ANNUAL REPORT 2007 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

21
A NEW KIND OF ART
In the 19th century Richard Wagner
transformed art by fusing music, theatre
and visual arts. Today instruments, stages
and canvases exist in a digital realm. With
emerging 21st century technology, Wagner’s
“complete art” enters a new era. Students
participating in UNM’s interdisciplinary film
and digital media program are pioneering
this exciting frontier.
With its first class offered in fall 2007, the
new program trains students in the skills
needed for successful careers in New
Mexico’s emerging film and digital media
industry, according to Christopher Mead,
Dean of the College of Fine Arts. The
curriculum has degree tracks in the College
of Fine Arts, the School of Engineering,
the College of Arts and Sciences and the
Anderson School of Management.
Mead notes the program’s collaboration
with Sony Imageworks and the importance
of the new chair in film and digital media
that has been endowed by Forest City
Covington, developer of the Mesa del Sol
planned community in Albuquerque. The
state has also been very supportive of these
initiatives and partnerships. To establish a
niche in the film industry, the program
recognizes and builds on the rich cultural
heritage and diversity of New Mexico.
Shem Nguyen, a digital media student,
wants to learn how to create special
effects in film. “I decided to participate in
the program because I’m very interested in
both media and technology, and the way art
can be approached with the computer as a
tool,” she adds.
Assistant Professor Eva Hayward reports
that industry leaders, artists, technicians
and scientists from across the country have
participated in the program’s classroom
speaker series.
“
We are teaching
students to think
and create in an
interdisciplinary
environment. We live
in a time that requires
multiple literacies.
Students need to know
how to speak across
disciplinary divides.
this program is an
attempt to facilitate
this transdisciplinary
effort.
”
EVA HAYWARD, ASST. PROFESSOR
UNM’S FILM AND DIGITAL
MEDIA PROGRAM