The award-winning ‘Coraline’ animation studio and PSU launch a 3-year pilot program aimed at preparing a diverse pool of career-ready graduates to support the region’s creative industries.
“This partnership demonstrates a shared commitment to nurture the creative talent that will enhance Portland’s vibrant arts and cultural landscape,” said PSU president Ann Cudd. “We believe diversity of thought and experience is the spark of creativity and innovation. Like LAIKA, we know that it is creative thinkers and doers who will help drive our city’s economy and shape its future.”
Together PSU and LAIKA will launch a three-year pilot program to develop a cohort of LAIKA faculty fellows and student scholars from PSU’s College of the Arts who will interact with LAIKA creative talent to help prepare a diverse pool of career-ready graduates to support the region’s creative industries.
“LAIKA is proud to partner with PSU,” said LAIKA’s chief marketing and operations officer David Burke. “Our community is passionate about advancing the animation medium, and we believe in the vital role of educating and inspiring the next generation of artists, creators, and scientists. By empowering emerging storytellers, we enrich the entire creative ecosystem. We’re excited to provide mentorship and resources that will help these new voices thrive in the animation industry.”
As part of the pilot program, LAIKA will provide funding to support three PSU faculty members’ work, offer expertise around curriculum development, and collaborate on projects of shared interest. The fellows will be named in the spring 2025 academic term.
LAIKA will also provide scholarship support for six students a year, with diverse lived experiences, who are studying in areas with a creative industry alignment, including but not limited to film, visual arts, design, and architecture. These scholars will have access to shared learning experiences and mentorship opportunities involving LAIKA’s creative talent. The scholars will be named in the fall 2025 academic term.
“PSU’s motto is ‘let knowledge serve the city,’ and university-industry partnerships are one important way we do that,” said Leroy Bynum, Jr., dean of the PSU College of the Arts. “We are thrilled to partner with LAIKA not just to provide exceptional opportunities for individual students and faculty but also to deepen our understanding of the kinds of skills and experiences that will best serve our region’s signature creative industries into the future.”
LAIKA’s partnership with Portland State expands the studio’s ongoing relationships with other educational institutions. In 2021, LAIKA partnered with Bowie State University to build the first stop-motion animation studio at a historically Black college/university (HBCU). Last spring, LAIKA also announced it would help Portland Community College develop coursework in animation and stop-motion filmmaking. More than half of PSU's incoming class are transfer students, with 40% coming from Portland Community College.
The partnership with Portland State underscores the university’s position as a diverse and innovative public art school and an important trainer of creative talent in multiple disciplines, including art, art history, design, music, film, theater, and architecture. PSU is a leading educator of BIPOC arts students in the state.
Source: LAIKA
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
