that discussed how designers use music to fuel their creativity. For the full story, visit http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/August-2009/Audio-Visual/
Congratulations to Rommel Vega (ID ’07) on his recent engagement to Ashlee Riley. Rommel met Ashlee while he was working for Fossil in Texas. Currently, the couple lives in Boston, where Rommel is a designer at Puma.
Michael Torpey (ID-TR ’98) was interviewed by The New York Times for a story about the Kia Soul, a vehicle that he designed. To read about Mike and the Kia Soul, click here.
Shondalia White (DA ’07) was one of the subjects in an L.A. Watts Times article about the people who work ‘behind the scenes’ in the entertainment industry. Read the full story at http://www.lawattstimes.com/business-mainmenu-29/news/1052-entertainment-gigs-behind-the-scenes.html
Stephen E. Dinehart (DA ‘01) has launched the first of its kind open-source virtual community for interactive entertainment developers with his transmedia studio NarrWare - The Narrative Designer's Network. Check out the site www.narrativedesigners.net.
Sioux Trujillo (FA ’04) was accepted as one of five Joyce Fellows from the great lakes region for 2009-2010. Sioux, who is Assistant Director of community + public arts: DETROIT (CPAD) at CCS, was selected based on her application to American for the Arts' Professional Development Fund for Emerging Leaders of Color. This fellowship will support Sioux in representing the Community Arts Partnerships office (CAP), CPAD and CCS at several arts marketing and advocacy conventions.
Jean Lannen (PH ’83) was selected as one of 69 winners out of 580 entries for the Color magazine merit awards. The awards were selected based on artists’ portfolios. For information about the awards and a complete list of winners, visit this link http://www.color-mag.com/back_issues/bi4.html. Additionally, musician Todd Rundgren selected Jean’s work for the cover of his latest live performance DVD. Jean has been a Rundgren fan since her teens and he has selected her photographs for eight of his albums and DVDs. She also has been showing her work regularly at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, California.
Cartoon Network designer Andy Suriano (FA ’98) received an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Character Design in Animation for his work on the network’s “Underfist: Halloween Bash.” Andy has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years. He and his wife are expecting their first child this month.
Gerardo Macias-Garcia (FA ’02) finished a mural at the new loft building Urbania, the first gentrification project of its kind in downtown Monterrey, Mexico. The work was commissioned by the Contemporary Art Museum of Monterrey (MARCO). Gerardo was featured in several local media outlets and in the national magazine Look.
You can check out his work at www.facebook.com/GerardoMaciasGarcia.
Leah Clark (Bickel)(GD '04) has accepted a designer position with W.W. Norton & Company in New York City, America’s oldest and largest independent book publisher. She has relocated to Brooklyn.
The work of John Urbanek (PH ’99) was selected for a recent issue of Design for Today magazine. Check out his work at http://www.design42day.com/2009/07/john-urbanek/. Additionally, John has a show on display in Center Galleries’ Alumni & Faculty Hall. “Submerged” may be seen through December 19.
Kevin Calabrese (ID ’08) spent several months working with students from South Lake High School on a design competition to design an earth-friendly classroom for the future. Kevin is an industrial designer with H.B. Stubbs Company and a graduate of South Lake. To read about the project, follow this link http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2009/8-5-09/South-Lake-future-classroom.asp
Kudos to Andy McLeod (DA ’02) for his recent promotion to Associate Creative Director at VML, a full-service digital marketing agency in St. Louis, Missouri. Some of Andy’s recent projects include a redesign of Avid.com (http://www.avid.com) as well some work on the new Pets.com (http://www.pets.com). Past clients have included Burger King, Dr. Pepper, and the American Cancer Society.
David Flaugher (FA ‘08) began a new blog called ‘Detroit Arts Weekly’ featuring the work of a Detroit-based artist weekly. Check it out at www.detroitartsweekly.blogspot.com.
Kendall Witherspoon (GC '81), working with client Capital Sports & Entertainment in Austin, Texas, recently created a sponsorship presentation for Lance Armstrong's new 2010 Team RadioShack racing team. Visit Kendall at Thinkspoon.com.
Bruce Snyder (GC ’84), director of publications and Web services at Olivet College, was recently recognized by Graphic Design USA for his creation of the college’s Capital Campaign kit. Bruce received a 2009 American Graphic Design Award for the project.
More than 8,000 entries were submitted for consideration. Of these, a highly selective 5 percent were recognized with a certificate of excellence award.
Cheers to Theresa Masse (Singer) (DA ’02) who married the love of her life, Justin Masse, in August. Justin is an aerospace engineer who designs satellites for the government. The couple currently lives and works in Los Angeles, but they plan to move to the East Coast next summer to build a house and start a family.
Dan Klein (ID ’76) completed a commercial for the product he designs, a versatile hunting blind. Check out the commercial.
Mari Stewart (Mathiak-Murdzia) (FA ’81) was selected from several hundred people to be in the art department for the all-Michigan film, “Annabelle & Bear.” Several of Mari’s oil paintings appear in the film and she will be credited as Art Department/Art Curator. Check out the movie’s website www.annabelleandbear.com. Mari was also involved in the making of the music video for “The Wannabes,” a ‘tween television show that will debut in early 2010. She has worked full-time for Wayne County for more than 20 years and she also photographs models, actors and rock/metal bands. Mari has shot all the photos at Harpos Concert Theatre for the past 5 years and is a freelance photographer for the website www.Picturethiscity.com.
Best wishes to Katherine (Abramczyk) (FA ’00) and Monte Huber, who were married in Las Vegas in October. Kathy is VP of Administration for Vista LLC, and was recently included in DBusiness magazine’s MBA Entrepreneurial Spotlight http://www.dbusiness.com/DBusiness/July-August-2009/The-Entrepreneurial-Spirit-of-Detroit/. Monte works for Cisco Systems.
