For the budding Michelangelo who wants to render a computer-designed version of the Sistine Chapel, or one of the masterpieces in the Louvre, the DigiMedia Club is now forming at Bakersfield College.
Aiming to combine traditional-minded artists with computers, the DigiMedia Club encourages the study of 3-D graphics, film design, and all areas of computer graphic designing endeavors.
Speaking of the burgeoning club, professor and club adviser Dave Koeth says that the club wishes to “give the arts, particularly digital arts, a presence in the student community” as well as helping graphic arts students tap into a useful “network” of students and professionals.
DigiMedia secretary Janet Owen said that the club would help members “gain more experience, further skills, and get projects out into the community.”
According to member Cassie Mullen, the club “needs more members” and the club wants to receive “serious” recognition.
The DigiMedia Club is a “very eclectic” group of art students, Koeth said, and the club is planning an active future, which includes arranging the annual “Panorama 3” conference held at BC, as well as participation in the “Siggraph” international gathering of art enthusiasts held in Los Angeles. This conference will include scientists and software experts, as well as artists who discuss what is new in the graphic arts field. The club is also currently designing a club logo.
Owen stated that the club consists of artists who are enthusiastically committed to digital art, but at the same time, the club consists of “traditional artists, first and foremost.”
According to Koeth, the club is enthusiastically planning to design a mural in the downtown area of Bakersfield. Although the downtown mural project is in its “infancy stage,” as Koeth puts it, nevertheless, plans for fundraising for the project are already under way. According to Koeth, the space for the mural is owned by the Kern Community College District, and that Dean of Fine Arts Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg acquired the space for the department. According to Owen, the space has been in a “dormant” stage for a while. A theme for the mural is currently being discussed.
Owen says that the club definitely wants to promote the club and especially BC’s Fine Arts Department through the mural project.