Tag Archives: kendall college of art and design

Local film ‘Dark Justice’ set to premiere on WKTV

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Vernon “Chip” Wienke III as Detective Murray and Ms. Michigan Brittany Styles as Murray’s partner Detective McMaster

By WKTV Staff

 

It was a simple question from one of his students that helped Clayton Veltkamp rekindle his passion to become a filmmaker.

 

Veltkamp graduated from Western Michigan University with a broadcasting degree and then earned a master’s in Film and TV Production from the academy of Art in San Francisco all with the goal of becoming a filmmaker. He would embark on a freelance career that has spanned a decade.

 

Returning to Michigan for family reasons, Veltkamp continued to do freelance client work, and took a summer job teaching Digital Movie Making to teenage students as part of Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design’s Continuing Studies Program.

 

Clayton Veltkamp

In the summer of 2017, one of his students asked him “Have you ever made a movie? No? How come?” And, that was all the inspiration Veltkamp needed. Veltkamp’s one time dream of becoming a filmmaker became an overnight obsession.

 

The result is the film “Dark Justice,” set to kick off WKTV’s Midnite Movies on Friday. The movie airs at midnight on Nov. 9.

 

The story is of a detective investigating a series of vigilante murders that threaten a shaky truce between rival criminal gang leaders. The detective must solve the case before the outlaw plunges the city into chaos. But, when confronted by the corruption and injustice that motivates the killer, the detective joins their righteous quest seeking revenge of his own.

 

Working within a strict budget of $7,000 and drawing off his love for comic books and fantasy, Veltkamp spent the next few months developing his feature film script, scouting locations, and networking with potential actors. On March 26, 2018, principal photography began.

 

Investigating the crime scene Detectives Murray and McMaster (Vernon Wienke & Brittany Styles).

With a skeleton crew of eager helpers, a 4k cinema camera borrowed from local public access station WKTV, and a single building from the 1800s that he managed to gain free range of; Clayton spent the next month and a half getting all the shots, wrapping up production on May 12, 2018.

 

Drawing on his years as a freelance editor, he locked in the picture within a month and enlisted the help of a local sound designer and recording studio Trulogic Media to handle the final sound mix. The goal was to have the film finished by July so he could begin the process of entering film festivals and preparing for AFM where he will seek distribution and networking opportunities.

 

The film features Vernon “Chip” Wienke III as Detective Murray and Ms. Michigan Brittany Styles as Murray’s partner Detective McMaster. Also in the cast are Michael Gordon as Morretti, Dirk Hughes as Savator, Tom Black as Chief Pickett, and Laine Fleszar as Marry.

 

The film is currently available through Amazon Prime. For more on the film, visit www.cultivationcinema.com.

GR Public Museum launches new, original production in Chaffee Planetarium

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The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) is pleased to announce that it will open a brand new original production in the Chaffee Planetarium on Oct. 21. The show, titled Subatomic, will take visitors through the discovery of the Higgs boson, a scientific quest solved in our lifetime.

 

Subatomic will take viewers on a journey of scientific discovery. In 2012, after a 48-year search and the construction of the world’s largest machine, more than 10,000 physicists celebrated the discovery of the Higgs boson, an elusive subatomic particle crucial to physics and existence itself. Learn more about this important discovery, and how it fits into humanity’s quest for unraveling the secrets of the universe.

 

Subatomic will include a produced portion, followed by a live and interactive portion with a planetarium staff member, and hands on components just outside the Chaffee Planetarium to demonstrate the concepts highlighted in the show. The entire show will be 30 minutes in length.

 

Subatomic was developed through collaborations between the GRPM, scientists, and local experts specializing in serving neuro-diverse audiences. It will be part of the daily schedule of shows in the Chaffee Planetarium upon its launch.

 

For scientific accuracy, the Museum worked with academic advisors Dr. Jacob Bourjaily, theoretical physicist at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Dr. Brian Winer, Chair and Professor of Physics at The Ohio State University, and Dr. Reinhard Schwienhorst, physics professor at Michigan State University. Numerous interns and staff helped produce the show with assistance from Kendall College of Art and Design for audio and sound editing. Subatomic is narrated by Grand Rapids’ own Adrian Butler.

 

“It is exciting to be part of a project like this” said Prof. Brian Winer, of The Ohio State University. “I was pleased to be one of the many experts the Museum worked with for the development of this show, which undoubtedly covers one of the important scientific discoveries in our lifetime – the Higgs boson. This show is a great way to bring a complex idea involving physics to the general public.”

 

The Museum also partnered with Dr. Mira Krishnan and Hope Network at the beginning of the show’s development, discussing the creation of an experience that would resonate for children with autism. Dr. Krishnan made recommendations for how the GRPM could visually enhance the show for these unique learners. As a consequence, a shorter show was developed, with some specialized graphics to emphasize complex scientific concepts in different ways, a live presentation was created to complement and reinforce the show, and hands-on activities were developed for students and Museum visitors to learn more scientific concepts in kinesthetic ways outside of the planetarium.

 

“I first approached the Museum looking for ways to make our community more accessible to people with differences. I was really overwhelmed with the Museum’s support for this,” said Dr. Mira Krishnan, a clinical neuropsychologist. “The Museum’s focus on universal design gave us a really common language to make Subatomic more autism and learning difference friendly. Beyond that, I did applied physics before I became a psychologist, so being a part of this particular project is an amazing dream come true for me, because it brings together so many of my passions!”

 

“This project has a great story,” said Dale Robertson, President and CEO of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. “From the very beginning, we were working with Dr. Krishnan to make this an experience that could be enjoyed by all audiences. We then brought in scientists – two of whom grew up in Grand Rapids – to consult on the content of the project. The group then took a very complex idea, physics and the discovery of a subatomic particle, and made it accessible for all learners. This is all part of our effort to embrace universal design for learning in the Planetarium and throughout the Museum.”

 

The show begins on Oct. 21 and will be part of the Chaffee Planetarium’s regular schedule. Subatomic can also be reserved for school groups and field trips. Planetarium shows are $4 with general admission and $5 for planetarium only. Museum members receive free admission to planetarium shows.

 

For additional information on the Chaffee Planetarium or to view the full schedule, visit grpm.org/planetarium.

Festival of the Arts makes it official: summer is here!

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The official start of summer – Festival of the Arts – kicks off in just a couple of weeks –June 2, 3, 4 – and there is already a buzz about some of the programs and partnerships for this year’s event.

 

“Festival embraces the tradition and sense of community ownership while at the same time recognizing the need for change and improvement, as long as the core values of the event are retained,” said Lisa Radeck, 2017 co-chair. “Each year, new activities and performers are added, new volunteers are sought, and we strive to empower new and alternative forms of artistic expression. As the community grows, we grow, together. The tradition continues by diversity and inclusion.”

 

One of the biggest changes is the revamping of the children’s activities and performances to create “Kids’ World” at Rosa Parks Circle stage during all three days of Festival.

 

Family favorite kids’ activities such as Mad Hatter will be joined with new activities from a host of local organizations. Some of the activities are: Sack Suppers with Kids Food Basket, design-a-diaper with Great Start Collaborative – First Steps, Camp Curious with the Grand Rapids Public Museum, animal visits with John Ball Zoo, hands-on health and proper nutrition projects with Ferris State University School of Pharmacy, and a dance and motion project with Grandville Avenue Arts. Sunday will be International Day with the Grand Rapids Sister Cities organization and Bethany Christian Services, providing a day of international arts and entertainment emphasizing “Kids from around the World.”

 

Friday stage performances at Rosa Parks Circle stage include the Gemini Brothers, Dilly Songs with Kevin Kammeraad, and Miranda of “The Miranda Show.” (Note this is not a park party event.) Saturday features Jim the Spoon Man, John Ball Zoo, Dilly Songs, and the Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities.

 

There are numerous other activities beyond Kids’ World and the stage performances. Everyone gets a chance to join in on hands-on participation fun with Adult Paint-In and Swingin’ Art, and returning for the first time since the late ’80s, Festival is bringing back block printing to the Printmaking Booth! Block printing will be on paper with blocks made by participants in past printmaking workshops or by using block letters to print your own name or favorite saying, and visitors can also participate in screen printing by bringing their own material or purchasing a plain white t-shirt in youth and adult sizes for sale at the booth.

 

The other popular Festival stages, Calder, City, and Outer Fringe will be open and hosting a wide variety of performances by artists from eight West Michigan counties represented at Festival. New this year is the Kendall Stage, located on Pearl Street between the Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design’s main building and the Kendall Galleries located in the Woodbridge N. Ferris Building.

 

“The Festival 2017 Regional Arts Committee is thrilled to be working with Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University,” said Regional Arts Co-Chair Fred Bivins. “Everyone there has been a pleasure to work with, and we feel like we’re coming home to the Fed Galleries in the former Federal Building, now the Woodbridge N. Ferris Building, as the show was there for many years when the building housed the Grand Rapids Art Museum and for several more when the City of Grand Rapids allowed us its use for the show.”

 

While the main Festival activities are always the first full weekend in June, the Festival Regional Arts Exhibition starts the celebration a few days earlier with its opening reception on May 31 from 5 – 8 p.m. The exhibition will be up from June 1 to July 15.

 

Each year, Festival invites a local artist or group of artists to carry the tradition forward in the design of a poster. The 2017 “Make it a Family Tradition” theme is reflected by the four artists who created this year’s poster. Their names are familiar to many in the region: author and illustrator Ryan Hipp; puppeteer, artist, and “Tomato Collection” author Kevin Kammeraad, Kammeraad’s son and artist Carlos, and retired Rockford High School art teacher Ken Vidro. They have made Festival of the Arts their own “family tradition” with the multi-generational poster collaboration. The artists are also longtime participants at Festival, for the last ten years their artwork has been featured in the Art Sales Tent, which is partly the reason the 2017 co-chairs Radeck and Merrie Pieri-Clark selected them to design this year’s colorful poster.

 

Visitors to Festival 2017 are encouraged to visit the Art Sales Tent where they will find favorites new and old, as several area artists and artisans will be on hand selling unique items and are happy to share information about their work.

 

Last but certainly not least, Festival continues the tradition of including the culinary arts in its mix, where year after year visitors experience flavors from around the world along the streets of downtown Grand Rapids. More than twenty-five food booths operated by non-profits will be offering a variety of items from the popular souvlaki sandwich to popcorn and much more. “We are excited to welcome a couple of new food offerings which includes tamales!” said Pieri-Clark.

 

Opening ceremonies will follow tradition, with the celebration kickoff at noon on Friday, June 2. New this year is a second ceremony on opening day for those coming later in the evening. The second ceremony will take place at 7:00 p.m. Friday.

 

For all the latest information about Festival of the Arts, including performance schedules, activities, and food booths, visit www.festivalgr.org or check out the organization’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/festivalGR.

KCAD grad from Kentwood among 16 to be honored for rare level of mastery

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Eric Schroeder (photo by Kierstynn Holman)

By Elena Tislerics, KCAD

 

Each year, those Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) students who exhibit a rare level of mastery and accomplishment in their chosen field are honored with the Excellence Award, the epitome of KCAD student achievement.

 

“Throughout their time at KCAD, these individuals have exhibited an exemplary work ethic, dedication, curiosity, and thirst for knowledge and experience that has empowered them to get the most out of their education,” said KCAD President Leslie Bellavance. “We congratulate them on this accomplishment, and look forward to celebrating their continuing excellence as KCAD alumni.”

 

Kentwood resident, Eric Schroeder is among those being honored. Outside of his success in the classroom, Schroeder was named a finalist in the 2017 Bienenstock Furniture Library Design Competition, a prestigious competition that invites students from around the country to submit their best original furniture designs for a chance to win scholarship funding.

 

He also completed internships with Grand Rapids, Mich. furniture design and manufacturing company Guild Nines and New York City-based furniture/theatre designer Doug Fitch. While still a student, he landed a job as a product designer with Muskegon, Mich.-based Bold Furniture, where he is currently employed.

 

Upon graduating, Schroeder will continue to design products and furniture for Bold Furniture, and plans to eventually pursue a graduate degree in product design.

 

Kingfisher End Table (image courtesy of Eric Schroeder)

“Eric doesn’t wait for opportunities to find him — he seeks them out and explores them fearlessly,” said Associate Professor and Furniture Design Program Chair Gayle DeBruyn. “He also enjoys collecting and restoring mid-century modern furniture and nicely ties his passion for this style of design to his own.

 

“Clean, functional, elegant furniture is difficult to design; it requires a clear understanding of manufacturing and materials capabilities. For this, Eric engages his network to assist him. His employer, Bold Furniture, agreed to prototype a line of furniture specifically for Eric’s senior capstone project, and we can’t wait to see his work during the KCAD Annual Student Exhibition.”

 

The other honorees are:

  • Kelsey Ballast Pasma (Grand Rapids, Mich.) – Interior Design
  • Ashely Bryant (Grand Haven, Mich.) – Illustration
  • Lauren Gravelyn (Chelsea, Mich.) – Allesee Metals and Jewelry Design
  • Chelsea Harris (Louisville, Ky.) – Painting
  • Brian Howland (Grand Rapids, Mich.) – Drawing
  • Courtney Jackson (Muskegon, Mich.) – Art History
  • Matthew Johnson (South Haven, Mich.) – Industrial Design
  • Sarah Laverty (Houghton Lake, Mich.) – Photography
  • Maggie Livengood (Appleton, Wis.) – Art Education
  • Alyssa Minatel (Linden, Mich.) – Medical Illustration
  •  Alyssa Natoci (Ann Arbor, Mich.) – Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion, Fashion Studies
  • Erin Schaenzer (Saginaw, Mich.) – Printmaking
  • Chloe Stewart (Grand Blanc, Mich.) – Digital Media
  • Sakino Tomiura (Kawanishi, Japan) – Graphic Design
  • Matt VanSweden (Grand Rapids, Mich.) – Collaborative Design

The 2017 Excellence Award winners will be recognized at an official ceremony on May 5, and their best work will be on display during KCAD’s annual Excellence Awards Exhibition (May 2-18), hosted in The Fed Galleries @ KCAD inside the college’s Woodbridge N. Ferris Building (17 Pearl St. NW).

The Fed Galleries will also be hosting the Masters Thesis Exhibition (May 2-18), spotlighting the fully developed work of the students who have completed their graduate studies.

KCAD’s Annual Student Exhibition (May 2-6), featuring work from each of the college’s programs, will encompass all floors of the college’s 17 Fountain St. NW and Woodbridge N. Ferris Buildings. A campus-wide opening reception will be held on May 2 from 4-7pm. All exhibitions and the reception are free and open to the public. For more information, go here.

Ford Airport partners with Kendall College for gateway mural

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By Tara M. Hernandez

Gerald R. Ford International Airport

 

The Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) has partnered with Kendall College of Art & Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) to create an interactive mural on the Airport’s temporary construction wall.

 

Behind the temporary construction wall in the Airport’s grand hall, construction teams are working on GFIA’s Gateway Transformation Project – a $45 million development that will consolidate security checkpoints, add more food and beverage, retail, and business center space. In addition, new restrooms, terrazzo flooring, nursing rooms, upgraded lighting, and more are a part of the construction improvements.

 

The Airport approached KCAD to cover its blank construction wall, and a team of three KCAD students – with the support of five other students and staff –  designed, created, and installed a horizontal world map. The mural will go live this afternoon, and passengers are encouraged to interact with the wall by using flags to pin-point where they are traveling to or from. Passengers are also encouraged to post their picture on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag: #GRReatGateway.  When the construction wall comes down in June, one lucky social media winner will receive an airline gift card.

 

“This is a wonderful collaboration between our Airport and KCAD students to fill what would have otherwise been a blank, white construction wall,” said GFIA President & CEO Jim Gill. “We love the creative process that went into this, and we are excited to see our passengers’ pins – to see where they are traveling around the world.”

 

Spring Break for many West Michigan schools is approaching. The Airport’s annual Passenger Appreciation Days kicks off Thursday, March 30, Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1. The annual bon-voyage celebration is a way for the Airport to thank passengers for traveling through GRR during the busy Spring Break rush. Travelers are treated to free refreshments, food, giveaways, prize drawings, contests, and more.

 

“KCAD is thrilled to collaborate with the airport on this project. It’s a great experience for our students, who are especially excited to be able to list a project with an international airport on their resumes,” said KCAD Director of Student Engagement Nicole DeKraker, “and a fun, visual way to both celebrate the art-centric West Michigan community and demonstrate the role Grand Rapids plays in world travel.”

GVSU Wesorick Center, KCAD partner to host artist for lecture, exhibition

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By Michele Coffill

Grand Valley State University

 

Nationally recognized artist Ted Meyer believes in the power of art to heal both physical and emotional scars.

 

Through a collaboration between The Bonnie Wesorick Center for Health Care Transformation at Grand Valley State University and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD), Meyer will visit West Michigan to discuss his journey and share stories of the patients he has chronicled on canvas.

 

He will present a lecture at Grand Valley in conjunction with an exhibit of his artwork at KCAD. Details of these events, which are free and open to the public, are below.

 

• “Art and Healing,” a collaborative exhibition between KCAD students and Meyer will run March 21 – April 8 at KCAD’s Helen Miller Kendall Gallery, 17 Fountain St. NW. More information at www.kcad.edu/events/healing-through-art/.

 

• “Scarred for Life: Healing Through Art,” the Distinguished Wesorick Lectureship, sponsored by the Wesorick Center, is Tuesday, March 28, from 1-2 p.m. at the DeVos Center, Loosemore Auditorium, on the GVSU Pew Grand Rapids Campus. RSVP online at www.gvsu.edu/wesorick/.

 

• Meyer will give an informal presentation on March 28 from 5-6 p.m. at the Mary Idema Pew Library on GVSU’s Allendale Campus. This event is sponsored by several Grand Valley departments and colleges.

 

Meyer will discuss his project, “Scarred for Life: Monoprints of Human Scars,” which highlights the courage of people who have been in medical crises or accidents through artwork. Evelyn Clingerman, executive director of the Wesorick Center, said research shows that engaging with art has positive health and spiritual benefits.

 

“In the Wesorick Center we role-model and teach others how to create places where people can thrive, not simply survive, and how to apply a health care paradigm that is more than fixing a scar or a body part,” Clingerman said. The Wesorick Center is an endowed center promoting interprofessional collaboration through the Kirkhof College of Nursing.

 

Sarah Joseph, KCAD director of exhibitions, said she is proud to collaborate with the Wesorick Center and Grand Valley for Meyer’s exhibition.

 

“Ted’s work is a powerful reminder of how integral art is to the human experience,” Joseph said. “We look forward to seeing the community enlivened and inspired by Ted’s work and mission.”

 

Meyer is the current artist-in-residence at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. His artwork has been displayed internationally at museums, hospitals and galleries. Learn more about Meyer at www.tedmeyer.com.

Art.Write.Now.Tour. showcases best student work through Oct. 14 at KCAD

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“Portrait 1” by Shira Karni, a high school student from Grandville, Mich. is featured in the Art.Write.Now.Tour. Exhibition

Now through October 14, you can see work from some of the most talented young writers and artists in America at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD). The traveling exhibition will feature the work of three students from Michigan: Shira Karni of Grandville; Scott Hanna of Beverly Hills; and Abe Cone of Chelsea.

 

The Art.Write.Now.Tour. traveling exhibition showcases innovative and inspiring works from national winners in the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and it’s on display in the Helen Miller Kendall Gallery (HMK Gallery) on the first floor of KCAD’s 17 Fountain St. NW building.

 

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — recognized as the nation’s preeminent and longest-running scholarship and recognition program for students in grades 7-12 — spotlights outstanding original work in a variety of different creative mediums, including writing, illustration, photography, drawing, sculpture and more. Works were first adjudicated regionally, then again on the national level by leading creative professionals. KCAD has played host to the Awards’ West Central Michigan region for a number of years, with support from Howard Miller.

 

“This selection of teen work is truly remarkable,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “The visual art and the written pieces delve into themes ranging from the most intimate of human emotions to the current political climate. It’s a privilege to glance into the minds of some of our country’s most talented teens and an honor to have their work on display nationwide in our traveling Tour and in the DC exhibit.”

 

Approximately 50 visual art works selected from the Art.Write.Now. 2016 National Exhibition which took place in New York City at Parsons School of Design and the Pratt Institute this past June will be on display, as well as The Best Teen Writing of 2016, an annual anthology of selected Gold Medal writing, which will be displayed in the exhibition on iPads.

 

After Grand Rapids, the exhibition will visit Houston, TX; Bozeman, MT; and Jackson, MS.

 

For more information on the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit artandwriting.org.