#ccadstories

Rose White (Interior Design, 2019) was a voracious reader in high school and on one of the many afternoons she spent reading at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s main branch, she came across a book, Brooklyn Interiors, that would inspire her career path into interior design.

One thing White has learned during her time at Columbus College of Art & Design is with the most successful interior design projects, the designer has a personal connection to the project and also understands the client. For White, who grew up in predominantly low-income areas around Columbus, nothing could be more personal than her thesis project, inspired by the issue of affordable housing and helping people who need access to it.

CCAD Stories: Kelechukwu (Kaycee) Nwakudu  

Kelechukwu (Kaycee) Nwakudu (Animation, 2020) wants to know everything about everything.

He’s on his way.

The youngest of four, Nwakudu graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria, at age 20 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Not long after that, he relocated to Chicago with his family. And not long after that, he started considering his next step. That’s when he decided to apply to art school.

CCAD STORIES: SHAE BEAGLE FINDS LIFE IN COMICS

If the early signs are any indication, 2017 will be a pretty good year for Shae Beagle (Illustration, 2017).

The Independence, Kentucky, native will graduate Columbus College of Art & Design this May with a bachelor's degree in Illustration.

And they’re also prepping for a big summer: Beagle and a small group of collaborators with CCAD ties recently inked a deal with Image Comics for Moonstruck, a series following a coffee shop barista in search of a normal life who has one problem: She’s a werewolf. The first installment of Moonstruck is expected to land in July.

Comics weren’t always a major player in Beagle’s world.

“I never really grew up with Marvel or DC Comics, that was just something that my family wasn’t into, so I wasn’t into,” they recalled. “But I always read the Sunday funnies with my grandpa and we liked Peanuts a lot because Snoopy was a beagle and our family’s name is Beagle, so it was really funny and we would put those up on our fridge."

“Around high school, I read a lot of manga and stuff but, in terms of storytelling, I liked self-published indie comics,” they said.

Beagle had artistic chops, but they didn’t always get support from high school art instructors. “My high school experience was, ‘if it’s not realistic it’s not art.’ … I didn’t really have a direction until later in high school. I just liked to draw. But I didn’t know of jobs in that field at all,” they remembered.

By contrast, at CCAD, Beagle said, “when I was starting to just dabble in making comics and showing professors my comics, they were really encouraging with that and I thought, ‘Hey, I can do this, that’d be fun.’ … It was really nice to hear from professors who were already in the professional world, telling me that you can do this and make a living out of it.”

One of those professors, Laurenn McCubbin, Assistant Professor of the newly created Comics & Narrative Practice major, “has been absolutely the most important person in getting (Moonstruck) to published form,” Beagle said.

McCubbin, Moonstruck's editor, has been one of Beagle’s instructors since their first year at CCAD. “She’s always encouraged my artwork, and now we’re working together in comics, so it’s pretty interesting,” Beagle said.

In addition to Moonstruck, Beagle is working on a 30-page comic for their capstone class, sharing a personal story, and learning more about bookbinding, bookmaking, and zine-making.

When not drawing, Beagle enjoys joining a crowd of friends every Wednesday night for karaoke at Dirty Frank’s West. It’s a stress-reliever, they said: “It’s good to just let loose for the week, sing badly up on stage, eat a hotdog, and forget about all the work you have to do for a couple of hours.”

Of course, with graduation and publishing deadlines both looming, that time has been limited — “but once the semester’s done, it’s going to be my saving grace,” Beagle said.

And although Beagle’s graduating CCAD this spring, they plan on sticking around Columbus, which has become an increasingly comics-friendly city.

“I know a lot of comic creators are moving to Columbus, I guess partially because it’s cheaper to live here; but I think it’s getting around that everyone is coming here and they’re seeing things like SPACE, CXC, and all those independent comics things that are happening in Columbus. It’s becoming a hot spot. Everyone is gravitating towards here and telling their friends, ‘Hey come to Columbus,’ ” they said.

Photos by Annie Noelker for CCAD Student Agency ________

Shae Beagle's Top 5 Creative Influencers:

Sam Bosma, Illustrator, teacher, and character designer | Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter |

Anna Cattish, Comic artist, character designer | Instagram | Facebook |

Emily Warren, Color stylist at Marvel Animation, illustrator, comic artist | Instagram | Facebook |

Jen Wang , Cartoonist, writer, and illustrator | Instagram | Twitter |

Vivian Ng, Comic artist, illustrator, background painter for Industrial Brothers | Instagram | Twitter |

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Workin': A Spotify Playlist by Shae Beagle

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CCAD STORIES: FAN SU FINDS STRENGTH IN CHALLENGES

Like so many international students who come to the U.S. for college, Fan Su (Fine Arts, 2017) sometimes feels like the rope in a game of tug o’ war: On one side is her family in the Jiangsu Province of China. On the other is the creative awakening she is experiencing at CCAD.

For Fan, who will be 23 in April, learning to be happy in the space between these competing powers is what it means to be grown up. And she’s grateful that her experience has pushed her to mature not just as an artist but as a person.

“I miss Chinese food so much,” said the senior, who could graduate as early as December 2017. “I’m not sure if I can go back for the summer. I want to study more and find an internship, and I also want to stay with my family. I want so many things, but you can’t get everything. You have to choose.”

Fan studied European-style oil painting in China for two years at the college level before she came to CCAD. While she loved the solitude and peace of painting, the medium wasn’t right for her. At CCAD, the Fine Arts program would give her the freedom to explore other media and find the materials that fit her need for expression. She tried photography, sculpture, and fashion. It was glassblowing, though, that struck a chord — even though doing it for a living could come with some drawbacks for her.

“I feel stressed when I get a lot of attention,” she said. “Glassblowers do lots of demos, so you have to almost perform. But I love glassblowing, and if you really love it, you’re going to overcome.”

Being in the U.S. has broadened Fan’s horizons in other ways. She’s traveled to New York, Miami, and Los Angeles; visited art museums; and been exposed to new ideas and images. She’s also gained a fresh perspective on how the West views communist governments like the one in China.

“At first, I was very sensitive when people asked me about China, especially the politics. It took me a long time to figure out what kind of attitude I should have. I love my country and my culture,” she said. Even though people in a communist country have fewer personal freedoms, they are not less free in spirit, she said. Just as she does when evaluating her life choices — seeing nothing is either all good or all bad — she sees both sides of the coin.

“Before, when I saw something shocking to me, I would show it,” she said. “Now I accept it. Even if it’s not good for me, I can still accept that people are different.”

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Fan Su's Top 5 Creative Influencers:

Vivian Maier, photographer | Twitter | Facebook

Araki Nobuyoshi, photographer and contemporary artist | Instagram | Facebook

Francis Bacon, painter | Twitter | Facebook

Paul Cezanne, painter

Zhang Xiaogang, painter

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Read more in our series CCAD Stories.

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Learn more about CCAD's Fine Arts program or apply here.

CCAD STORIES: FIVE THINGS JOSIE BOWLIN LOVES ABOUT CCAD

Josie Bowlin (Animation, 2018) is a third-year student who has found a welcoming home at CCAD. Below, she discusses why she chose the college, and what she's experienced since starting here.

1. I knew people already. Staying in Ohio was good for me. I had other schools I was thinking about, but being able to go home was good. I ended up choosing to come here because the Animation and the Illustration programs were stronger and more of what I was looking for. I had friends here I was missing, and I knew I would have a comfortable space.

2. The fact that it was so small really appealed to me. Even touring Cincinnati was overwhelming to me. I know most of the faculty here and most of the people here. It is weird meeting a junior I’m not familiar with. I really like that.

3. There’s just a vibe the school has. It’s very welcoming and loving, and everyone, in my experience, wants to help you. Knowing the people who make decisions on a personal level really reinforces that. They are receptive in a way no other school could be. They know when something happens. They care about us.

4. Tom Richner was my core Animation instructor. The way he taught was a way that I learned best. I could easily talk to him one on one. If I was struggling with a project, I could tell him that and not feel like I was going to fail. A team of instructors had multiple conversations about my career and path. They are so valuable to me. There was no way I could have figured out what to do without my instructors.

5. The Animation program. We’re in contact with alumni who are in the industry, and our department heads base curriculum on the industry. They started focusing more on story when actual 2D animation became less marketable. I don’t feel like there’s been a ton of fluff. I didn’t feel like I was learning skills I didn’t need.”

Photos by CCAD Student Agency photographer Ally Gille

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CCAD STORIES: JOSIE BOWLIN GETS ANIMATED

When Josie Bowlin (Animation, 2018) feels discouraged or overwhelmed at school, she watches Ratatouille. Sure, the Pixar masterpiece is a diversion, but it’s also a way for Bowlin to find center again.

“Pixar is where I have always said I was going to work. I will apply everywhere, but I have prepared myself for that studio,” she said. “Not that many people who come from animation want to be in production, because they want to do creative work.”

That’s right: Bowlin, who grew up in Greenville, Ohio, two hours west of Columbus, is an Animation major, but she doesn’t dream of drawing the characters that light up animated feature films. Production work stokes both her creative side and her leadership skills.

Bowlin is the president of CCAD Queer Alliance, Communications Director of the Animation Student Collective, works as an assistant on campus, and invites responsibility. She is not shy around a spreadsheet. She dreams of working with creative people — and all the other elements that go into the making of a feature film.

After trying illustration, 2D animation and fine arts, Bowlin found her creative sweet spot in experimental animation. “I do a lot of work on paper with charcoal and ink, and I also do some stop-motion animation,” she said. “I was really struggling in my [2D] animation classes. I could not break through this wall of not being comfortable making that kind of art.

“With the experimental program, we’re encouraged to do stuff that’s very personal and self-influenced. That can be hard, because you have to be really introspective. But it’s freeing, too. You’re not going to be told that’s the wrong way to do it.” Bowlin would love to keep making experimental animation on her own after graduation, even if it’s not part of her day-to-day work.

Just as important as discovering her strengths was having the faculty support to get her there. “The animation department is a very, very special place,” she said. “We are very close-knit because we’re always in the lab together in the same space. I knew that was the community I would probably end up following through studio life. Working in that industry, it would feel very similar.”

Photo by CCAD Student Agency photographer Ally Gille

Though Bowlin enjoys her studies and has a supportive group of friends, like many people, she isn’t immune to anxiety and stress. When this semester’s workload became overwhelming and she fell a bit behind, she turned to CCAD’s Counseling & Wellness Center.

“A lot of people don’t realize it’s such a good resource we have. If you’re feeling at all anxious or depressed, you shouldn’t avoid going and finding help, because everyone deserves support,” she said.

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Josie Bowlin's Top 5 Creative Influencers*:

Brad Bird, director, screenwriter, animator, producer, and voice actor | Twitter

John Lasseter, animator, director, and creative head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios | Facebook

Ed Catmull, computer animation pioneer and president, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios | Twitter

Frank Thomas, animator (one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men")

William Kentridge, artist known for his drawings and animations | Twitter

* I am deeply saddened that there are no women on this list — Josie Bowlin.

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CCAD STORIES: MAKING ART PERSONAL

Samiha Hussein (Animation, 2017) has found deeply personal inspiration in and out of the classroom. Below, she chats about three projects that hold particular significance for her.

One of my first semesters here, I drew a zine about Palestine — the human rights laws that were broken by Israel, shootings and other things that were uncalled for. I’ll be political here and there in my art. It’s there as a medium. The zine was mostly drawings, but there were articles, too, explaining the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. People had no idea about Palestine. They were like, "You’re telling me Palestinians don’t have a military? They’re just all civilians?"

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[I made a] paper-cut animation for my experimental animation class. My inspiration was the internal struggle with going after your dreams and the feeling of sink and swim you might experience doing so. It was a memorable project to me because I tapped into two things I was hesitant to do during that time. The first was drawing inspiration from personal emotions and experiences, the second was designing a paper character that resonated a little more with me by giving her a hijab. I was worried about putting these two things into animations because I felt like I was really exposing myself to others in a way that I never had before.

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My thesis project is already one of my favorites because I get to really enjoy each step of making a 3D animated short. I get to do everything from storyboarding my script to modeling and rigging to animating. I like the idea of having a hand in every part of a project, and with this one, I get to do just that. At the moment, I'm still working out my storyboard and the timing, but I'm really having fun with it and excited to see this project to completion. This is a pretty big project for me, so I'm setting mini-deadlines for myself over the deadlines already included in the course. I like to plan ahead and see if there's any way I can get things done early. That way, I have more time in case I run into any snags, or at least breathing room when finals roll around. It also helps that I don't find myself scrambling around last minute to get something ready a day before it’s due. Sometimes the mini-deadlines help just because I can push them around without throwing myself off track.

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CCAD STORIES: FOCUSING ON FILM

Movies are a refuge and a place of exploration for Lemuel Worrell (Cinematic Arts, 2019), who loves consuming and creating films and music videos.

High school, he said, “was not the hottest place, and what I would do sometimes is I would just go home and watch movie on movie, like, endlessly, and there were some that stuck out for me: Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, 500 Days of Summer, Interstellar — all of those types of movies really really got to my heart. “I was like, woah this is so interesting that somebody is creating this new world and showing it to you, and you get to be a part of it, in way, by just watching it happen.  A lot of the reasons why I was emotionally OK at the end of high school was due to movies.”

And films are still a source of comfort for Worrell, who plans on pursuing filmmaking as a career after he graduates Columbus College of Art & Design.

“If I’m having a really bad day, I’m like, ‘let me just sit down and watch a movie.’ It’s a really nice tactic that I have to let my emotions just go into something else completely,” he said.

“The best way to describe the films I like are that they are Terrence Malik films or films like that. … I guess you could say I’m into melodramas, films that really talk about relationships — not just romantic relationships, but relationships between fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters. ... A theme I always want in my films is love. I feel like that’s something that’s been shown to me throughout my life, and it’s something I want to endlessly show,” Worrell said.

Below, he talks more about some of the films that have been particularly meaningful in his life.

Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

This movie encompassed all of my nostalgia as I was a kid living in a small town in Tennessee, as well as my first existential thoughts that pertained to human emotion in scale to the entire universe.

500 Days of Summer (Marc Webb)

When I first saw this movie, I was going through my first breakup. It allowed me to dive into my emotions, but also come right back up from them. It will forever be my breakup film.

Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)

I was going through another breakup when I saw this movie and I believe it perfectly touches on the grittier and unspoken part of some relationships. Which we have all thought about in a relationship.

Interstellar (Christopher Nolan)

This is just an incredible space exploration movie packed with emotion — so you know I was first in line to see it.

The Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance)

The Place Beyond the Pines takes you into a completely different world from yours probably, and is able to make you relate — and for people like me — even cry.

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