Past Projects
In previous years, the Otis College Kite Festival has offered a community kite making event at the shores of the world famous Santa Monica Pier! Renowned kite artists and designers from around the United States are invited to share their expertise and passion for kite design, making and flying. Each year, attendees of the festival learn how to construct their own Sumi and Tetra Kites and watch expert Kite Flyers from around the nation fly thier art kites and large inflatable Kites throughout the day! Every child and attendee recieve their own DYI Kite Kit inclusive of a color theory lesson, which ties into both ART and STEAM education. The festival seves the community as a fun and enriching experience for both the young and young at heart!
Action Joshua Tree: A History of Recreation at Joshua For five years now, OTIS students in this course have worked with Joshua Tree National Park to produce creative projects that support the park. Every year presents a different project. Each class begins with research into subjects pertinent to the project as well as the park itself. They complete targeted exercises, study the park’s history, both cultural and natural, meet with park staff, and explore in the field. This class focuses on working with a client, developing and managing a project, harmonizing practice and theory, and generating useful and compelling creative solutions.
Otis College and the school’s Comic Heroes course taught by Candace Lavin, has partnered with organizations such as The Museum of Tolerance and the It Gets Better Project. The goal of the course is to elevate unheard stories through the medium of comic books and superheros. Studying comic book plot structure and sequential art, each original story is told as an allegory of a socially relevant issue helping students to develop their own social conscientiousness.
Instructor Gina Valona partnered with Painted Brain "to create lasting community-based solutions to mental health challenges and the impact of social injustice through arts, advocacy, and enterprise." Through an emergent curriculum, students learned how to use Human Centered Design and Socially Engaged Art Practices to facilitate relationships with individuals and organizations within a site-specific community. Throughout the semester, students learned effective communication and engagment techniques, project management skills, how to implement a social and/or community engaged event and how to balance the needs of all partners involved in the production of public art.
Otis students partner with the Jacaranda School for Orphans and learn how to work within a global studio to conceive of and execute diverse community projects . The culmination of the course results in 2-week immersion program where students learn first-hand about the history and culture of Malawi. Students tour the Society of Malawi and the Jacaranda Cultural Center, visit the Museum of Malawi, receive academic lectures, spend a night at Game Haven on a safari to learn about local wildlife, and work on-site at the Jacaranda School to implement the projects developed throughout the semester.