Guest Speakers Fall 2024

 


 

Guest Speakers Spring 2024

 


 

Guest Speakers Fall 2023

 


 

Guest Speakers Spring 2023

 


 

Past Guest Speakers

 


 

Brian Donovan

Brian Donovan

Brian Donovan visiting artist in FINE 1810 & 1820.

From surfer dudes to disciplined ninjas, Brian Donovan has created a cavalcade of much loved characters heard daily on all media platforms. He is every kids taijutsu hero, Rock Lee in the world famous anime series, Naruto, and Davis in the smash hit, Digimon. Other notable voice performances include Salty in the films Alpha and Omega, Shark in A.T.O.M., Tony in Flint: The Time Detective, Peter Pan in several Disney projects and a bunch a ‘guys’ trying to kill Max in the Mad Max video game. Brian was also the head announcer for Disney’s Jetix and ABC Family for over six years.  

Brian has worked on camera in dozens of film and television projects with such Hollywood luminaries as Angelina Jolie, Jim Belushi, Gabriel Byrne and Jim Carrey.  Television roles include the award winning Gia, Beverly Hills 90210, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, General Hospital, In Living Color, and Wings. Later this year Brian can be seen in the film Fame-ish, set in the awesome Anime Convention world.  

In addition, Brian is the director/producer of the award winning documentary, Kelly’s Hollywood, currently on Amazon in the USA and UK. The film is a very personal portrait of his relationship with his sister, Kelly, who was born with Down syndrome. One of his greatest joys has been screening and speaking about the film around the world, creating awareness and advocating for those with unique abilities. He also created and produced the children’s self empowerment show, Mighty Me Training Camp, a top title for five years on Discovery Education.

When not on set or in a VO booth, Brian is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Los Angeles Repertory Theatre, providing inner-city youth with performing arts workshops. He directed and produced the educational documentary, You Got Issues about their critically acclaimed workshops.

Brian lives with his family and dog Cosmo in Los Angeles, CA.

www.briandonovan.org
www.kellyshollywood.com
www.larepertorytheater.org

Robbie

Robert Fikes

Robert Fikes IV visiting artist in FINE 1003 Creative Code

Robert Fikes IV is a creative technologist who has been designing, animating, and programming professionally since 2013.

Fikes was born on May 28, 1991 in San Diego, CA. In 2013 he moved to Denver, CO to study Digital Design at the University of Colorado Denver and graduated magna cum laude in 2017.

Over the years he has worked on several Nike campaigns, created interactive installations and visuals for live events, projected artwork on public buildings, built several eCommerce websites and web applications, developed video games in virtual and augmented reality, and has exhibited his experiments and side-projects at Meetups, art galleries, and the Denver Art Museum.

Website
Instagram
Vimeo
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin

Katey

Katey Marquette

Guest Speaker – FINE 3454 Motion 2 with Professors Travis Vermilye and Michelle Carpenter 

Caliper Productions is the moniker for freelance partners-in-crime, 

Katey Marquette & Joey Gasiorek. Together, we have skills that range from animation and illustration to brand development and direction. 

We both have experience managing, producing and creating digital content in a variety of situations, and we've gotten pretty good at doing it together or separately.  Whether we're collaborating with motion studios, or producing digital content for local companies, we're ready to take on any challenge. 

Website

Vimeo

Matt

Matt Jylkka

Motion Designer & Developer 
Guest Speaker – FINE 3454 Motion 2 with Professors Travis Vermilye and Michelle Carpenter
 

Hi, I'm Matt Jylkka. I'm a passionate motion graphic designer and pixel perfectionist. I grew up 40 minutes outside Detroit and now live in Colorado. I started animating with the incredible Microsoft PowerPoint when I was 13 and have snowballed into becoming a bona fide geek. I never thought a career in motion graphics was possible, I fought daydreaming and doodling on my assignments throughout middle school and into college before giving in. Along the way, I started playing guitar in a band, recording music, and getting into audio production - even trying business classes before coming full circle and back to motion graphics. I studied Cinematography and Multimedia Design at Central Michigan University and now work at DVS in Grand Rapids where I'm slowly developing a taste for craft beer. Since I began working at DVS, I started the channel Mt. Mograph on YouTube, with the idea that speaking about my workflow might help me make sense of it all. Eventually, I found I was getting a couple of hundred views a day and a comment here or there and started getting really into posting tutorials. In the first 7-months Mt. Mograph has gained 25,000 subscribers and over 500,000 views becoming a big part of my life and who I am. My passion is to constantly challenge myself - to better my work and person. I live to soak up new experiences and adventures - and I delight in smashing them together in my projects. Collaboration and exchange is what has always kept me inspired and bettered my work.

Youtube
Website

anna Kaye

Anna Kaye

Guest Speaker – FINE 3555 Concepts in Sculpture – Social Practice with Professor Rian Kerrane

Anna Kaye was born in Detroit, Michigan and now lives in Denver where she works in her studio creating drawings and paintings that are inspired by the natural world more. Witnessing the urban decay from de-industrialization as a child enhanced her sense of empathy, compassion, love for diversity and justice, and reverence for the natural world. She earned her B.S. in geology and fine art at Skidmore College, NY. She continued her education at Yale in painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography. She earned her M.F.A. at Washington University in St. Louis where she was awarded the Laura and William Jens Scholarship and a teaching on record position. Anna Kaye’s artwork is a part of international, private, public, corporate, and museum collections including Home & Garden Television’s Green Home. Interviews and reviews include Colorado Matters, Colorado Life Magazine, Westword, and the Denver Post. Kaye donates a percentage of all sales annually to environmental funds. She is also a curator and the founder of Pink Progression, a front range collective that commemorates, celebrates, and builds on the solidarity established during the Womxns Marches. The group addresses concepts, such as human rights, equality, and gender identity. She is a former Visiting Assistant Professor and Co-Coordinator of Drawing at Metropolitan State University. Anna Kaye currently teaches at the Denver Art Museum and is represented by the Sandra Phillips Gallery in Denver.

Website

Image by Anthony Camera

Conor King

Conor King

Guest Speaker – FINE 3500 Installation Art with Professor Rian Kerrane.

Conor King received his BFA in 2003 from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his MFA in 2007 from Pratt Institute. He has been a member of the art faculty at several colleges and universities since 2009, including the University of Colorado. King’s work has been written about in Art F City, The Denver Post, and Denver Westword. His works are included in the public collections of Photo Americas and Lake Forest College. Solo exhibition venues include Galeria de Arte Fotografico, Medellin, Colombia and Pirate: contemporary art, Denver, Colorado. Highlights from his group exhibitions include work shown at Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, New York and the First Draft exhibition, part of the Biennial of The Americas, Denver, Colorado. King participated in a three year subsidized studio artist residency program at RedLine Denver until 2012, where he served on the Education Committee and on the Board of Directors. He is a founding member of Tank Studios and served on the Board of Directors at the Colorado Photographic Arts from 2013-2015 where he also assisted with exhibition development.

http://conorking.com

scottie-burgess

Scottie Burgess

Guest Speaker – FINE 3500 Installation Art with Professor Rian Kerrane.

Scottie Burgess is a native to Colorado. He received dual BFA’s with emphases in Digital Design and Sculpture/Transmedia at the University of Colorado Denver, graduating with honors. As a child, Burgess earned a scholarship to study at the Bemis School of Art. Later, his interests took him to explore other creative disciplines, including philosophy and music technology, resulting in working at the Denver Center of Performing Arts, exploring the practices of live sound and audio engineering. He apprenticed under Denver artist John McEnroe, is a member at Pirate: Contemporary Art, and is active in the performance casting community. His work was included in the Biennial 600: Textile/Fiber at the AMoA, Amarillo Museum of Art, curated by Alec Unkovic, the exhibitions Manager from the influential Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Recently, he was honored to be part of the important pro-feminist exhibition Pink Progression at the McNichols Building, collaborating as an ally.

Burgess also works in the public art realm. Work has been commissioned by the Downtown Colorado Springs Partnership to be included in their permanent collection, and the Museum of Outdoor Arts accepted his proposal for a sculpture to be placed at the base of the Republic Plaza building in downtown Denver, CO. That public work Ties Forward is now permanently sited at the Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities. His most recent public work includes a large scale site-specific assemblage to live in the lobby of the Republic Plaza.

In addition to studio and public art, Burgess has a background in design, which has included studying abroad in Copenhagen at DIS. His design endeavors have involved the development of The Center of Arts as Systemic Change, employing interdisciplinary creatives to advance profound awareness based change. He has also been certified by INDEX: Design to Improve Life, aiming to use creativity as a tool to facilitate positive change worldwide.

https://scottieburgess.com

Tiffany Matheson

Tiffany Matheson

Guest Speaker – FINE 3555 Concepts in Sculpture – Social Practice with Professor Rian Kerrane

Tiffany Matheson is a mixed and multimedia artist native to and working in Denver, CO who specializes in sculpture, installation, performance and public art. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology with Studies in Sculpture from CU Denver, and has experience with mold making and casting, woodworking, welding, textiles, acrylic manipulation, electronics, music, written word, and more. While her work varies greatly, she is inspired by light, texture, sound, color, nature, the botanical world, and outer space. Her work is often based on geometry and mathematics, with emphasis given to precision and attention to detail.

https://www.tiffanymatheson.com

Deirdre O'Mahony

Deirdre O’ Mahony

Guest Speaker – FINE 3555 Concepts in Sculpture – Social Practice with Professor Rian Kerrane

Deirdre O’Mahony is a visual artist whose practice is informed by a deep interest in rural sustainability, farming, food security and rural/urban relationships. For more than two decades she has investigated the political ecology of rural places through public engagement, archival and moving image installation, critical writing and cultural production.

College of Arts & Media

CU Denver

Arts Building

1150 10th Street

Suite 177

Denver, CO 80204


303-315-7400

CMS Login