Creative Practice Showcases
A Study on Informed Hospitality Design: Sharing Experiences with Restaurant Staff through Architecture and Interiors
Creative Practice Showcase Jamie Centeno, Glenn NP Nowak
Anthem Country Club is a private Las Vegas community looking to redesign its club’s primary dining space. Partnering with a local firm and the UNLV School of Architecture, a group of 4 architecture and interior design students was overseen by a professor to help evaluate the space and propose solutions. Students went on-site to speak with club managers, catering coordinators, bartenders, chefs, etc. to hear out concerns and begin developing designs. Climate conditions, guest demographics, and facility visions for the space all helped inform the design schemes. Students devised several scenarios ranging from traditional surface and furniture refurbishments to more radical structural changes and reprogramming. After presenting their ideas to the club’s redesign committee and the project architect, students were able to engage in meaningful discussions on the impact of design choices on guests’ psychology and business operations. The committee’s reactions and concerns to each student proposal were evaluated by the project architect and are currently helping inform the official development of the project. Though the design process was not about arriving at a proposed “solution” it enabled the community to more fully understand the breadth of options and their respective impacts on potential directions the restaurant could take.
Arts Inquiry as Practice Cosmic Pilgrim: Sound Scape as Creative Experience View Digital Media
Creative Practice Showcase Heidi Powell
This creative practice showcase is one where participants will gain insights into a diverse approach to arts based research in an interactive way. This showcase is suited for art education research at undergraduate and graduate levels, focusing on creativity as a lens to investigate complex dilemmas or challenges in the field. Novel approaches using technology are incorporated.
Featured Immersive Healing with Creative Coding
Creative Practice Showcase Yeohyun Ahn
The study begins with a personal exploration of a life transformed by medical leave, focusing on experiences with open-heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation, and the challenges of living with a long-term disability since April 2023. The journey began in spring 2023 in Madison, Wisconsin, where fear and uncertainty loomed as the presenter awaited surgery. To regain her heart health, she incorporated daily walks into her routine, capturing the changing landscapes through photography. Despite the emotional turmoil, she found beauty around her. A pivotal moment arrived on August 16, 2023, during the surgery, followed by intense physical pain that clouded her early recovery. After the surgery, she entered cardiac rehabilitation but often felt like a “dead man walking,” as her recovery progressed slowly, eventually leading to a long-term disability diagnosis. Her life became a cycle of pain and uncertainty, documented through photography that conveyed her emotional struggles. Meanwhile, her partner managed the family responsibilities. Facing physical limitations with traditional art, she turned to technology for expression, coding from home. From winter to spring 2024, she explored computational visual art, reflecting her frustrations and emotions in vibrant digital forms. This transdisciplinary project focuses on healing through creative coding, merging photography, graphic art, extended reality, and elements of artificial intelligence. The audience will navigate her journey from despair to recovery, enhanced with sound, video, and evocative imagery.
504-907 - Exploring the Quotidian of Interior Alaska and Southern Louisiana View Digital Media
Creative Practice Showcase Miles Jordan
My project, 504-907, delves into a visual comparison of two distinct yet intertwined regions—Southern Louisiana and Interior Alaska—through the lens of diptych compositions. Inspired by personal experiences and pivotal events such as Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon disaster during my upbringing, this work seeks to unearth the daily rhythms and cultural subtleties that define these landscapes. Through a fusion of traditional street and documentary photography techniques, I capture the essence of daily life in New Orleans, Louisiana and Fairbanks, Alaska. The diptych format is a storytelling tool, juxtaposing each locale's ordinary elements and unique characteristics. People, dwellings, and the minutiae of urban life—like graffiti—converge to reveal underlying connections and distinctions. At its core, 504-907 reflects the profound yearning for connection and preserving cultural identity in the face of relentless change. It evokes a shared nostalgia and sense of belonging, encapsulating cherished traditions and the looming specter of transformation. Additionally, it pushes forward the Southern fine art tradition similar to the likes of William Eggleston and William Christenberry. My work takes inspiration from Tina Freeman’s Lamentations as well.
The Art of Entertaining with Events: Operating Principles for Designing the Art of Events
Creative Practice Showcase Marinda Freeman
The Art of Hospitality can also be described as the art of entertaining. The key to being an outstanding host is to make your guests feel welcomed, appreciated and at ease. The basics of designing and planning any event remains the same, whether it’s a small dinner party with friends, or a large gala, exhibition or a conference. Clarity of purpose is the first step. Defining the experience you want for your guests is the foundation for all event planning and logistics. By stating the qualities of the experience, you are building an atmosphere of inspiration, connection, joy, harmony, ease, and celebration. In today’s world, bringing people together is more important than ever. Marinda Freeman is a professional Event Designer with four decades of experience in planning, organizing and crafting unforgettable events. After researching and proving the principles that operate with every event, she has been teaching them to her clients and in classes. Her best-selling book, Everything is an Event, A Step-by-Step Guide Creating Memorable Occasions for Today’s Lifestyle with 15 Principles Revealed, is the culmination of all that she has taught clients and in classes. In this session, Marinda will challenge how one thinks about events.
