Animation & Motion Media

Catriona Baker, associate professor and co-chair of animation and VFX at Lesley University's College of Art and Design, is a fine art experimental animator, book artist, and painter. Her work focuses on issues of social justice such as sexual assault, domestic violence, trauma, immigration, women empowerment, and factory farming. Her work explores the visual juxtaposition between traditional mediums and digital processes. Her Animations range in mediums from 3D, 2D digital to hand drawn/painted frame by frame animation.  

Catriona holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College in Studio Art: printmaking, a BFA from Maine College of Art in painting and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in animation and painting. Her works have been shown nationally and internationally in screenings, galleries, and corporate collections. Her animations have been internationally recognized with an International Platinum Pixie and two International CINDY (Cinema in Industry) awards.

Website: CGBaker.art

Mike is an Art and Animation Director specializing in development, character design, and educational children's media. With over ten years of production experience he has collaborated with clients such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, PBS, and Discovery Kids.

Mike’s prior work includes the role of Art and Animation Director of CloudKid, an award-winning digital creative agency, as well as Animation Supervisor at Soup2Nuts, where he contributed to the production of several television series including the Emmy Award-winning series WordGirl.

Mike is currently creating, developing, and producing content in the children's media space as well as teaching here at the College of Art and Design.

Becky Bettencourt is an alumna of Lesley Art + Design (formerly the Art Institute of Boston, 2007) and is currently an adjunct professor of animation, animator, storyboard artist, and jewelry designer. For her personal work, Ms. Bettencourt experiments with stop motion techniques and unique narrative structures. Her work often features themes and aesthetics related to fairytales and history. As a storyboard artist, Ms. Bettencourt has boarded human rights campaign projects, public service announcements, and independent films. Some of her favorite filmmakers include Lotte Reiniger, Evelyn Lambert, Jan Svankmajer, Marta Pajek, and the Quay Brothers.

Tim Finn is an Adjunct Animation Faculty and has been teaching at the College of Art and Design since 2005. He has recently taught Character Animation, Alternative Comix, Drawing for Animation, and History of Animation. Finn earned his BFA at Rhode Island School of Design and his MAT at School of the Museum of Fine Arts. He owns a comic book store, Hub Comics, 1.3 miles from the College of Art and Design. His teaching style balances personal expression with industry expectations. He provides copious examples from films, props, handouts, and anecdotes in class.

Bob Gifford is an Adjunct Faculty teaching in the Animation and Digital Filmmaking departments. He has been teaching at the College of Art and Design since 2001. Bob has worked in commercial video production for 25 years and as a video production manager, trained staff in field and studio video production. He is also a professional musician/songwriter and recorded two albums for MCA records. He has taught Video Production 1 and 2, Audio Production and Design and Editing Intensive.

Ariel Grubb is an interdisciplinary artist, stop motion animator, and background artist based in Boston, Massachusetts. Their showcase of work includes both digital and traditional methods, using unconventional materials such as 35mm film, collage and stop motion, and zoetropes. Ariel has collaborated with studios such as Mighty MX and Bento Box, FableVision, and PokeGravy Studios, with artists such as public artist and inventor Rufus Butler Seder, as well as with organizations such as MassOpera, Arts By the People, and the National YoungArts Foundation.

Ariel works out of Boston as a freelance stop motion animator and background artist.

Derek Hoffend is a visual and audio artist who creates interactive sound-sculpture installations and electronic music—exploring sound as a medium intersecting with physical forms, structures, bodies, and spaces—to create immersive and participatory experiences for viewers.

Fusing elements of sonic, electronic, digital, and physical media, his work combines acoustic, recorded, and generative audio processes with objects and environments, and emphasizes relationships between sensory phenomena and perception.

Ongoing themes of interest include explorations in immersive audio, multi-channel arrangements, geometric architectural forms, tactile interfaces, Vibro-Acoustics, viewer participation, resonant objects, and amplified spaces.

Derek's recent work explores an interest in biometric sensing, and therapeutic potentials of audio frequencies, rhythmic entrainment, and colored light. Derek also maintains an active music practice, recording and performing electronic music under the moniker Aether Chroma as well as under his own name.

Derek Hoffend holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Art and Technology (2004), an MA from New York University in Studio Art (2001), and a dual-major BFA from the State University of New York at Fredonia in Sculpture and Photography (1997).

Curvin has been teaching full-time for over 20 years at numerous colleges and universities. Professionally, Curvin is a technical VFX Artist that specializes in procedural simulation, character animation & rigging, rendering, compositing, virtual production, and digital cinematography.

Over the past 25 years, Curvin’s focus has been on 3D simulation animation for agencies such as the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, and the Center for Disease Control. More recently, Curvin has been focusing on VFX for games, film, TV, and stage performance. Recent projects include VFX work for the HBO series “Raised by Wolves”, an electric car design for a manufacturing company, and real-time rendering for various Boston-based opera performances.

Fisiha Likke is an artist, architect, and educator. Currently, he is an assistant professor of design at LA+D in Lesley University. He studied his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Illustration and Architecture, respectively. Following his undergraduate program, he served as an artist in residence for a non-profit organization and taught at various high schools in Rhode Island. He also held the position of head of the visual art department at MX High School in Concord, MA, before he joined his graduate studies. As a studio artist and muralist, he was commissioned and exhibited his works nationally and internationally.

Beyond his role as an educator, Likke actively engages in an architectural project that rebuilds schools in Ethiopia and participates in public design works in the Boston area. He recently joined the newly formed Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Design and Media at Northeastern University.

After graduating USC with an MFA, Van has worked as a director, animator, pre-vis artist, technical director, and designer for films and games produced by Dreamworks, Sony Imageworks, Paramount, Digital Domain, Activision, 2K, Naughty Dog ILM, and Blue Sky Studios. His credits include working on such franchises as Aqua Man 2, Harry Potter, Shrek, Madagascar, Ice Age, Uncharted, How to Train Your Dragon, Captain America, NBA2K, and Thor. In addition, he has also worked as a director or animator on award-winning XR projects screened at the Tribeca, Cannes, and Venice Film Festivals.

His interest in teaching comes from his love for storytelling, animation, and learning. His multidisciplinary background and breadth of experiences have given him a unique perspective that he incorporates into his classes. It enjoys creating Aha moments for these students that can have a transformative impact in their future.

Bill Porter is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose studio practice investigates the structure and influence of storytelling. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions and publications across the United States as well as in Europe and South America. He earned an MFA in Visual Arts from LA+D (AIB)  and he holds a BFA in Animation and a Certificate in Film Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Before coming to Lesley University Bill worked in a variety of disciplines and roles as a professional artist and designer including character animator, motion media artist, illustrator,  multimedia designer, videographer, graphic designer, photographer, and video editor. He designed and animated character-driven, interactive educational media and animated promotional videos for clients such as PBS Kids, Addison Wesley, and the Aardvark Design Group. Porter was a motion graphics designer with clients across a variety of sectors including broadcast (WLVI 56), tech companies (HP), and government agencies (US Secret Service). He has also worked in other phases of media production including directing and editing videos for Simmons College, Boston College, and Coldwell Banker. As a freelance illustrator, Porter designed characters and environments for website interfaces and marketing materials. In addition to contract work, Porter’s illustrations have been published in seven countries.

Visual Disability

Bill lives with an inherited retinal disorder called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Since formally being diagnosed as “legally blind” in 2018, Porter has used his platform as a visual artist and educator to dispel stereotypes about the assumed limitations of people who identify as blind or visually impaired. Bill has spoken publicly in various forums about the spectrum of blindness and the unique distinction of being a “blind” artist and educator. He is an advocate for the disabled community in various ways including serving as chair and founder of the Lesley University Disability Advocacy and Education Group as well as a member of the Lesley Art + Design Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice Committee.

Scholarly Work

Bill is a member of a team of five Lesley University faculty across disciplines that have conducted extensive research on effective peer feedback since 2016, which lead to the development of a three-step protocol for effective peer critique/review. The research team recently wrote a book that includes their research findings and strategies for effective critique across disciplines and modalities. Student-Led Peer Review: A Practical Guide to Implementation Across Disciplines and Modalities was published in October 2022.

Personal Website

billaporter.com

Social Media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billaporter/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billaporter/

John Quirk is an American media artist from New Haven. In his many years in the Boston independent film/animation community, he earned his bachelor's degree in animation at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design and began teaching courses through MassArt’s youth programs, animation department, and Harvard’s Visual Environmental Studies Department. After completing his MA studies at The Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, he took up residency in Scotland to focus on site-specific community-oriented projects and sustainable art & storytelling practices with Studio Kompost. Quirk has recently returned to Boston, leaping back into full-time teaching, learning, experimenting and goofing around with animation.

View John's personal website.

Alex Salsberg is a Boston-based animator and writer. A graduate of RIT's Film/Animation department, Alex has directed and animated cartoons for many clients including Billy Ray Cyrus, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Dell, Children’s Hospital, WGBH, Nickelodeon and more. In addition to client animation, Alex writes and directs original shorts and pilots, including the award-winning “Class of 84,” starring Jonathan Katz, and “The Hub,” starring Samm Levine. Alex is also the host of “I Loved This Conversation,” a podcast featuring creative people from all over the world.

Associate Professor Brandon Strathmann is currently directing an animated short for the Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning, an organization dedicated to protecting the seashore in Maine. This follows his dedication to preserving the world he has pursued since becoming a full-time educator. Having worked in the past for Disney, DreamWorks, Fox Film Roman, and others as an animation and game artist, he tries to teach students not only to prepare for the workforce but to feel a responsibility to seek opportunities to make the world better. 

Brandon has worked for the Aquarium of the Pacific using drawn digital animation for an exhibit featuring archer fish and modeling tumors and surgical procedures for reconstructive surgery. In addition, he has won several awards for his two independent films on protecting the ocean from pollution, including the John Muir award for environmentalism.  

He is interested in equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice, acting as the co-chair for EDIJ@LA+D. Brandon’s Japanese American heritage is vital to his research. He has designed travel classes to bring students to Japan, where they can study the culture and people where anime and manga originate. In addition, he worked with the EDIJ office at Lesley University to host a BIPOC in Anime event, giving students a chance to learn about anime from academic experts and practitioners. 

Brandon is studying Japanese aesthetics through a personal film about his family history currently, blending his research with years of Hollywood animation to expand upon his abilities and meet the interests of many of his students. He remains a member of the Cartoonists Guild. He seeks opportunities to learn more about the field to have the breadth of ability to advise and mentor students in animation, gaming, and special effects. 

Growing up in Jamaica, Michael always had a passion for art. In 2012, he left his home country to live in America and pursue his artistic dreams of graphic design and illustration. Michael wishes to inspire and speak to others through his artwork, leaving the audience hanging in the balance of reality and wonder. Outside of the classroom, he works as a freelance children’s book illustrator, graphic novelist and designer, mixing both digital and traditional media in his projects.

Austin Vincent is a Somerville-based 3D animator and fabricator. As a Lesley alumnus, he has created an award-winning 3D animation that has been shown in festivals all over the world, titled, "Duino." Austin has also worked closely with the White Snake Projects opera company to fabricate props for their stage productions. Outside of teaching Lesley's Props for Film class, Austin currently works for FormLabs, an SLA 3D Printing Company. He strives to combine his passion for 3D animation, fabrication, and new robotic technologies throughout his artwork. Website: https://www.austinvincent.com/