The Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology, and Entertainment (CREATE) had a remarkable 2023-24 year and achieved new milestones.
Our Pre-College Animation Intensive produces real results! We are proud that three students from CREATE’s 2019 Pre-College Animation Intensive graduated from the UCF School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD)’s Character Animation program in spring 2024. These students attribute their choice of UCF as their university to the intensive program, and incoming students from our intensives are also in the pipeline to the Character and Animation and Visual Effect tracks.
During the summer of 2023, our Pre-College Animation Intensives welcomed 28 high school students from across the U.S. and Florida. We were honored to receive a generous donation from Dr. Alex and Melinda Cartwright, which funded three scholarships for students who would have otherwise been unable to afford the tuition fees. These two-week sessions took place at the CREATE computer and art labs in UCF Downtown and were led by SVAD and CREATE’s animation faculty. Students were guided through the basics of 2D and 3D animation, took daily drawing classes, and received a short main campus tour.
CREATE will persist in its mission of fostering partnerships and serving the community, while continuing to build upon the success of our animation programs.
CREATE further extended its mission through our after-school College Prep Animation program catering to high school students eager to explore animation. This program offered both online and in-person options, attracting high school students and undergraduate students from UCF wishing to refine their animation skills. In partnership with SVAD and the Jenkins Scholar program, CREATE welcomed one of our SVAD graduate animation students as an intern to assist in teaching in our after-school program.
For the summer of 2024, our Pre-College Animation Intensives have reached full capacity, with a waitlist of interested students. We have added an additional intermediate-level intensive for return students from the 2023 intensives, who will concentrate on learning 3-D animation skills in our new, high-tech PC lab!
CREATE remained committed to its partnership initiatives by collaborating with Keith Harrison, an expert in the business of hip-hop from the DeVos Sport Business Management Graduate Program. This partnership aimed to establish a connection between sports, animation, the business of music and marketing strategies, and culminated with an exciting and engaging table-talk event in February featuring the VP of Entertainment for Nike Jordan, Reggie Saunders. CREATE also partnered with Valencia State College’s Culinary Arts program, located in the downtown campus. Students and faculty produced stunning and delicious cakes in the style of Nike shoes. We also engaged and partnered with local restaurant Jenny’s, which provided a wonderful pre-talk reception.
Moving forward, CREATE will persist in its mission of fostering partnerships and serving the community while continuing to build upon the success of our animation programs. Our goal is to offer year-round instruction in animation as part of a comprehensive preparatory program, enabling students to delve deeper into the art of animation. As always, CREATE warmly welcomes participation from UCF faculty, staff and students, encouraging them to join in the pursuit of excellence as we “Charge On!”
— Stella Sung, Pegasus Professor and director