Contents:Program Highlights - Fall Makeathon: Social Justice
- Community Meeting #2: Costume Design Challenge
- Workshops: Storyboarding, handsewing, and micro controllers!
Student Features - First-Year Interview: Aubrey Lockwood
- Peer Mentor:
Mya Enzer - Alum Spotlight:
Camille Charara
Living ArtsEngine had its first Makeathon of the year over the weekend of October 1st. The four participating teams were given 24 hours to come up with a solution/concept/idea in response to the overarching theme of Social Justice. The students learned new skills, developed new ideas and concepts, and got to know their teammates better through the experience. The final results of the Makeathon were as follows: First Place: The Bursley Babes
Mahsa Amini Sculpture Emma Oestmann, Amia Richardson, Julia Flatley, Evan Schuman, and Cicada Bhatia-Guerin Second Place: ACDC
Increasing air conditioning accessibility for Bursley residents Aidan Edwards, Shawn Halimann, Lukas Nepomuceno, and Brendan Nestle Third Place: Team Blåhaj
The Bursley Community Garden Aubrey Lockwood, Kenya Hall, Julia Cole, and Julian Sarkissian Honorable Mention: The Social Justice League
Lady Social Justice Sculpture Ben Bruick, Dallas Quaresma, Christopher Gerace, Abigail Dziedzic, and Eric Chen
The winning team created a sculpture to pay tribute to Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died while in police captivity in September after being arrested for a dress code violation. The sculpture was accompanied by music written by the team and inspired by real Iranian protest songs sung by the thousands of protesters who have demonstrated since Amini's death. Read more about the winning piece and listen to the music here.
Community Meeting #2: Costume Design ChallengeFor our second Community Meeting of the year we welcomed back LAE and School of Music, Theatre, and Dance alum, Saawan Tawari. Saawan, now a costume designer in NYC, led the community in a costume design challenge! Teams were tasked with creating a "Michigan Wolverine" costume but could not use maize, blue, or a block M. Each team presented their costumes in a fashion show presentation.
Workshops galore! Since our last newsletter, Living ArtsEngine students have been busy with a variety of weekly workshops! Zia from the LAE Student Programming Board led a storyboarding workshop. Maija, also from the Programming Board, led a handsewing workshop. We also had an Arduino workshop led LAE Alum Ted Ivanac, who now works for Ground Connections in the Duderstadt Center. And to mix
things up, the students also ventured out of the Creative Suite to take a field trip to the local nonprofit and maker space All Hands Active to learn about ATMegaZero micro controllers!
First-Year Interview:
Aubrey Lockwood
Q: Why did you decide to join Living ArtsEngine?A: "I think the main reason I joined is when I saw it advertised on Campus Day. Just seeing the interdisciplinary aspects, seeing the community makeathons and projects was super appealing to me. I kind of do a little bit of a lot of things in terms of creative stuff and academically.
I’m not very solidly-rooted in any particular field, but I do a little bit of most things, so the interdisciplinary aspect really appealed to me." What types of creative work do you like to do?A: “I’m really big into music. I play a bit of guitar, I play trombone. I’m also very good with computers, so those are kind of the two things I would describe as my main areas. I do some coding, I do some games work. I also do a lot of critical writing on like media and specifically games, and doing narrative analysis on that.” Q: What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?A: “I think this year I’m looking forward to just continuing to be with people in the community. Right now I’m very focused on classes but I’m looking forward to the next Makeathon. I had a great time with that first one. It’s just exactly the kind of thing that I get a lot of fulfillment out of.” Q: What is one fun fact about you that you'd like the community to know? A: “The thing I always
talk about is my music interest because I’m just very devoted to a genre called Folk Punk. It’s kind of a weird one to explain to people, but what I guess I would like to share, and have continued to share, is just that this is a genre that means a lot to me. It’s a big part of my identity.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a Peer Mentor?A: "I really enjoy interacting with the next generation of Living Artists. I think it's really cool to see this year’s mentees and how they're different and similar to our group and just how they interact with each other and the things they create for different projects and stuff. That’s really cool."
Q: Has your experience in Living ArtsEngine impacted the way you approach your major?A: "Somewhat. I definitely think that having the interdisciplinary experience is helpful and it gives me different perspectives. Not just because of the things I’ve done, but because of the people I talk to and how they shape my outlook on my major in general. Just approaching it from a different perspective than maybe other people in my major approach projects and work. I think it’s been really valuable and I have that because of Living Arts." Q: What is a favorite memory from being in Living ArtsEngine last year?A: "Our first Makeathon. We made a Bee Drones video, and that was one of the first projects my friends and I worked on as a group and so it was a really good bonding experience. Not only was it just a great bonding experience, but you know being up at 5am doing video editing...you come out of that a different person. We created something that I am still to this day very proud of and that I still go back and watch occasionally."
Alum SpotlightCamille Charara
UM Alumnus Camille Charara participated in Living ArtsEngine 2012-2014Degrees: Bachelor’s in Art and Costume Design from the University of Michigan Current Employment: Freelance costume designer, Master’s student and teacher at NYU Tisch
Camille is a self- described “maker by nature”, who found her passion for costume design during her time here at Living ArtsEngine. She was an art major with a focus on wearables until her friend and fellow LAE member, Kayleigh convinced her to take a costuming class. The rest is history! After finishing her undergraduate, Camille did some work as a freelance designer and became a designer and instructor at University of Michigan SMTD, where she costumed 10 productions. During the pandemic, she worked as a commission-based artist painting on silk. She is drawn to costume design because of its deeply creative nature that allows her to explore travel, technology, problem solving, use of different mediums and techniques, and much more. Currently she is a masters student at New York University, where she studies costume design, teaches undergraduate students, and helps realize the designs of others. In her interview, Camille said she still keeps in touch with her LAE friends both personally and professionally. “Some of my best friends are from Living Arts.”, she shared. Some of her favorite memories are in the Creative Suite, fueling her “jack- of- all- trades” mind, and collaborating with friends. She even helped start an art collective with some friends from the program. Camille said that Living ArtsEngine and other MLCs “make such a large University smaller, so you can really have a space that feels like home.” After she graduates NYU in 2024, Camille will continue her journey as
a designer, hopefully getting the opportunity to travel and to teach.
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