Words Alive and Chuck Jones Center Collaborate on "Presence" Project

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity has collaborated with the San Diego-based non-profit, Words Alive, to bring an art component to their most recent project. Words Alive works with under-served youth in the schools of San Diego County instilliing in them a love of reading that will last a lifetime. This year, the project is "Presence, an Invitation to Be Your Creative and Authentic Self" and the students will be reading Ta-Nehisi Coates "Between the World and Me" and illlustrating their concept of the project through stop-motion animation. Which is where the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity comes in. 

Craig Kausen, grandson of Chuck Jones and Board Chairman of the Center along with Denise Dion-Scoyni, Lead Teaching Artist, and Naylene Justis, a teaching artist at the Center met with the volunteer staff of Words Alive a couple of weeks ago and shared with them the ways and means of producing a short stop-motion animated film. The Words Alive volunteers will then take their new found knowledge and share it with the students participating in the program. 

Art produced in the creation of these short, animated films, will be displayed at the Chuck Jones Gallery for a reception honoring the students and their work in early June of this year. Watch this space for details. 

BOB NICOLL, DEAN OF BLIZZARD ACADEMY, TO SPEAK ON CREATIVITY AND TEAM BUILDING

Renowned Visual Effects & Gaming Educator, Bob Nicoll, Will Host a Special One-Hour “Chuck Talk” on the Creative Process and Collaborative Team BuildingCosta Mesa, CA, July 21, 2015—Ever wonder how to get the most creativity out of your team? Businesses today need to be more adaptable and innovative than ever before to stay ahead, but often leaders are unsure of how to get their teams to deliver creative solutions to daunting business problems. Bob Nicoll—wordsmith, speaker, author and Dean of Development at the Blizzard Academy in Orange County—will help you look at problem-solving and team building in new, highly creative ways at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity’s inaugural Chuck Talk on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 7:30pm.

“We are honored to have Bob Nicoll kick off our quarterly Chuck Talk series,” said Craig Kausen, Chairman of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity and Chuck Jones’s grandson. “Chuck Talk speakers inform and inspire the listener; providing insights into their creative process and offering audiences the tools to find, understand, and utilize their own creativity in their daily lives. Bob is world-renowned as a passionate, inspiring teacher who brings creativity to everything he does. We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome him to the Center. ”

Bob was a long-time friend of Chuck Jones’s and the Kausen family. When asked about Jones’s influence on his life, he said, “Even before I met and worked with Chuck Jones, his characters, his films, and his philosophies helped shape my own creativity and imagination and it continues to inspire me today in all that I do.”

Known for his infectious positivity, Bob Nicoll is considered one of the most important speakers and teachers in the entertainment industry. His expertise in both animation and gaming has made him an integral part of companies such as Sony, SGI, EA, and now Blizzard. He has been a faculty member at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Carnegie Mellon University and has sat on the boards of the Visual Effects Society and San Francisco Academy of Art University.

The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity was founded in 1999 by the four-time Academy Award-recipient and legendary creative genius, Chuck Jones, as a place to promote creativity in all its various forms. The Center’s programs are inspired by the films, writings and art of Jones and are informed by his philosophy of guiding and nurturing instruction.

Doors to open at 6:30 PM for networking opportunities, talk to begin at 7:30 PM sharp. This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited to 100 attendees, RSVP required at 949-660-7793 x 107 or programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org. The Center is located at 3321 Hyland Avenue, Suite A & B, Costa Mesa, CA in South Coast Collection (SoCo).