WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., April 5, 2016 — West Liberty University’s MADFEST will once again bring the excitement of media arts and design to campus for its 16th year on Friday, April 8. MADFEST offers academic workshops and professional networking opportunities for both WLU students and high school students attending the academic event.
The 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. festival includes 26 different workshops, professional presentations and an awards ceremony that closes out the day’s events. High school students from throughout the tri-state and WLU college students compete for prizes in different categories.
Workshops and presentations take place in the Media Arts Center and interactive displays will be in the Boyle Conference Center. The awards ceremony is in College Hall.
Festival Director Jim Haizlett believes that MADFEST is an important educational outreach since it spotlights career opportunities for young artists.
“I think one of the biggest things we do is to present the notion that the arts are a great place to find a satisfying and rewarding career…We view the festival as a birthplace of ideas and inspiration for young people who have an interest in making a career out of the arts,” he said.
Every year, MADFEST has grown.
“We had to take down our online registration page after two weeks because we are absolutely maxed out at around 340 high school students and 18 high schools. That is a record,” Haizlett said.
This year those attending can look forward to an exciting bunch of jurors and presenters including Marshall Lambert and Padriac Driscoll.
Marshall Lambert is an alumnus of West Liberty University’s graphic design program. After several years of working for design studios she returned to school to receive an MFA from Boston University. She is a design specialist at Harvard University’s Meta Lab.
“Combined with her energy and passion, students will learn from her unique style of combining old-school techniques with digital media,” according to Haizlett.
MADFEST events warm up with a preview lecture at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 7, when Lambert shares her journey from college student to successful artist, showcasing her work along the way. The rest of the events will take place the following day.
Padraic Driscoll is a two-time Emmy Award winner and motion designer for the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins. He specializes in motion graphics and plans to share some insights into making a career out of special effects.
“His presentations should be very entertaining and attractive to students. We are so pleased to have these professionals join us for the day,” he said.
The festival has been able to attract students from as far away as the Eastern Panhandle.
“MADFEST helped my students decide on things such as where they want to go to school, or what they wanted to major in. Seeing that they were not alone in loving art and seeing the opportunities that they could have with a career, the nearly five-hour drive to MADFEST was one of the most beneficial things I think I could have done for my students,” said Elaine Unnone, an art teacher at Martinsburg High School, who has brought groups to many MADFEST.
For Mirairy Rodriguez, a WLU sophomore from Martinsburg who attended while in high school, MADFEST helped her to pick her career, “ I had never entered my art into anything before. It was extremely out of my comfort zone but I did it anyways. I ended up getting honorable mention on my piece. Having my art recognized by a University was exciting since I was only in high school at the time. I gained some confidence after that and realized that I was in the right field and decided to pursue a degree in art therapy.”
MADFEST has 12 competitive categories that students are eligible to enter, including:
- Short Film – Fictional stories written and produced by a student or group
- Digital Imaging – Original art created using digital processes
- Electronic Music – Original compositions, up to five minutes in length
- Animation – Original animated project
- Illustration – Original illustration using digital and/or traditional techniques
- Mixed Media – Original static mixed media piece, traditional or non-traditional
- Multimedia – Original dynamic multimedia piece
- Interactive – Web design, mobile apps, interactive music or storytelling
- Photography – Traditional or digital original photography
- Graphic Design – Visual communication of ideas through typography, images
- Audio Documentary – Non-fiction audio stories by one or two students
- Video Documentary – Non-fiction video stories by up to three students
Contest winners will be announced during the 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. award ceremony, just prior to lunch. Jurors take part in the award ceremony and comment on stage about each of the award-winning student presentations, giving all students valuable feedback.
For more information on MADFEST or to learn about the other jurors taking part in the judging, please visit westliberty.edu/fest or contact Haizlett, at madfest@westliberty.edu or 304.336.8077.