The McDonough Museum of Art at Youngstown State University will host a viewing party for “The Short Shorts Festival” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
The event will feature the animation of Ilena Finocchi, Illya Mousavijad, and Michael Schmidt, and includes a short animated film, two stop-motion animations, and a computer animation film/video.
The festival occurs from Oct. 24-Nov. 4 at the McDonough. More information appears below.
“Creatures in My House” is Ilena Finocchi’s first animated short film. The stop-motion short is a colorful nod to film noir and German expressionism. Finocchi’s sculptural work has been exhibited nationally, including Art Basil Miami, SoFA Chicago, and the Museum of Art & Design in New York. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, and the McKnight Residency. She recently completed a grant funded library project featuring a mural and flip book workshop series.
Illya Mousavijad’s “Between a Lost Home and a Losing Destination” is a computer animation film/video that uses 3D scanning and photogrammetry. The animation investigates the depth and limits of the exile and migration experience as they relate the artist’s heritage/Iranian diaspora.
Mousavijad is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Isfahan, Iran. He received a bachelor’s degree at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and his master’s from the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. He has collaborated with international artists of various disciplines and exhibited in Iran and the U.S. He is currently visiting assistant professor in art and technology at The Ohio State University.
Michael Schmidt’s two stop-motion animations, “Passages and Collapse,” feature events and experiences of employees of AEP Conesville, a coal-fired power plant that operated in Coshocton County (Ohio) from 1957 to 2020. The animations were part of a performance that gave voice to the loss of a way of life and paid tribute to the generations of coal-energy the plant produced.
Schmidt holds a master’s degree in drawing and painting from California State University, Long Beach and a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He has exhibited internationally and is in private collections around the country. Schmidt currently works as an adjunct professor at the University of Mount Union, The University of Akron, and is a freelance artist.
Also on display in the McDonough galleries are Shona Macdonald’s “Flash of Light Illumines a Dark Landscape” and the “#notwhite collective.”
The McDonough’s galleries are open from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. The museum is free and open to the public.
More information is available by calling the McDonough Museum at 330-941-1371.
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