Pipeline to Portland: Bowie State & LAIKA Studios Strengthen Arts Curriculum and Career Pathways

Earlier this month, students and faculty from Bowie State University's Visual Communication & Digital Media Arts (VCDMA) program welcomed back a tried-and-true friend.

A representative from LAIKA Studios, a leading animation studio in the film industry, visited campus to encourage students to apply for paid summer internships at the company's Portland, Oregon headquarters. "The costs of travel and housing are also fully paid, and it's an amazing opportunity for BSU students in the stop-motion, animation and media arts to gain hands-on experience," said Professor Tewodross M. Williams, chairperson of the Department of Fine & Performing Arts, and coordinator of the VCDMA program.

On March 3, approximately 60 students from a variety of majors came to the Fine & Performing Arts Center for a panel discussion and to explore internship and career opportunities in Portland. More than a dozen VCDMA students also received portfolio reviews from LAIKA professionals. LAIKA is a pacesetter in stop-motion animation, a tactile animated filmmaking and special effects technique. The company has earned Academy Award nominations for the stop-motion effects in several of its films, including 2016's Kubo and the Two Strings.

Bowie State and LAIKA have maintained a rewarding partnership for at least six years. "We're the only HBCU in the nation with a stop-motion animation studio," Williams said. "I first collaborated with them to shape Bowie State's first stop-motion course that guided students through the fundamentals of building puppets, designing sets and animating movement one frame at a time."

Williams' original VCDMA class planted seeds for a growing initiative that eventually led to the development of a permanent space where students can develop, animate and produce stop-motion and experimental animated productions, short films and unique digital storytelling experiences. Funding and technical support from the Oregon-based company enabled Bowie State to acquire equipment, animation stands and the tools needed to make a full studio operational.

"Studio Ayoka Chenzira is named in honor of the first African American woman to create stop-motion animation, and she traveled from Atlanta for the studio's launch in 2022," said Williams. "Today, the studio thrives as a hub for projects and conversations about the animation industry."

The Bowie State-LAIKA partnership has produced artistic and professional results. A BSU fine arts major from the class of 2021 was hired by LAIKA as an assistant camera trainee, as a tangible example of the doors this partnership can open for HBCU students entering fields where representation has been traditionally limited.

More recently, Williams brought six students and several alumni to LAIKA's headquarters for a two-week immersion in the full animation pipeline. "They learned everything from story development and pre-visualization to fabrication, lighting and post-production. It was their first time seeing a major animation studio from the inside, and it was a transformative experience."

Students interested in applying for the summer internship in Portland should contact Professor Williams at [email protected].