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Archive for 'September 2016'

    Academy Grad Wins American Society of Landscape Architects' Student Honor Award

    Eric Arneson’s design reimagines the Healdsburg riverfront as a visitor-friendly, natural place of beauty

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    The Bendway Towers have become the symbol of the park and provide a visual link to the town. Overhead conveyors have been repurposed as tree walks immersing visitors into a California woodland with panoramic views of the site and beyond. Photo by Eric Arneson.

    By Dorothy O’Donnell

    In the past decade, Healdsburg has become one of Wine Country’s most popular destinations. With its charming plaza rimmed with fine restaurants, tasting rooms, shops and stylish hotels, the revitalized downtown has plenty to offer visitors and locals. But according to Academy of Art University graduate Eric Arneson, who grew up in Healdsburg, one of his hometown’s most precious resources is being squandered: the Russian River.

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    Photography Student Wins Chance to Participate in Red Bull Illume Workshop

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    Photo by Matt O'Brien, B.F.A. photography student.

    By Dorothy O’Donnell

    Academy of Art University photography major Matt O’Brien hadn’t planned on trying to win a spot in Red Bull Illume’s first collegiate workshop for action sports photographers. He was heading out of town when the email soliciting submissions from students at 300 colleges throughout the country arrived in his inbox.

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    Innocence and Authenticity Merge in Margaret Keelan's "Weathered" Works

    The Fine Art instructor’s new ceramic sculpture series, Mystery and Memory, is on view at the Arc Gallery

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    Fine Art instructor Margaret Keelan at the opening of the FourSquared exhibition at the Arc Gallery. Photo courtesy of Margaret Keelan.

    By Celeste Sunderland

    Margaret Keelan doesn’t call herself a storyteller, but the narrative elements that pervade her work provoke the imagination and create an irresistible sense of allure. Her new series, Mystery and Memory, commissioned for Arc Gallery’s FourSquared exhibition, features a range of eerily allegorical images that could very well illustrate a tale by Edgar Allan Poe.

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    School of Acting Grad Returns to the Academy in 'The Gypsy Machine'

    Sean Gunnell plays Patrick in the Pop Up Theatre LA production

    By Dorothy O’Donnell

    Academy of Art University alumnus Sean Gunnell is returning to the place that helped launch his acting career to star in The Gypsy Machine. “I am so excited to be coming back to the Academy to perform in this play,” said Gunnell, who graduated with a B.F.A. from the School of Acting in 2013 and now lives in Los Angeles. “It feels like coming full circle.”

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    Former Motion Pictures & Television Student's Company Shakes up L.A.'s Theater Scene

    By Dorothy O’Donnell

    In 2012, Grafton Doyle was using the skills he gained from Academy of Art University’s School of Motion Pictures & Television to build his acting career. “I was in San Francisco, doing industrials and commercials, including a spot for the Golden State Warriors,” he said. “I was doing well, but I wanted to be in Los Angeles because it’s a bigger pond for actors.”

    Doyle moved to Los Angeles, hoping to find more work in film and television. But his career took an unexpected turn after he had the chance to direct a play called The Woolgatherer for the Hollywood Fringe Festival, an annual event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the local performing arts community.

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    Tuesday Tunes x3 Coming Soon to UrbanKnightsRadio.Com

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    Local band Panic Is Perfect performing during the Spring 2016 Tuesday Tunes x3 event. Photo courtesy of UrbanKnightsRadio.com.

    By Stephanie Cieplinski

    UrbanKnightsRadio.com at Academy of Art University is bringing back their popular Tuesday Tunes x3 event this fall, and if the last spring's event is any indication, students will be treated to some great live music. 

    Tuesday Tunes x3 will feature three artists in three days; Shelby Lanterman on Tuesday, September 13, Wrecked 880 on Wednesday, September 14, and last fall's Academy Idol winner Francisse Bondoc on Thursday, September 15. Live music will begin at 3 p.m. in the UrbanKnightsRadio.com studio at 79 New Montgomery.

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    Writer-Director Justin Tipping Talks 'Kicks'

    By Stephanie Cieplinski

    In Justin Tipping’s first full-length feature film, Kicks, the writer-director is enthusiastic to share his message of the cycle of poverty causing egotistical decisions, which ultimately lead to violence and a false message of masculinity. 

    Kicks follows 14-year-old Brandon (Jahking Guillory), who is constantly bullied by the fact that he doesn’t wear “cool” shoes. When faced with the opportunity to get one of the hottest pairs on the market, albeit illegally, Brandon jumps at the chance. His friends, Rico (Christopher Meyer) and Albert (played by the Notorious B.I.G.’s son, Christopher Jordan Wallace), are shocked when Brandon garners more attention from the opposite sex. However, the glory is short-lived when a local neighborhood punk, Flaco (Kofe Siriboe), beats Brandon up and steals the shoes. Brandon finds himself “marked as a man” and conflicted by the societal norms of his impoverished neighborhood. It’s up to him to choose whether to do what is expected of him and his community or take a different route.

    Tipping grew up in a similar neighborhood to the one represented in the film. “Growing up there, it’s a very specific world. It’s its own character in the movie and growing up there it was very important for me to represent that,” Tipping explained.

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    Director Justin Tipping on the set of “Kicks,” a Focus World release. Photo by Jess dela Merced. Courtesy of Focus World.

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