Ailed E. Garcia-Saavedra teaches interface design, graphic design and typography. She received her MFA degree in Multi-media in 2005 from San Diego State University in California and a BS in Graphic Design from California State University, Sacramento in 2000. Ms. Garcia-Saavedra's professional experience includes work for Ronald McDonald House Charities, San Diego State University Art Council, and Omega Street Soldier. She recently exhibited a video piece entitled, LOSS | Psyche & Soma: Reborn Into Consciousness at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to New Media Arts, Mrs. Garcia-Saavedra teaches at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. She has also taught at San Diego State University.
Chris Gargiulo is a digital designer with experience in graphic design, front-end programming, motion graphics, and animation for various film, web, multimedia, and print projects. He received his MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design and his BA in Fine Art from Amherst College. Prior to teaching at KCC, he worked as an art director for Cheil Communications America and Samsung Electronics USA; as a designer and animator for KPE (a web agency); and as a graphic designer for Hula Girl Design. Some of his client work includes Samsung, ABC, Warner Brothers, Six Flags, Hasbro, Marvel Comics, Princess Cruises, and others.
Elizabeth Nakoa Instructor in ArtElizabeth Nakoa teaches introduction to design and design history. She worked in the design industry as a signage graphic artist and production coordinator. Elizabeth is active in the local printmaking community and has exhibited work locally, nationally and in Holland. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Hawai'i and MFA in Printmaking from Colorado State University.
Sharon Sussman Asst. Professor in ArtSharon Sussman teaches digital art and animation and is the director for the New Arts Lecture Series. Before coming to O`ahu, she was in the Digital Artistic Development Department at DreamWorks Feature Animation where she taught digital painting, compositing, and 3D character animation. Some film credits include: Prince of Egypt, Spirit, Shark Tale, Sinbad, and Shrek. She previously taught both traditional and digital art and animation at the University of California at Santa Cruz and at San Jose State University. Ms. Sussman attended the University of California at Santa Barbara in Fine Art; continued her art studies in painting and, following that, in Digital Art and Animation culminating in a Masters degree in Computer Art from San Jose State University.
Joseph Tremonti Asst. Professor in ArtJoseph Tremonti teaches 3D animation, digital post-production, and gaming. Joseph is a new media artist and researcher specializing in computer animation and interactive computer graphics. He received a BFA in 3D Computer Animation from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA and an MFA in Electronic Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His artwork has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo, Japan, Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria, and the Foro Cultural Universitario, Santa Fe, Argentina.
NEW MEDIA ARTS FACULTY - PART-TIME: Diana Nicholette Jeon Lecturer in ArtDiana Nicholette Jeon received her MFA in Imaging and Digital Art from the University of Maryland in 2006 and her BA in Art (with an emphasis in digital art) from the University of Hawai'I at Manoa in 2003; she previously did coursework in KCC's New Media Arts program, where she also served for several years as a lab assistant. Her award-winning work includes mixed-media digital and traditional printmaking, time-based media, installation, and book arts, and has been exhibited at over 50 invitational and juried exhibitions and film festivals nationally and internationally.
Raphael Lowe Lecturer in ArtRaphael Lowe started working for LavaNet, Inc back in the mid-90's after attending the University of Hawaii studying Entrepreneurship and Marketing. When asked how he got into design, he likes to credit the "school of dad", where as a young kid, Raphael shadowed his father a doing fine arts. While at LavaNet, Raphael was exposed to the needs of a growing internet market and was able to practice applying design to this new audience who wanted websites of their own. He later returned to UH to continue a formal training in Graphic Design. In 2005 Raphael opened Lowe Studio Inc, receiving awards by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. In addition to operating his own business, Raphael is also a practicing photographer and musician - where he plays bass in a local punk rock band "Miss Buddha" playing at volumes that erases all his stress.
Emily Moody Lecturer in ArtEmily attended The Delaware College of Art and Design, a sister school of Pratt and Corcoran followed by a 2 year program at The Portfolio Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Shortly after graduation, Emily worked as a designer at an Atlanta Advertising and Design agency. There she worked with big name clients such as The Coca-Cola Company and The McDonald's Group. A move to the Philadelphia area brought her to be an in-house designer at the British bank Barclays' US credit card division. After working in a corporate setting, she decided to branch off and start her own freelance business. Since its' creation in January of 2007, SuperFine Design has moved all over the country and even the world. Finally, Emily landed in Hawai'i and is hoping to share her passion for typography and print design with the New Media students of KCC.
Kirsten Rae Simonsen Lecturer in ArtKirsten Rae Simonsen's work combines traditional and digital processes and has been described as a "fairy-tale gone wrong" (Margaret Hawkins, The Chicago Sun-Times). Fred Camper of the Chicago Reader writes: "Simonsen's main subject...(is)...the loss of human identity." Her video, installation, and 2D work has been exhibited at the Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts, the Peter Miller Gallery in Chicago, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the Residence Gallery in London, United Kingdom, and others. Ms. Simonsen is represented by Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. After studying art in Bali, Indonesia, she received her MFA from the University of Chicago. She previously taught traditional and digital art at Florida State University and at Columbia College Chicago. Her summers are spent leading an Art and Design Program in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
NEW MEDIA ARTS ACADEMIC COUNSELING: Teri Durland New Media Arts CounselorTeri Durland provides counseling and advising services to NMA students. Teri has over 15 years of experience working with students in a post-secondary academic advising and counseling setting. Prior to her work with KCC, she was the Academic Services Officer and Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor at Hawaii Tokai International College. She has an A.B. in Psychology from Stanford University.