You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
You’ve seen Pitch Perfect, the scene where Anna Kendrick aces an audition using nothing more than her voice and an empty cup. Alone, sitting on a dimly lit stage, she sings, “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.” A few years ago SCAD’s performance ensemble sang this song at our commencement ceremony, and not a few tears were shed. As each class graduates, the moment is bittersweet — I’m exceptionally proud of each graduate’s achievement of a SCAD degree, but I also miss seeing their work, their faces, their smiles on campus.
Because I miss them, and because we continue to want to be of service to our Bees, we intentionally stay connected through SCAD’s panoply of preeminent, lifelong alumni services. From the moment our students graduate through each of their career evolutions, SCAD Bees benefit from elite, extensive professional networks and individually tailored career coaching. Additionally, SCAD invests in alumni-led businesses and dedicates spaces — virtual and physical — to catalyze true creativity that SCAD defines as “the invention of relevant, new ideas to elevate communities, improve our world, and fuel fulfilling careers.”
Exceptional experiences
I’ve heard that alumni from other colleges feel remembered by their alma maters only when they receive those irritating dinnertime fundraising calls.
But as The University for Creative Careers, SCAD is a special-purpose university dedicated to professional preparation before, during and after enrollment, and personal growth and professional development continue long past commencement. As our more than 46,000 hardworking, community-minded SCAD alumni know well, there is always more to learn and accomplish!
In the past year alone, SCAD career and alumni success — CAS — engaged nearly 5,000 alumni in ongoing, individualized career coaching, whether in person or virtually, through Zoom and other platforms. When graduates glimpse dream jobs in destination cities posted on the SCAD Job Portal, CAS lends advice and facilitates connections. When alumni seek to transition from one creative industry to another, regionally based CAS industry and alumni engagement specialists activate networks and recommend possibilities. CAS hosts professional development experiences at SCAD locations in Atlanta, Lacoste, Savannah, and online, as well as collegial social gatherings around the world. As many of our graduates know, I’m apt to schedule an impromptu tea with alumni Bees when I travel, and alumni events — like our much-lauded SCAD40 celebrations — conjure smiles and create connections.
Professional growth experiences range from the SCAD Alumni Atelier — our artist ambassadorship that propels professional, creative alumni endeavors — to the SCAD alumni mentor program, which last year hosted 234 mentor engagements to partner distinguished graduates with current students. Since its inception in 2015, the SCAD Alumni Atelier has sponsored more than 60 ambassadors, including actor and multidisciplinary artist Masud Olufani (M.F.A., sculpture, 2013) and renowned painter Hasani Sahlehe (B.F.A., painting, 2015) — as well as Danielle Elsener (B.F.A., fashion design, 2013), founder of DECODE and recent recipient of an International Design Award fashion grant for her relevant, open-source, zero-waste medical scrubs, created to boost the U.K.’s supply of COVID-resistant PPE. “Really, the atelier launched the work I do now — the experience is still with me today,” mixed-media artist and 2018 SCAD Alumni Atelier ambassador Holly Suzanne Rader (M.F.A., painting, 2004) recently said to me. “I know the value of time, and to be in a place like Lacoste, which is truly timeless, is an invaluable gift.”
Other alumni volunteer as featured speakers at signature events. Dreamworks FX supervisor Jason Mayer (M.F.A., computer art, 2005) delivered an illuminating address at SCAD AnimationFest 2019, and he continues to promote the SCAD family within the entertainment industry — FX artist Jinguang Huang (M.A., visual effects, 2017) is one of Jason’s recent hires and now a bright star at Dreamworks.
Invigorating ventures
From top tech companies such as Google and Uber to iconic brands like Coca-Cola and BMW, SCADpro — the university’s research and design consultancy and innovation studio — attracts industry leaders intent on solving design challenges with the help of SCAD resources and talent. When leading-edge companies travel to SCAD, they send their finest creative leaders, who are often SCAD alumni!
Whether at Deloitte, Ford, Gulfstream Aerospace, or GE Transportation, SCAD graduates quickly work themselves into creative leadership roles and find that their direct access to SCAD talent, resources, and relationships elevates their own value within their companies. Over the past decade, more than 5,700 students — over 4,600 of whom are now alumni — have engaged in SCADpro assignments. Others, such as Google’s Andrew Sibert (B.F.A., user experience design, 2018), regularly return to SCADpro for design sprints like StartUp, where they guide student teams that create innovative prototypes for themed design challenges.
SCADpro vigorously and intentionally encourages ongoing connection and launches alumni careers and businesses. Consider, for example, SCADpro Fund, which this year alone invested $400,000 in four alumni-led companies, including the sustainable-focused workwear brand The Big Favorite, by Eleanor Turner (B.F.A., fashion, 2008), and Q4 Sports, Quintin Williams’ (B.F.A., industrial design, 2011) high-performance sneaker company, which has already attracted NBA-caliber clients.
SCAD advances the careers of fine arts alumni through SCAD Art Sales, our full-service art consultancy that features student, faculty, and alumni work, and currently represents 300 alumni artists. SCAD Art Sales placed large-scale works by 28 alumni in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium collection, and has installed other alumni art in The Alida Hotel Savannah, Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, and №18 Singapore Capitol. From Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to productions like Netflix’s Power and Lionsgate’s The Poison Rose, SCAD Art Sales assures that alumni works are featured in dynamic locations. Our recent virtual Open Studio event offered the work of more than 300 students, faculty, and alumni, and sales were brisk. Just two years ago, you might have noticed a chic silver bracelet that graced Oprah’s wrist. Alumna Kristen Baird (B.F.A., metals and jewelry, 2012) designed the bracelet, and SCAD gifted it to Oprah when she delivered the 2018 keynote commencement address.
Visibility and connections
As higher education navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, SCAD continues to lead the way with reimagined curriculum, events, and professional networking.
SCAD alumni share their time, talent, and mentorship through Guests & Gusto, the university’s virtual think tank. Guests & Gusto elevates the SCAD curriculum through real-time industry insights and vivifies professional preparation for students. For our alumni, like Christopher John Rogers (B.F.A., fashion and apparel design, 2016) — winner of the 2019 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Grand Prize and recently featured in Vogue magazine — SCAD’s newest signature event, Guests & Gusto, further amplifies their professional platforms and promotes their artistic visions.
Indeed, SCAD has always championed the artistry of our graduates, often commissioning films and other major works from alumni — in the past 18 months alone, SCAD has invested more than $1 million in such projects. The renowned SCAD Museum of Art, Georgia’s finest museum, features the work of star Bees year round. During the past decade, SCAD Museum of Art Alumni Gallery has hosted 24 solo exhibitions — major shows in an elegant gallery dedicated exclusively to SCAD alumni work. Currently featured is Xavier Robles de Medina’s (B.F.A., animation, 2012; B.F.A., painting, 2012) Wan Destination Wanhoop, and an exhibition by Gonzalo Hernandez (M.F.A., fibers, 2019) is scheduled for later this year. Such inspiring exhibitions complement alumni shows that the university promotes at SCAD AT MIAMI and Photo London, and SCAD grads dazzle from the shelves, walls, and display cases at shopSCAD locations in Savannah and Lacoste.
Each of our graduates’ individual successes are realizations of the SCAD family’s shared values focused on global community and professional success. SCAD’s lifelong connection to our alumni encourages our Bees to dream big, create boldly, exist meaningfully, and care compassionately. And yes, we still love them when they’re gone.
