Students From The Art Institute of Seattle Partner with Emotion Literacy Advocates in Support of Social Change
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Students from The Art Institute of Seattle have partnered with Emotion Literacy Advocates (ELA) to create a thought provoking look at the hazards associated with a common park activity.
Slotted as a pre-feature attraction, The Ducks & Us Songbook Movie is a musical story with illustration, vocals from the Northwest Boychoir, and featuring animation and video by Art Institute of Seattle students. The movie combines reading literacy, environmental literacy, and emotion literacy into an empathic message for anyone who thinks bringing left-over bread, seeds and table scraps to the park benefits wildlife.
The big screen version is based on ELA's learning tool, The Ducks & Us, an original song CD and study guide by ELA's founding artist Pamela Sackett. The CD was incorporated into Seattle Audubon learning programs in 2008, and is distributed through the education and outreach arm of the Graham Visitors Center at Washington Park Arboretum. The concept grew out of Sackett's devotion to healthy urban parks and her desire to educate the public about the misunderstood practice of sharing food with wildlife.
Sackett hit upon the idea of bringing her story to the public through a short film, and turned to The Art Institute of Seattle to find the help she needed.
Career Services Advisor Scott MacIntire helped recruit students Reese Kindle, Catherine McConnell, Hayley Karnes, and Nikki Nopens to create 2D illustration, animation and titles for the piece, and bring Sackett’s vision to life.
"The student contribution was invaluable,” said Sackett, “because an artfully told story can let people know they are heard and understood, as well as convey new information."
The Seattle Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs awarded Emotion Literacy Advocates a smART ventures grant for The Ducks & Us Songbook Movie Tour Launch Project, and Sackett parlayed quite a bit of good will in support of the project. A substantial in-kind contribution from Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, a Los Angeles-based company, will enable ELA's digital movie to be projected on a sixty-foot cinema screen.
"I am confident that wherever The Ducks & Us Song Book Movie goes, so too will go an opportunity to learn how to engage with more open eyes, " said Sackett.
Look for The Ducks & Us Songbook Movie at Columbia City Cinema and Far Away Entertainment screens in July and August.
The Art Institute of Seattle (www.ais.edu) is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitute.edu), a system of over 45 education institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.