To:                CAM Faculty and Staff
From:            Larry Kaptain, Dean
Subject:        Dean’s Message

Dear Colleagues,

This past week it was such a pleasure to host Tenzing Rigdol (BFA, ’05) to receive an honorary doctorate (from the Board of Regents), and then to participate in a panel discussion led by Yang Wang. Students and faculty who came to the panel discussion were able to hear from and meet Kurt Behrendt, associate curator in the Department of Asian Art at the MET, Sarah Magnatta (Tibetan art scholar and faculty member at DU), she also curated Rigdol’s first US solo show at the Emmanuel. In CAM’s 11 degree programs, there is connectivity between arts, technology, research, creativity, and commerce. Thanks to Jeff Lambson and so many others from our staff who did the advance work and on-site production for these events.

1)  I enjoyed venturing out to the BFA Thesis Show at Redline on a Saturday afternoon, where I could really take it in. I took some sample pics—but please go and see it.

2)  Associate Dean Mark Rabideau has been exploring alternative venues in Denver for MEIS. The stage and auditorium chairs setting is not always ideal for our students, faculty, and the ethnic, commercial, and other genres MEIS explores. So, a grand experiment took place on Thursday, May 5^th—and that was to host an event at No. 38 that would celebrate the spectrum of music from Latinx culture. Our own Pete Ellingson (MEIS) led his impressive ensemble, Voz de la Clave—and CAM alumni from other Denver ensembles joined in for a cultural and relevant presentation.

3)    Please send nominations (a brief document—email or WORD) to Sara Walpole for the Dean’s Post-Graduate International Studies Award for advanced study in the Southeast Asian Creative Industries. This will serve as a match for verified tuition awards designated to a CAM student(s) who will pursue graduate work at the LaSalle College of the Arts Singapore, the School of Creative Media of the City University of Hong Kong, or the School of the Arts at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We know that students learn by doing, and, as emerging peers, are important contributors to the knowledge exchange. Rigorous investigation, critical thinking, diversity, collaboration, and invention are valued academic goals. Artistic rigor, creativity, and innovation are bedrock principles of The College of Arts & Media community and the cornerstone of how excellence is defined. The nomination should include how the nominee, has: a) been a champion of excellence in an area of CAM (research, performance, creating, and other) b) displayed artistic expression and risk-taking, c) advanced intellectual freedom, d) increased social responsibility, and, e) advanced a culture of shared discovery as an essential element of CAM’s ethos. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, May 13, 2022 at 5:00 pm.