About Our Showcase

The term media arts is related to artistic expression that is intended for mass distribution. It is rooted in the broadcast traditions of radio, television and film. Now that media distribution is not just in the hands of corporations but anyone who has access to the internet, our approach to the art has evolved. At NOCCA, the Media Arts department focuses on art made with digital technology. The computer is our primary instrument and using it to make art is our primary intention irregardless of means of distribution or exhibition. With that said, the three pillars of study within the department are: audio production and recording, filmmaking, and animation, with the fourth pillar of video game design in development.

This year was special and unusual for everyone on the planet. At NOCCA the sudden departure from campus to online study was full of many questions and challenges surrounding access to equipment and the loss of collective enterprise. The Media Arts Recording Showcase aka MARS fest was cancelled along with the end of the year film festival. Almost all of the senior thesis films were cancelled along with a senior showcase. The class of 2020 shares a collective history that no other senior has ever experienced and I have been remarkably impressed with their mental toughness and grace. With that being said, like many challenges, it came with some lessons worth learning and some unexpected bright spots.

The week before NOCCA’s closure, the audio focused students rallied to finish the department's second ever vinyl record. It is an amazing collection of tracks from students at every level. It will be a tangible archive for years to come of the quality of our recording program. And even though there was no MARS fest, we professionally printed many of the beautiful posters and artwork designed for the event.

We are also graduating our first media arts video game focused student, Kaliq Garel, who is the winner of our Helen Hill award. With the rise of video game design as a form of artistic expression it has always been of interest to include this field of study into our program. But the path to include this training into our curriculum was never clear. Kaliq and new facility addition Sarah Devlin could not wait for a path to emerge but forged a way forward to create one. Now future kids at NOCCA can follow in Kaliq’s footsteps.

We are extremely proud to share the Media Arts showcase website. It shows the work of every student in the department at every level. In many ways, it’s a better window into the department than our prior showcases ever could be. Our festivals were not long enough to show the work of every student but the website makes space for everyone. Each student created a portrait of themselves with a sample of their work made earlier in the year or while in quarantine. The website shows an array of resilient and talented young artists whose personal voice and style capture the spirit of the Media Arts department as a whole.

-Isaac Webb, Media Arts Chair