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

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.

Gina Kamentsky’s animation work has screened at numerous festivals including Annecy, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Additionally, she is the co-director of the short film Traffic Stop for POV, which was nominated for an Emmy.

Kamentsky’s first animated film was produced when she was 12 using a Bell and Howell 8mm camera and drawing on recycled computer paper. Since then she has been passionate about creating animation and has progressed through a variety of narrative and experimental forms. In her most recent work she draws and paints images directly on film stock, a technique known as direct animation.

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. 

Jack teaches courses including Comics and the Graphic Novel at Lesley. He earned a BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, RI, and participated in the European Honors Program (RISD), in Rome, Italy.

Vartabedian is a Boston-based independent filmmaker and educator who has produced and directed several award-winning narrative and documentary films that have screened both locally and internationally.

She holds a degree in Acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and studied Filmmaking at Maine Media Workshops. She has been a media educator since 2004, having launched several accredited filmmaking programs throughout Boston and Los Angeles. She served on the board of Women in Film and Video New England, The Regional Youth Media Arts Education Consortium at the ICA, Fort Point Theatre Channel, and is the Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Tidal Theatre Company.

She is Creator and Producer of The Mosquito Story Slam, a popular storytelling series and podcast, and is currently in production with her film, Year Rounders. A recent short she produced, Like Pain, Like Cigaret, was recently screened at Cannes.