alumni

SFSU students, alumni contribute to animated opera

Matt Itelson — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 16:00:02 +0000

SFSU students, alumni contribute to animated opera

Author: Matt Itelson

December 5, 2024

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pocket Opera

Pocket Opera collaboration brings Animation students into new film adaptation of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’

The COVID-19 quarantines of 2020 forced educators and artists alike to work in new and creative ways. One such collaboration involving San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema just recently enjoyed its debut. “A Pocket Magic Flute” is an animated film adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” produced by the Pocket Opera company of San Francisco. It is a finalist for the Digital Excellence in Opera Award from Opera America.

Nicolas A. Garcia, artistic director of the San Francisco Pocket Opera, conceived the film project and garnered funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and Opera America. He contacted SFSU Cinema Professor Martha Gorzycki to get students involved. Gorzycki (MFA, ’02), the director of the University’s Animation Program, mentored five student interns who worked on pre-production and production: Estrella Torres, Jacqueline “Rosie” Nares, Alex Wood, Madeline Ko and Jessie Plascencia.

“It really helped me understand how the pipeline of production works in animation,” said Nares (B.A., ’22), now a library media assistant at an elementary school in Stockton. “I already had a bit of an idea just because I’m a huge animation fan. But being firsthand, I got to try a little bit of everything. Working in background, character and prop design, I was able to figure out where I fit in the pipeline, too, because it is my dream is to work in the industry.”

Torres (B.A., ’21) helped create storyboards and design characters and props. She says working on “A Pocket Magic Flute” was a pivotal moment for her.

“It gave me my first real opportunity to step into the animation world and feel confident in my skills,” Torres said. “When Martha reached out to me specifically because of my talents, it was such an honor. It gave me the encouragement I needed to believe in myself and my abilities as an artist. The class she created was small, with only five students, and I felt so fortunate to be one of them.

“The experience not only helped me grow as an artist, but also reinforced my love for animation as a medium for storytelling,” added Torres, now an instructional aide for middle-school students with disabilities in Brentwood. “I’m truly excited to see how it resonates with audiences and how it might inspire others.”

Shawneé Gibbs (B.A., ’02) and Shawnelle Gibbs (B.A., ’02) are the lead producers, screenwriters and animation directors on “A Pocket Magic Flute.” The siblings comprise a powerhouse team, writing scripts for cartoons for many of the major studios and networks. Miriam Lewis (MFA, ’12) is the lead costumer. They all attended the world-premiere screening, held in the August Coppola Theatre at SFSU on Sept. 25.

“A Pocket Magic Flute” has brought together numerous arts organizations, including the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Oakland Youth Symphony, Sacramento Youth Symphony and Sirnare Animation Studio in Kenya.

“A Pocket Magic Flute” is now traveling to classrooms of fourth to eighth graders, accompanied by a curriculum and appearances by the artists in person.

“This was a local and international collaboration of diverse teams of scholars and artists coming together remotely to produce a 20-minute animated film,” Gorzycki said. “One of the primary goals of this project is to educate youth and especially BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] youth on collaborative and creative career possibilities in the performing arts, fine arts and media arts.”

Learn more about the SFSU School of Cinema.

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SF State exhibition examines legacy of Japanese American incarceration

Matt Itelson — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:55:15 +0000

SF State exhibition examines legacy of Japanese American incarceration

Author: Matt Itelson

February 19, 2024

Fine Arts Gallery presents new artwork reflecting on Ruth Asawa’s Garden of Remembrance on campus

Eighty-two years ago, Japanese American students from San Francisco State College were forced to withdraw from classes, some taken to prison camps. Twenty-two years ago, San Francisco State University dedicated a garden to honor the Japanese American experience of incarceration during World War II, especially that of the 19 students, and the resilience of this community after their release, designed by acclaimed artist Ruth Asawa. This year, the garden is the subject of further artistic exploration in new works on display in the Fine Arts Gallery on campus.

“Reflecting on Ruth Asawa and the Garden of Remembrance” features new commissioned works by artists Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Tina Kashiwagi, Paul Kitagaki Jr., Lisa Solomon and TT Takemoto.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, Feb. 24, with a reception from 1 to 3 p.m., and concludes on Saturday, April 6. The Fine Arts Gallery is open Tuesdays – Fridays, noon – 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Dedicated in 2002, the Garden of Remembrance is located between Burk Hall and the Fine Arts building. A waterfall cascading from behind the Cesar Chavez Student Center signifies the return of the internees to the coastline after the war. Ten large boulders in the grassy area next to Burk Hall represent each of the camps set up during World War II. The names of the 19 former SF State students expelled and the names of the camps are listed on a bronze, scroll-shaped marker. The marker also includes reproductions of official government documents regarding the internment.

In an essay for the exhibition’s catalog, artist and cultural producer Weston Teruya describes “Reflecting on Ruth Asawa and the Garden of Remembrance” as a “relationship of care” to family, community and shared stories.

“This collection of artworks is an intergenerational remembrance: a deep sensory reflection on ancestral practices and cultural traditions that are studied across veils of time and oceans, and the unearthing of elided histories and traumas from beneath stone memorials or out of the recesses of overlooked archives,” Teruya writes.

“Reflecting on Ruth Asawa and the Garden of Remembrance” is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and SF State’s Instructionally Related Student Activities Fund.

Learn more about the “Reflecting on Ruth Asawa and the Garden of Remembrance” exhibition.

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SF State-produced documentaries tell stories of the first Black Marines

Matt Itelson — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 16:00:00 +0000

SF State-produced documentaries tell stories of the first Black Marines

Author: Matt Itelson

February 12, 2024

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Veteran Documentary Corps

The Montford Point Marines were 20,000 African Americans trained in the 1940s

To commemorate Black History Month, a San Francisco State University documentary team will debut four shorts about the first Black servicemembers in the U.S. Marine Corps. Each of the short films will be available on YouTube.

The films are oral histories with surviving members of the Montford Point Marines, 20,000 African Americans trained between 1942 and 1949 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The first recruits began one year after U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlawed racial discrimination in war industries, allowing Black men and women, although only in a segregated fashion.

San Francisco State History Professor Trevor Getz, who produced the films along with Cinema Professor Daniel L. Bernardi, emphasizes the lasting legacy of the Montford Point Marines and the lessons that can be learned from them.

“They fought the Second World War and the war against racism together. And then they went on to serve the country and their communities for decades after,” Getz said. “They want to pass on messages that are of great value to us today. The team of filmmakers led by Bernardi managed to capture those messages authentically. The results are powerful.”

The Veteran Documentary Corps (VDC), an institute based in SF State’s College of Liberal & Creative Arts, created the films as part of its ongoing mission to tell authentic stories of the American veteran experience. Bernardi, VDC’s director, directed three of them, with Eliciana Nascimiento helming the other. Many other Cinema alumni and students also participated, including Andrés Gallegos, Hannah Anderson, Robert Barbarino, Joshua Cardenas, Jian Giannini and Jesse Sutterley.

“The series in honor of African American contribution to the ideals of American freedom and civil rights was 95% SFSU: from faculty producers, faculty directors, faculty sound designer, alumni director of photograph, editor and animator to a crew of Cinema graduate and undergraduate students,” said Bernardi, who is a veteran of the Iraq war and a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

Later this year, Oxford University Press will publish a related nonfiction comic book, “The First Black Marines,” by Getz and SF State History student Robert Willis.

Watch the documentaries on YouTube.

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SF State and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts: partners in culture and resistance

Matt Itelson — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 15:00:00 +0000

SF State and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts: partners in culture and resistance

Author: Matt Itelson

October 9, 2023

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Against the odds, two San Francisco institutions have long collaborated on a grassroots level

“You’re a stranger now in your home town / With strange faces on once familiar streets.”

These lines from San Francisco State University Professor Emeritus Alejandro Murguía’s poem “Silicon City” evoke the feelings of many residents of San Francisco’s Mission District, where gentrification has torn apart the community for decades. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts remains a fixture despite the changes, and it wouldn’t have happened without artists and activists like Murguía.

“As a marginalized community and community of color, we’re always going to be held to different standards,” said Murguía, the center’s inaugural director who later would earn two degrees from San Francisco State. “And so we always have to come out on top — sobre pasar, go above them — in our talent and our skill and our ability to organize our community so that we can survive.”

Established in 1977 as inequity and displacement had taken shape in the neighborhood, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) provides a full array of free, affordable classes and programming that cover Chicanos, Central and South America and the Caribbean. More than 10,000 people visit every month. Housed in a 37,500-square-foot building honored on the Historic Register of Historic Places, the MCCLA includes an art gallery and studios, a print shop, classrooms and a theatre. It also plays key roles in the annual Carnaval, offering music and dance courses to teach people to perform in the parade.

“Coming out of the civil rights movement, people of color were finding their voice in this country. Activists were fighting for ethnic studies programs,” said Martina Ayala, MCCLA executive director. “Thanks to those artists and community activists, we can look back at the Mission District and find multiple anchor institutions that were established by young students, many of them at SFSU, who had a long-lasting impact.”

Coinciding with student activism at SF State in the 1960s, organizers made a major push for the San Francisco government to establish community centers throughout the city. Murguía (B.A., ’90; MFA, ’92), fellow future SF State Latina/Latino Studies Professor Carlos Cordova (B.A., ’74; M.A., ’79) and other students were among those organizing in the Mission.

“All these cultural celebrations we enjoy today are great, but the history behind them, they came at a cost. And they came at a cost that many college students paid,” Ayala said. “And I can’t thank them enough for their courage to fight for what they believed in.”

Over the years many SF State faculty have selected the MCCLA as the venue to feature their creative work. Professor Emeritus Carlos Barón (M.A., ’88), once the MCCLA theatre and dance coordinator, premiered his play “Death and the Artist” there. Music Lecturer John Calloway (M.A., ’03) has been performing at the center for decades.

Murguía says it continues to serve community needs in multiple ways despite existential challenges to the Mission. Gentrification remains the most persistent in the once working-class neighborhood, which was at its peak majority Latina/Latino but continues to decline.

“It’s a real hotbed of community activism and culture and helps ground the Mission District community through all these phases of gentrification that it’s gone through the past 47 years the cultural center has been around,” he said. “Nationally, it’s a huge magnet for artists from other parts of the country, and even Latin America, to show up in San Francisco and have a place immediately that grounds them in their art, that supports them in their art, that allows them a foundation.”

MCCLA and SF State faculty and students continue to share a symbiotic relationship, promoting similar grassroots and progressive values. The center frequently employs SF State students as interns, including several this year. SF State Dean of Students Miguel Ángel Hernández has been invited to join the center’s board of directors.

“Any cultural event that we create — whether it’s a poetry reading, a gallery exhibit, a Carnaval, a music concert — it’s all part of not just our resistance to the antagonism to our community, but an affirmation that we have been here longer than the Pilgrims,” Murguía said. “And that’s super important that we realize that. Every act of culture, whether it’s a mural or a poetry reading, is in fact an act of resistance — doubly so, in our times, when not just our community is being attacked, but arts, reading, literature and books are under assault.”

MCCLA’s city-owned building needs much maintenance, which will force it to move temporarily beginning July 1. Ayala says she and other MCCLA supporters are using their activism skills to ensure the city government provides written assurance that allows them to return to the city-owned building once retrofit and repairs are completed, honoring the rent of $1 per year.

“I always tell people that the Mission Cultural Center is the hospital of the soul,” Ayala said. “And we all know that during the pandemic, without the arts we would not have been able to survive. When we’re confined in a space, we need to find a spirit.”

Learn more about SF State’s Latina/Latino Department.

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SF State Magazine celebrates 125 Years of University history

Steve Hockensmith — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 20:04:39 +0000

SF State Magazine celebrates 125 Years of University history

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

December 18, 2024

The Fall/Winter 2024 issue, now available online, includes a look at Alli Gator through the ages and a Q&A with alumna Annette Bening

The Fall/Winter 2024 issue of SF State Magazine marks a momentous occasion: San Francisco State University’s 125th birthday. Now available online, this special issue delves into the rich history, influential alumni and groundbreaking innovations that have shaped the University into what it is today.

Headlining the issue is a captivating Q&A with Academy Award-nominated actress and SF State alumna Annette Bening (B.A., ’80). In this exclusive interview by SF State Magazine columnist Ben Fong-Torres (B.A., ’66), Bening reflects on her time at SF State, her career and the enduring influence of her alma mater.

A feature on the University’s beloved alligator mascot traces its evolution from quirky beginnings to its current status as a sassy symbol of Gator pride. Another powerful story explores how the 1968 student strike that led to the creation of SF State’s College of Ethnic Studies inspired another group of activists — those fighting for LGBTQ rights.

This celebratory issue also includes:

“125 Surprising Facts About SF State”: A deep dive into little-known milestones and hidden treasures from the University’s storied history.
A very personal “My SF State Story” essay by alumna and University archivist Meredith Eliassen (B.A., ’88).
Updates on dozens of Gators using their SF State degrees to make a mark on the world.

Don’t miss this extraordinary tribute to 125 years of history, activism and pride. Check out the Fall/Winter issue of SF State Magazine now.

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SF State Magazine highlights University’s environmental efforts

Steve Hockensmith — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:38:57 +0000

SF State Magazine highlights University’s environmental efforts

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

November 29, 2023

Photo Credit: A starry sky at SF State's Field Campus captured by Scott Fin

New issue focuses on Gators thinking globally and acting locally (and beyond)

SF State Magazine’s Fall/Winter 2023 issue puts the environment in the spotlight. Now available online, the issue includes articles about the many ways San Francisco State University alumni, students and faculty are working to explore and protect the planet.

In some ways San Francisco State’s best-kept secret, the Sierra Nevada Field Campus gets some much-deserved attention in a feature story about this bastion of earth science, art and learning in the middle of the wilderness. Another feature, “Money Matters,” explores the ways forward-thinking alumni, students and faculty are demonstrating how investors can bankroll environmental sustainability (and turn a profit doing it). The feature “Forces of Nature” offers up 14 ways the University is engaged in environmental stewardship. And a special video feature, “Driven to Help the Planet,” highlights an enterprising student’s efforts to create a mobile “tiny home” using recycled and renewable materials.

The magazine’s departments are filled with environmental angles, too, including a story about a new Sustainable Materials Learning Library that’s helping students get a handle on earth-friendly design. SF State Magazine columnist (and legendary journalist and Gator) Ben Fong-Torres contributes a conversation with alumna Allison Crimmins, director of the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. The magazine’s Five Questions Q&A department expands to more questions (and more subjects) than usual with a discussion with the three co-directors of the University’s new hub for climate change-related activities, Climate HQ. Alumna Lisa D. White (B.A., ’84), director of education at UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology, offers up a very personal “My SF State Story” exploring how her and her sisters’ endowment for scholarships for SF State students honors their remarkable parents, who met on campus in the 1950s. And, as always, the magazine is packed with profiles of amazing Gators, including:

Activist and “environmental pit bull” (according to The Wall Street Journal) Randy Hayes
Sustainable gardening expert and entrepreneur Lori Caldwell
Sausalito Resiliency and Sustainability Manager Catie Thow Garcia
And many more!

Check out the full issue of SF State Magazine now.

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CPaGE International Business Certificate graduate honored in Newsweek Japan

Steve Hockensmith — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:46:38 +0000

CPaGE International Business Certificate graduate honored in Newsweek Japan

Author: College of Professional and Global Education

August 31, 2023

After earning his certificate from the College of Professional & Global Education, entrepreneur Sota Watanabe went on to found two successful tech companies

Sota Watanabe, a former College of Professional & Global Education (CPaGE) International Business student, has been selected one of “100 Japanese people the world respects” by Newsweek Japan for his impressive record as a young entrepreneur. Prior to this, he was selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30 Asia” list in 2022.

Watanabe was an Economics major at Keio University in Japan and wanted to expand his global business experience. He applied to the International Business Professions program run by ICC Japan. As part of this program he enrolled in CPaGE’s American Language Institute to improve his English. Following completion of the English for Academic Preparation program, Watanabe earned a certificate in the SF State International Business program. This program helped Watanabe develop the knowledge and skills to become a global leader.

“The groundwork for working globally, including English and business skills, was developed while I was in San Francisco. Without these experiences at SF State, I can’t imagine where I would be today. It was an experience that allowed me to experience and interact with cutting-edge technology and broaden my horizons,” said Watanabe.

During his program, he spent time in the San Francisco Bay Area attending IT, art and language exchange Meetups and visiting technology headquarters in Silicon Valley. Watanabe was able to visit Google, Facebook and Apple. He also completed an internship for Silicon Valley startup Chronicled. When he left SF State, Watanabe returned to Japan and founded Stake Technologies, the first company in Japan to adopt blockchain acceleration sponsored by UC Berkeley. Watanabe received an unprecedented four rounds of funding from Web3 Foundation, which he is using to further innovation at his company. He also founded another tech company, Astar Network. He later participated in the 2021 International Student Journey event hosted by CPaGE’s Center for Global Engagement as an alumni panelist.

International Business Professor and Department Chair Bruce Heiman taught Watanabe in “Research in International Business and the Global Market.” From his interactions with Watanabe in and outside the classroom he shared that he sees him as an example for past, current and future students. In addition to being a high academic performer while a student at SF State, Watanabe was well respected by his peers and became good friends with many other students as well as professors. The International Business courses he followed while at SF State helped him achieve a solid comfort level working in groups comprised of members from diverse cultures. His outgoing nature and ability to span cultural boundaries has served him well in his career.

“We are proud to have Sota as an example of a graduate of our certificate program,” Heiman said.

“From the first day Sota arrived at SF State, it was clear he was going places,” added CPaGE Assistant Dean Saroj Quinn. “Sota is one of the most inquisitive, passionate and charismatic students I have met. Every time I spoke with Sota during his program, I learned something new about the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape of San Francisco. Sota truly made the city of San Francisco his classroom, using his free time to build a global network.”

Learn more about the College of Professional & Global Education.

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Speaker Emerita Pelosi addresses SF State community at annual Opening Convocation

Matt Itelson — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 20:51:03 +0000

Speaker Emerita Pelosi addresses SF State community at annual Opening Convocation

Author: Matt Itelson

August 21, 2023

Photo Credit: Juan Montes

Welcome event also features remarks by SF supervisors, President Mahoney, other University leaders

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was a surprise guest at San Francisco State University’s Opening Convocation on Aug. 17, taking part in the ceremonial tradition welcoming faculty and staff to a new year on campus.

Pelosi began her speech in McKenna Theatre by acknowledging the vital roles of University employees.

“We have to make sure we are paying our workers well as we sing our praises,” Pelosi said in front of an audience of hundreds. “We want to make sure we respect them.”

She also praised San Francisco State for its dedication to social justice and democracy.

“Right now, we have to make sure with all of the challenges that are out there to our democracy and democracy worldwide, that we make decisions that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for all. San Francisco State is about all of that,” Pelosi said. “So I’m proud to bring you greetings from the Congress with respect for you, for the students, for the families, with gratitude to all of you. And just one last thing: Go Gators!”

Pelosi was not the only elected official in attendance. Two members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Rafael Mandelman and Shamann Walton (MPA, ’10), were also on hand.

Mandelman said he is optimistic that today’s college students will graduate prepared to face the myriad challenges in society.

“I, and the city and county of San Francisco, are grateful that you all have chosen to prepare to lead the students here into that non-dystopian future that we all hope remains achievable,” Mandelman said.

Walton said he is proud to not only have graduated from SF State himself, but also to be the parent of two Gator alumni. He discussed the value of education as “the No. 1 thing that can never be taken away from us.”

“As Malcolm X said, ‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,’” Walton said. “Your work this year and continuing, of course, is preparing the brightest minds for success ... and [to] change the world.”

In her remarks, SF State President Lynn Mahoney highlighted SF State’s dedication to focusing on students.

“I am deeply proud of the ways in which San Francisco State serves as a model of excellence in innovation in teaching, academic innovation and research,” Mahoney said. “Strengthening student learning is a priority for all here.”

Mahoney also noted the University remains committed to eliminating equity and opportunity gaps among underrepresented populations.

“The greatest demonstration of our commitment to social justice starts here,” she said. “It starts at home by increasing the success of our students, especially our Black, Latinx, low-income and first-generation students.”

Other speakers included: Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Amy Sueyoshi, Professor of Biology and Academic Senate Chair Michael A. Goldman, Associated Students President Ersa Rao, California Faculty Association SF State Chapter President Brad Erickson, Staff Council Chair Dylan Mooney and CSU Employees Union SF State Chapter President Sandee Noda. The deans of SF State’s academic colleges and the University librarian introduced 34 new tenure-track faculty members.

Convocation also featured an awards ceremony honoring distinguished faculty and staff, presented by Neda Nobari (B.S., ’84), board chair of the SF State Foundation. This year’s winners:

Excellence in Teaching (Tenured): Paul Beckman, Information Systems
Excellence in Teaching (Lecturer): Mohammad HajiAboli, Engineering
Excellence in Professional Achievement (Tenured): Dianthe “Dee” Spencer, Theatre and Dance
Excellence in Service (Tenured): Nancy Gerber, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Excellence in Service (Staff): Phonita Yuen, Metro College Success Program

Learn more about the Opening Convocation on the Academic Senate website.

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