Ringling College of Art + Design

Featured Graduate: Daniel Jeffers, Fine Arts Headed to The Vermont Studio Center Art Residency program

Checkout our interview with recent fine arts graduate, Daniel Jeffers, where we ask him about his Ringling experience and his new job!

Meet the Ringling Graduate on the Go, Darius Safani!

Check out our interview with recent motion design graduate, Darius Safani, where we ask him questions about how Ringling prepared him for his field!

Read the interview here

Congratulations to our graduates!

Ringling College Computer Animation Ranks #2 in the US, #1 in the South

Animation Career Review just released its Top 50 Animation Schools and Colleges in the US, naming Ringling College Computer Animation #2 nationally and #1 in the South. To prepare the rankings, Animation Career Review considered hundreds of schools in the US that offered programs geared towards animation or game design.

The criteria used in making this list consists, in no particular order, of the following:

Academic reputation

Admission selectivity

Depth and breadth of the program

Value as it relates to tuition and indebtedness

Geographic location

Society of Illustrators Accepts 15 Entries from Ringling College Into Student Competition

Every year, the Society of Illustrators holds the Student Scholarship Competition, the most prestigious competition for student-generated contemporary illustration in the world. This year, 15 entries from Ringling College were accepted into the exhibition.

The Society has recently reduced the total number of student work accepted for inclusion, making the event even more competitive than in past years. 300 works were chosen from more than 8700 entries submitted by professors of college-level students nation-wide, placing the winners in the upper 3% of all illustration students from all participating institutions nation-wide.

A jury of industry professionals, including illustrators and art directors, selects the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Pieces are accepted based on the quality of technique, concept and skill of medium used and are exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration, NYC.

Additionally, monetary scholarship awards are granted to 25 students whose work is deemed the best of the best. Ringling Illustration student Katherine Lam won such an award for the past 2 years (2018, 2017).

Congratulations to our 2018 Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition Winners!

2018 ADDY Award Winners!

14 Mar 18

Keep Sarasota Schools on Top

GUEST COLUMN BY DR. LARRY R. THOMPSON JANUARY 11, 2018 REPOSTED FROM SRQ DAILY SATURDAY PERSPECTIVES

Next month voters in Sarasota County will decide a very important issue: whether to renew the 1-mill referendum first approved in 2002 that provides extra funding for the elementary, middle, and high schools in our district. If the funding is renewed, it yields approximately $56.5 million extra dollars for Sarasota schools yearly. Those “extra” dollars have been the primary reason the Sarasota school system is one of only two districts in the state to receive an “A” rating from the Florida Department of Education every year since the grade rating began. Although an “A” grade can never be guaranteed, the most important point is this extra funding equips our young people with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and in their career in this turbulent 21st century.

The money from the referendum renewal will be used for a number of important purposes. First, it continues extra funding of the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). Second, it provides students 30 more minutes of classroom instruction per day.  Third, it helps the district reduce the academic disparities between children of different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Fourth, it continues the boost in teachers’ pay so that it is among the state’s upper ranks, which keeps good Sarasota teachers in Sarasota and brings the best to the district each year.

Going Up Interview with ART Network

Written by Sydney Anderson, Creative Writing 2020

Woody Harrelson was on campus as part of the Ringling College Studio Labs. While here he screened his new movie, Lost in London, which is the first of its kind as it was shot in one take and broadcasted live to theaters in London. ART Network was able to snag a one on one interview with him as part of our elevator interview series, GOING UP. Before I sat down with him at a media roundtable, Harrelson took a tour of the motion design floor and popped in on a class.

The only thing is the motion design students did not know he would be stopping in. My phone quickly buzzed with friends telling me that Woody Harrelson just walked into their class and how they acted cool until he left, at which point they then proceeded to freak out. Understandably so, three-time nominated Academy actors don’t waltz in every day. And that’s when the nerves set in.

Ringling College Receives Record-Breaking $15 Million Donation

Board of Trustees member Dr. Joel Morganroth & Dr. Gail Morrison Morganroth donate

largest single gift in the College’s 86-year history

SARASOTA, FL (January 29, 2018) – This morning, Ringling College of Art and Design announced it has received its largest single gift and the first eight-figure gift since the institution was founded in 1931. The generous donation of $15 million was given by Board of Trustees’ member Dr. Joel Morganroth and his wife Dr. Gail Morrison Morganroth.

Drs. Morganroth, both visionaries and philanthropists, were looking to invest in a non-profit organization in the community that reflects and perpetuates their core values: strong leadership, forward thinking, fiscal responsibility, and a sense of morality and ethics. But it wouldn’t be just any organization—education is of paramount importance to the couple. They found this all at Ringling College.

Thompson: A good reason for Ringling students to give up winter break​

GUEST COLUMN BY DR. LARRY R. THOMPSON JANUARY 11, 2018 REPOSTED FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

Here’s the story. Due to Hurricane Irma this past fall, the college extended the fall semester by a week to ensure our students receive their full amount of required instruction. Although not required to do so, we decided to reduce winter break by a week. Despite the need for some well-deserved rest and relaxation, more than 33 Ringling students, as well as nearly 10 recent graduates, chose to remain on campus and work throughout their coveted holiday break on a project that is bringing great value to their careers and our greater Sarasota-Manatee community.

Why would students give up their winter break and not go home like everyone else? The reason: The college brought in acclaimed director, writer and actor Kevin Smith to film the second installment of his horror anthology film, “Kilroy Was Here.” Having the opportunity to work with a superstar like Kevin Smith is truly an inspiration for our aspiring filmmakers because of his phenomenal career in independent film.

7 Questions with Brandon Oldenburg

Written and illustrated by Kristen Camisa (Illustration ’18)

Award-winning illustrator, designer, sculptor and film director Brandon Oldenburg (Illustration ’95), was on campus for Ringling College’s 2017 Preview Day last Saturday!

He gave a fascinating presentation to current and prospective students about his creative journey and entering the uncharted territory of Virtual Reality, a field that Ringling College students can now major in starting next fall. He introduced us to his newest venture, Flight School, a multipurpose studio that just released the new VR experience Manifest 99. I was fortunate to be able to pick Brandon’s brain a few days before his arrival, but he’s even more awesome in person!

PRESS: Ringling College Announces VR Major

Ringling College Becomes First Art + Design School to Offer Virtual Reality Development BFA

 In fall 2018, Ringling College of Art and Design will be the first art college—and one of the first educational institutions—to offer a degree in the expanding field of Virtual Reality for artists and designers. The Ringling College Virtual Reality Development major, a four-year, BFA degree program, is accepting applications now for 2018-19.

“Virtual Reality is going to change everything,” says Dr. Larry R. Thompson, President of Ringling College. “The opportunities extend far beyond the worlds of gaming and entertainment—this technology will revolutionize the way we live and work, and it will offer unexplored opportunities for artists and designers. We want our students and graduates to be leading this monumental shift, advancing and defining this new field, and laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s generations of creative leaders, companies, and organizations.”

Students enrolled in the VR major will create experiences for countless industries, including healthcare, advertising, architecture, education, and entertainment. New advancements in the field will be driven, like so many other fields, by artists and designers, and Ringling College VR students will be at the forefront of this progress. Creating for VR offers unprecedented opportunities and challenges for creatives, and students will be empowered to shape and share stories from multiple points of view. In addition, the control the viewer can exercise over their own perspective presents entirely new opportunities for writers, directors, actors, and animators.

Computer Animation Grads Win GOLD Student Academy Award!

Irma is history! Six-college alliance strikes back in Manatee-Sarasota

Dr. Thompson in Sarasota Herald-Tribune!

Thompson: The courage to create

Guest Column by Larry R. Thompson

7 Questions with Joe Fig

[This post was written by Kristen Camisa (Illustration, '18)]

On a hectic pre-Irma Wednesday, I was lucky enough to sit down with Joe Fig, our new Fine Arts and Visual Studies Department Head, and learn more about his life, work, and pizza preferences.

Joe earned his BFA and MFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York. He is known for work that explores the creative process and the spaces where art is made. His paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, and videos have been exhibited nationally and internationally with over thirty solo and fifty group exhibitions. He is the author of Inside the Painter's Studio and Inside the Artist's Studio (Princeton Architectural Press), which share an intimate view inside the studios of today's leading artists.

Paws & Relax with Pups!