In the newest installment of the Women in Design Lecture Series, four panelists answered student questions on everything from how to land jobs as a student to dealing with the uncertainty that seems to be inherent in creative careers. The panel featured of Brooke Smart, Ann Hintze, Trisha Zemp and Michelle Stuhl. These women have worked with some of the country’s most successful brands including Nike, The New York Times, Random House and Lindt Chocolate. However, their accomplishments go far beyond working with high profile companies and brands. Hintze worked for 10 years in New York agencies and recently co-founded the sustainability- focused brand Nuno, which is based in Salt Lake City. Smart is an illustrator who has been awarded a Portfolio Honor at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Portfolio Showcase in NYC and is currently teaching class at BYU. Zemp is a successful stop motion artist who has worked with a range of clients as a freelancer. Stuhl founded a recruiting agency that connects creative professionals with companies and brands across the globe. She also serves on the board of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. In case you missed the Women in Design Panel, here are our highlights from the panel below. In following the career plans you had right out of school, how were things different or challenging in ways you did not anticipate? Hintze: “What is a plan, right? At the end of the day you have to think big picture. The plans will fall into place. There is also a lot of flexibility in the non-planning.” Zemp: “My life didn’t go as I had anticipated because I grew up in a really sheltered LDS community. I thought my calling in life was to go to BYU, find a return missionary as a freshman, fall in love, get married, drop out of school and make a lot of babies — and that was just my life plan as a 19-20-year-old. Cause that’s what all the girls in my community were praised for. Eventually I realized getting married and finding someone you love is a little harder than you think and so it didn’t happen as a freshman for me. It didn’t happen for a long time for me. And then I realized I can have dreams and goals of my own and I can pursue something.” What are a few things you look for when you are recognizing new talent? Whether that is someone you are going to hire or work with? Zemp: You can be as talented in the world as you can, or possibly ever want to be, but if you don’t work hard it really doesn’t matter. Stuhl: Talent is just the price of entry. People are not hiring portfolios, they’re hiring people. Each and every interaction, in all situations, really counts. The building of your reputation supports your success in your career. How have you made decisions that affect your career at different transitional points? For example, deciding to go to grad school, switching jobs or starting a family? Hintze: The biggest transitions in my career have happened when I’ve stopped learning or when I got to a point where there wasn’t a position for me to grow in. It was an opportunity for me to make a change. Stuhl: So many , who are the most successful, plan those moves much more strategically. If you have your head down and you’re just waiting for things to happen to you, is so different than sitting in a position where you’re open and hearing what’s going on in the world because it opens up those doors. How have you balanced freelance jobs with a full time position? Is it even possible? Zemp: If you want to make it happen, you can make it happen. As a student it just meant I didn’t sleep very much. It meant I took on jobs and I stayed up all night doing stop motion and I did it on weekends. Smart: Sometimes you need to take a step back and decide how can I make this work? If you really need a full time, but you still want to do your creative work on the side, sometimes it’s better to have a job that is not creative. Sometimes you use all your creative skills during the day and then what are you left with? Nothing. You’re just exhausted and you’ve used up all your creative juices for the day. A lot of times in creative careers there is a lot of uncertainty to where you are going to end up later in life. How do you deal with that uncertainty as you’re moving forward? Zemp: Embrace the uncertainty. That’s the best part about being a freelancer. You can create the job you want or cool opportunities just come. Everyday when you open that email it’s like new surprises pop in. Your life is a rollercoaster and you just get to go along for the ride.

Disney Star Alan Menken Gives Draws Large Student Crowd to Once-in-a-Lifetime Forumg

The lecture will take place April 12 at 11:00 a.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall

While installing the new MOA exhibit “Curiouser,” artist Nina Katchadourian and curator Veronica Roberts visited with BYU art students

Last weekend, BYU Vocal Point’s newest music video “The Greatest Showman A Cappella Mashup,” received over 1 million views on the group’s YouTube channel. The video brought together aerial artists, dancers, singers and cinematographers to feature four songs from the movie—“The Greatest Show,” “Come Alive,” “Rewrite the Stars” and “This Is Me.” The video’s views are not the only indicator of success. It received positive feedback across the board, including from one of the film’s main stars, Hugh Jackman, who called the video an “amazing effort” on Twitter. However, the video’s greatest success may actually lie in the behind-the-scenes work that went into creating the video. McKay Crockett, BYU Vocal Point’s artistic director and music producer, said viewers have no idea just how much work and sacrifice went into creating the video from simply watching the final product. From overcoming illness to creating a circus tent to film in, nothing about the making of the video was easy. Step one was creating a collaborative environment for students from various disciplines and areas, including The School of Music, The Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Performing Arts Management, Contemporary Dance Theatre and the BYU Cougarettes. Students not only worked with each other, but also had the opportunity to work with professionals, including filmmakers, BYU Broadcasting staff and circus performers from Aeris Aerial Arts. The next step was filming the video. The four-and-a-half minute video was shot within 12 hours during a single day. The cast and crew were faced with the task of filming three perfect, continuous takes — the longest being over two minutes long—and then editing these together in post-production. Jeff Parkin, director of the video and BYU film professor, said filming under those circumstances “was a high-wire act with a lot of intensity and stress, but created a special energy on screen. The ability to pull off such shots successfully says a great deal about the professional abilities of our BYU students.” According to Crockett, Vocal Point member Jason Bromley (BA ‘20) had one of the most difficult parts in the video. Bromley trained for weeks with former Cirque Du Soleil performer Darla Davis to learn aerial choreography for “Rewrite the Stars.” Bromley stated, “This was by far the most difficult part of the video because it was unlike anything I’ve ever done. It took weeks for my body to acclimate to that kind of strain and I endured some pretty gnarly rope burns. However, it was an amazing experience and one I doubt many other college students get the opportunity to enjoy.” In addition to learning aerial choreography, Bromley had to sing at double the normal tempo while filming “Rewrite the Stars.” This allowed the post-production team to slow down the aerial work later during editing while still matching Bromley’s lips to the normal tempo of the song. Bromley stated perhaps the most amazing part about this minute-long scene is that it was filmed in one continuous take. Difficult filming circumstances were not the only barrier students had to overcome. Vocal Point member Logan Shelton (BA ‘19) was one of many cast members to get sick leading up to filming. “I wasn’t sure if I had the energy to embody the message of the video,” Shelton said. “The whole project ended up being a miracle. Everything just fell right into place. I hope people feel empowered to be their best selves from watching our adaptation.” Crockett said despite various complications, the crew and cast were able to come together to create an unforgettable experiential learning project. “It was really meaningful to see all the energy on set and all the sacrifice that went into making the video,” Crockett said. “The final video is a real testament to how great BYU is.” This BYU Records production and its success was made possible with the help of various faculty and staff across campus, including Ben Fales (executive producer), Jared Cardon (producer), Jodi Maxfield (BYU Cougarettes director) and Jenny Tingey (choreographer).

Communications Professor Kevin John will present the first lecture following the passing of Emeritus faculty Ray Beckham

Led by Associate Professor Collin Bradford, students installed art to promote peace and healing in the memory ward at a nonprofit, skilled nursing facility

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec at mollis ligula. Donec vestibulum sit amet sapien nec scelerisque. Cras ultrices euismod bibendum. Duis non nunc ligula. Donec porttitor sapien at arcu efficitur venenatis. Cras laoreet at tortor ut venenatis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque mattis nisl augue, vitae eleifend ligula commodo eu. Fusce blandit aliquet justo eget vehicula. Nullam vehicula egestas purus eu pellentesque. Donec aliquet ultricies aliquam. Aliquam feugiat semper nisl nec tempus. Praesent tellus nibh, luctus sed lacus ac, eleifend hendrerit lectus. Donec fringilla, eros congue auctor molestie, metus velit scelerisque odio, sed porta eros elit quis odio. Sed tempus urna dui. Morbi consectetur vestibulum sollicitudin. Curabitur euismod dui congue sapien tristique, in efficitur elit gravida. Sed id neque arcu. Duis condimentum risus cursus ipsum ornare vulputate. Aliquam sollicitudin convallis tortor faucibus lobortis. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam ac dolor congue, malesuada massa eget, malesuada mi. Suspendisse erat nisl, facilisis non erat quis, mattis tincidunt neque. Praesent fringilla est rhoncus venenatis sagittis. Morbi vel mauris ut leo interdum hendrerit ut ut massa. Pellentesque lacinia sem nisl, quis feugiat ante viverra nec. Nulla gravida quam eget augue tincidunt mollis. Curabitur nisi orci, vehicula ac sapien vitae, iaculis facilisis mauris. Fusce feugiat diam ac erat laoreet, vitae congue sapien malesuada. In commodo venenatis risus eget vestibulum. Suspendisse convallis justo sed ultricies consequat. Nam consequat est ac purus tempus mattis. Integer a varius elit, pulvinar varius quam. Nulla sem diam, rutrum luctus metus eget, eleifend scelerisque elit. Nam ac scelerisque tortor. Aenean porta, nisi quis finibus maximus, ex lectus mattis ipsum, ac maximus ante diam ultrices nisi. Cras lacinia odio sollicitudin sapien bibendum dapibus. In viverra cursus nisi, a hendrerit erat tempus non. Vivamus ut efficitur libero, a posuere odio. In ultricies iaculis augue, eget rutrum mauris tincidunt et. Donec volutpat, metus vel tempus finibus, metus nulla ultrices urna, vel eleifend lorem leo vel diam. Nulla dui erat, consequat ut porta eu, congue nec mauris. Sed sodales nibh eu volutpat tincidunt. Quisque aliquam dolor eu massa consectetur facilisis. Suspendisse potenti. Integer eu nulla a lectus pharetra fermentum in id purus. Donec venenatis urna et lorem mattis, in posuere ante varius. Phasellus posuere, mauris ultricies tincidunt consectetur, nunc libero blandit lectus, consectetur laoreet elit ante ut augue. Aenean vel tellus sed tortor viverra finibus eget eu ante. In id erat quis lorem dignissim fringilla tincidunt ut nibh. Phasellus condimentum consequat justo, eget aliquam eros placerat eu. Ut bibendum aliquet nunc eget pharetra. Duis porta porta mauris vitae volutpat. Mauris nec pellentesque nisi, et auctor ex. Proin ullamcorper nibh vel auctor ornare. Curabitur a turpis mollis, mattis magna vel, ultricies nulla. Nam vitae ipsum nisl. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In tristique blandit varius.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec at mollis ligula. Donec vestibulum sit amet sapien nec scelerisque. Cras ultrices euismod bibendum. Duis non nunc ligula. Donec porttitor sapien at arcu efficitur venenatis. Cras laoreet at tortor ut venenatis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque mattis nisl augue, vitae eleifend ligula commodo eu. Fusce blandit aliquet justo eget vehicula. Nullam vehicula egestas purus eu pellentesque. Donec aliquet ultricies aliquam. Aliquam feugiat semper nisl nec tempus. Praesent tellus nibh, luctus sed lacus ac, eleifend hendrerit lectus. Donec fringilla, eros congue auctor molestie, metus velit scelerisque odio, sed porta eros elit quis odio. Sed tempus urna dui. Morbi consectetur vestibulum sollicitudin. Curabitur euismod dui congue sapien tristique, in efficitur elit gravida. Sed id neque arcu. Duis condimentum risus cursus ipsum ornare vulputate. Aliquam sollicitudin convallis tortor faucibus lobortis. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam ac dolor congue, malesuada massa eget, malesuada mi. Suspendisse erat nisl, facilisis non erat quis, mattis tincidunt neque. Praesent fringilla est rhoncus venenatis sagittis. Morbi vel mauris ut leo interdum hendrerit ut ut massa. Pellentesque lacinia sem nisl, quis feugiat ante viverra nec. Nulla gravida quam eget augue tincidunt mollis. Curabitur nisi orci, vehicula ac sapien vitae, iaculis facilisis mauris. Fusce feugiat diam ac erat laoreet, vitae congue sapien malesuada. In commodo venenatis risus eget vestibulum. Suspendisse convallis justo sed ultricies consequat. Nam consequat est ac purus tempus mattis. Integer a varius elit, pulvinar varius quam. Nulla sem diam, rutrum luctus metus eget, eleifend scelerisque elit. Nam ac scelerisque tortor. Aenean porta, nisi quis finibus maximus, ex lectus mattis ipsum, ac maximus ante diam ultrices nisi. Cras lacinia odio sollicitudin sapien bibendum dapibus. In viverra cursus nisi, a hendrerit erat tempus non.

Professor Claudine Bigelow shared experiences that have influenced her life as a musician and as an artist.

Rachel Leishman, Maximillian Wright and Daniel Mesta share their experience portraying the characters of Shakespeare's most famous tragic love story

Aline Smithson shared how she balances her career and family at first Women in Design lecture. BYU’s Department of Design recently created a lecture series customized for female design students. The series brings in professional female designers who can speak to the realities of the workplace student designers will face. The newly formed Department of Design Diversity Committee created the series. The committee consists of professors Linda Reynolds, Bethanne Andersen and Robert Machoian. Andersen said they started the series in hopes they could “educate students to think bigger.” “I hope it creates a community where students can network with each other,” Andersen said. “I hope it empowers them to lean in and talk about different things. Also, I hope it creates an environment where, if they have any issues, they feel free to talk about them and have access to mentors that can help.” Andersen explained some of her female students have encountered disparaging comments about their ability to balance a career in design while nurturing personal relationships. “A large percent of women will support their families financially during their life because of death, divorce, illness, layoffs and downsizing.” Andersen said. “They need to be prepared for a profession and so I try to help them realize how important it is for them to work towards that goal.” To kick off the series, the Department of Design featured professional photographer Aline Smithson, an artist based in Los Angeles. Her successful career has included a focus on “childhood, aging and the humanity that connects us,” according to her biography. “All of her photographs deal with how she lives her life with her family and her art,” Andersen said. When Machoian reached out to Smithson to speak at BYU, he asked if she would like to speak as part of the lecture series targeted to female students. Smithson replied that she already had a presentation for such an occasion. Her remarks focused on the balance of being a mother and a professional artist. Photography student Megan Matheson attended the lecture and had the opportunity to have her portfolio reviewed by Smithson. “I was interested because motherhood is such a big topic within our culture as Mormons. It is something, especially as artists, we are constantly struggling with, we want to have a career and balance motherhood. They’re both two really great desires that we have. It was cool to hear her opinions about it,” Matheson said. After studying art at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the College of Creative Studies, Smithson worked as a New York Fashion editor. She eventually returned to LA to her own artistic practice and picked up photography to learn how to take better pictures of her kids. As she became more familiar with the medium, she found ways to include her family life in her art. “You can make work within your life with very little effort,” Smithson assured. One of Smithson’s first photographic successes was her series “Arrangement in Green and Black, Portraits of the Photographer’s Mother.” The series included portraits of Smithson’s mother inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s painting “Arrangement in Grey and Black.” Smithson stated that working on the series didn't feel so much like work as “simply my mother and me spending time together.” One of the main points of Smithson’s lecture was to encourage students to develop a community that could help them in their artistic pursuits. Smithson cited the works of several other artists and discussed projects she collaborated on and how they benefited her career. “Create community,” Smithson said. “This is critical to your nourishment as an artist, especially if you’re at home with kids and feel like you don’t have a creative community.” Matheson said she felt encouraged by Smithson’s words. “I think what surprises me most about these lectures is that artists are so human. They’re just like us and they have all the same desires and all the same experiences. They make great work and show us it’s possible for us to make great work too; work that is personal and work that is meaningful that other people can appreciate.” The Women in Design lecture series will be held throughout the academic year with guest artists from different backgrounds in design. The aim is to offer different perspectives on being an artist working in the design field. “In the end, the journey is about who and what you love,” Smithson said. “Having a passion and focus beyond my husband, children, family and friends has been a godsend. It has opened up the world in ways I never could have expected and given me friends all over the world. So my advice is to slow down. Make the best work you can. Enjoy your family. Make work that is uniquely you, speaks to your world, your life and your way of thinking. Tell us your stories, show us your heartbreak, find magic everywhere — and trust me, it’s out there.”