Wire:
news from the Columbia community
Students, Alumni Win Emmy Awards
Two student groups and several alumni won big at the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards in November.
The Television Department and Frequency TV won a Student Production Award in the “Long Format (Fiction and Non-Fiction)” category for Freq Out, a live sketch variety show with an interactive multimedia component. The program was produced with the Audio Arts and Acoustics Department.
The Journalism Department also took home a Student Production award in the “News: General Assignment” category for “Felony Franks,” produced by journalism grad student Wendy Wohlfeill. The show was created for Metro Minutes, Columbia’s weekly television news program produced, anchored, and reported by journalism students.
Ann Marie Esp (BA ’95), along with her team at Chicago’s WLS-TV, took home the Outstanding Achievement for Special Event Coverage (Edited) award for “Chicago’s Mayor: The Daley Years.”
Dean Richards (’76), along with his co-host and producers, won for Outstanding Achievement for Public Affairs/Current Affairs Programming - Program/Special for WGN’s “Stories of Hope: Facing Breast Cancer.”
Samantha Sanders (MFA ’01) and John Farbrother (MFA ’03), co-founders of Green River Films Inc., won for Outstanding Achievement for Arts and Entertainment Programming for “Chicago Symphony Orchestra 2011 Youth in Music Festival.” Brett Hartle (BA ’09) served as production assistant on the project.
Jens Bogehegn (BA ’88) and the Zacuto Films team won for Outstanding Achievement for Interview/ Discussion Programming - Program /Special/Series for “Filmfellas: Commitment to the Craft.”
Alumni Of The Year, Commencement Honorees Announced
Senior Jacob Watts’ photo illustration was chosen as this year’s commencement image.
At this year’s commencement ceremonies, taking place May 5 and 6 at the historic Chicago Theatre, Columbia College Chicago will recognize the 2012 Alumni of the Year and six honorary degree recipients.
Columbia recognizes alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their fields and embody the mission of the institution as Alumni of the Year. This year, the college honors celebrity jeweler Lana Bramlette (BA ’97), comic book artist Art Baltazar (BA ’92), and Disney animator Marlon West (BA ’85).
Honorary degree recipients are outstanding individuals in the arts, education, politics, and public information. This year, the college honors Phil Ramone, Grammy-winning music producer; Lee Flaherty, award-winning marketing expert; Philip-Lorca diCorcia, acclaimed photographer; Steve James, prize-winning film director (Hoop Dreams); Warren Spector, pioneering video game designer and producer; and Mavis Staples, legendary vocalist.
Student Awards
Here’s a sampling of awards recently garnered by Columbia students.
Fashion studies senior Caren Oliver won BET’s Lens on Talent Fashion Competition in November, walking away with the grand prize of $10,000 for her designs. Lens on Talent is BET’s talent search for the “superstars of tomorrow,” focusing on music, fashion, and dance. During the competition, BET producers visited Columbia to shoot video of Oliver in her “natural habitat,” the fashion labs in 623 S. Wabash Ave. The student made it through the top 25, the top 10, and then to her place as the only student competitor in the top three of the fashion competition. The winner was determined by an online public vote.
Art + Design major Elizabeth Salinas won first place in the Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project’s “Quit to Win” design contest in fall 2011. Salinas’ winning entry, which addresses the dangers of secondhand smoke to children, was used on billboards and public transit platforms all over Chicago beginning in November. Salinas received a $5,000 scholarship and an Apple iPad.
The Mi Parque app, a bilingual participatory placemaking web and smartphone application developed by students from Columbia’s Interactive Arts & Media Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, and University of Illinois at Chicago, was crowned one of the Grand Challenge winners in the 2011 Apps for Metro Chicago contest sponsored by the Metro Chicago Information Center.
Marketing Communications senior Derrick Milton was selected as one of America’s Most Promising Minority Students by American Advertising Federation for 2012. One of 50 outstanding students chosen nationwide, Milton flew to New York, NY, in February to participate in a recruiting event, where he and his fellow finalists connected with industry experts through professional development seminars, interviews, and student expos.
Open Doors Gala Raises $700,00 For Student Scholarships
President Warrick L. Carter, left, and Board of Trustees Chairman Allen Turner honor Linda Johnson Rice at the Open Doors Gala.
At the 2011 Open Doors Gala on November 5, Columbia College Chicago raised nearly $700,000 for its Open Doors Scholarship Fund, which allows Chicago Public Schools’ graduates to attend Columbia. The event, held at the college’s Media Production Center at 1600 S. State St., was a black-tie evening of dinner and performances by Columbia student artists. Some 250 guests were in attendance.
The college also honored Linda Johnson Rice, chairwoman of Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company, with Columbia’s inaugural Chicago Legacy Award, created to recognize those who have made a significant impact in the Chicago community and have helped “open doors” for future generations. Johnson Publishing has a long-standing relationship with Columbia College, including hiring interns and graduates. Columbia recently purchased the Johnson Publishing headquarters building at 820 S. Michigan Ave. for the future site of the college library.
Students Cover Iowa Caucuses
Broadcast journalism student Paris Lewbel shoots video of the action in Iowa.
Fifteen graduate and undergraduate Columbia students, in a J-term class titled “Covering the Iowa Caucus,” spent three days in Iowa in January interviewing analysts, voters, campaign staff, and candidates’ family members during the first presidential nominating contest of 2012. The journalism and photography majors were among an estimated 1,500 journalists to cover the event, the closest Iowa caucus in decades.
“This was a group of extremely motivated and committed students,” said Associate Journalism Department Chair Suzanne McBride, who accompanied the students. “They had deadlines to meet, and they even started phone interviews and research for the caucus over the winter break.”
The students published more than a dozen stories on ChicagoTalks, the award-winning local website started by McBride and fellow faculty member Barbara K. Iverson, during their three days in Des Moines. The stories covered voter reaction, caucus outcomes, and political issues, and included audio, video, and photos.
Dance Center Receives Presitigious 2012 Joyce Award
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago received a 2012 Joyce Award to commission choreographer Reggie Wilson to create the evening- length dance-theatre work (project) Moseses Project. The $50,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation also will support Wilson’s research residency in Chicago and a two-week community engagement residency for Wilson and three dancers to involve Chicagoans in the creative process.
The Dance Center is being honored with this prestigious award for the second time, one of only three organizations—and the only dance organization—to receive two Joyce Awards in its 10-year history. The Dance Center received a 2004 Joyce Award to support commissioning fees, presentation costs, and associated community engagement and audience development efforts for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s Wild Cursive, created by Artistic Director Lin Hwai-min. The piece received its American premiere in October 2006, presented by The Dance Center at the Harris Theater in Chicago.
(project) Moseses Project is the working title of a new performance piece by Wilson exploring the interfaith mythical, biblical, ethnographic, historic, and global references of Moses. Initial inspiration for the work came from Wilson’s rereading of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Moses, Man of the Mountain, which retells the Moses story as a Southern folk tale in Southern African-American vernacular.
Efroymson Art + Design Resource Center Opens
The Efroymson Art + Design Resource Center at 623 S. Wabash Ave. houses objects and products for research and study.
In October, Columbia College Chicago opened the new Efroymson Art + Design (A+D) Resource Center on the 4th floor of 623 S. Wabash Ave. Made possible by a $250,000 gift from the Efroymson Family Fund, a donor-advised fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation in Indianapolis, the Resource Center is designed to provide Columbia students and faculty with an inspirational environment in which to work and collaborate.
The center houses a wide variety of art and design objects and products for research and study, such as museum publications, design strategy games, exhibition-related resources, artist and design books, and one-of-a-kind designed objects. It also houses an extensive collection of recorded visiting artist lectures from the A+D lecture series and other departments and events around the college. ␣e center is physically connected to the A+D Media Center, where students and faculty can check out various art materials and technologies for classes and projects.
