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Seven students received awards at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design�s juried FYE Media Arts Festival � an in-house screening and celebration of by current and former First-Year Experience (FYE) students held on November 26. The 56 entries were judged by multimedia and filmmaking professionals , and .

Tom Painter received Best in Fest for �Bicycle,� with Jurors Awards going to Nati Rodriguez, �Hoops� (Sara Sowell); Alexander Xiong, �Out And 91��Ʒ� (Emma B. Barany); and Jamie Messerman, �The Silhouette� (Gabe Leistekow).

Honorable Mentions were awarded to Tupak Kue, �Chimping Around�; Aali�yah Hill, �Fight�; and Nola Hennen, �Thugging It Out.�

�I take a lot of inspiration from older, traditionally animated films and tv shows,� says Painter. �I’m also very passionate about character narratives and storytelling, so this was a good outlet to practice that.�

�The creation of my film was a challenging but rewarding ordeal,� he says. �It allowed me to learn the best methods of streamlining my animation process when faced with limited resources and a tight deadline. I hope I can continue to publish animated work and establish a unique style for myself.�

��Bicycle� is immediately so visually cohesive that one is free to fully focus on the narrative,� the jurors wrote of Painter�s work. �A variety of principles of animation are present in the lip-synch, namely follow-through and secondary action.�

Juror Award recipient Alexander Xiong says, �I would love for people to view my work with the takeaway of doing what you love. I fully believe in the importance of inner happiness, and I would like to share that for others too.�

�The FYE Media Arts Festival is a visible and public way to share the incredible work produced in FYE�s Digital 4-D Dimension class,� says Professor James Barany. �D2D is a very unique experience compared to other AICAD programs. It is a dynamic introduction to cultural production, time, narrative structures, video, audio and animation approaches.�. Paired with Digital 2-Dimension (D2D), students explore 30 weeks of digital technology as one of their core studio experiences.�

Learn more about 91��Ʒ�s First-Year Experience and Animation track.