Central Michigan University

Excellence by design: CMU art students earn national, regional honors

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Topics in this story: Art, Arts and entertainment, Awards, College of Communication and Fine Arts

Nearly two dozen Central Michigan University graphic design students have exercised their creative muscles on everything from art department Web sites and promotional pieces to restaurant Web sites and sustainability booklets, earning national and regional recognition for their work.

At the national level, four CMU art students earned Brass Ring Awards:

• Sterling Heights senior Dan Corcoran earned First Place in interactive media;
• Jackson senior Chrissy DiNello and Owosso senior Angela Ainsworth took Second Place for a CMU art department promotional piece; and
• Sterling senior Sarah Gillings picked up an Award of Merit for "Wilted," a color photography piece.

The Brass Ring Awards are sponsored by Oklahoma Christian University. The 2008 competition included 949 entries from 22 universities and 17 high schools in 14 states.

Closer to home, CMU students also fared well in the Mid-Michigan Advertising and Marketing Association's ADDY awards, sweeping the competition's Gold ADDY awards for the second consecutive year. Winners are:

• Laingsburg senior Sharisa Petrowsky earned Best-of-Show and a Gold ADDY for her Four Furies Restaurant Web site;
• The team of Allen Park senior Katie Baringer, Oxford senior David Neill, Troy senior Kelly Pageau and Sterling Heights senior April Reneski won the Judges' Choice award and a Gold ADDY for a CMU art department Web site design;
• DiNello and Ainsworth received a Gold ADDY for their art department promotional piece;
• Bay City senior Aaron Wolverton received a Gold ADDY for his sustainability booklet;
• Mount Pleasant senior Billie Jo McEvers received a Gold ADDY for her sustainable graphic design pocket guide;
• The team of Portage senior Rob Barrett, Big Rapids senior Greg Czinder, Chelsea senior Tony Kimmen and Conklin senior Jenni Zimmer received a Silver ADDY for a CMU art department Web site design;
• The team of Corcoran, DiNello, Petrowsky and Howell junior Shane Hernandez received a Silver ADDY for a CMU art department Web site design;
• Barrett and Brownstown senior Michelle Snay received a Silver ADDY for their art department promotional piece;
• Fort Gratiot senior Kathryn Storck received a Silver ADDY for her e-mail flyer;
• Twin Lake senior Kelsey Boehme received a Silver ADDY for her hand-painted signage brochure;
• DiNello received a Silver ADDY for her Lawan Thai Restaurant Web site; and
• Herron senior Cody Yachasz received a Silver ADDY for his San Francisco Museum of Modern Art e-mail flyer.

Gold ADDY award winners at the mid-Michigan level automatically were entered at the Region 6 level, which includes schools from Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Two of the Silver ADDY winners also submitted their entries regionally.

Earning Silver ADDY awards at the multistate regional level were McEvers, DiNello, Ainsworth, Corcoran, Hernandez, Petrowsky, Barrett and Snay.