President’s Blog

Left to right - David Litschel (VP of Academic Affairs), Richard Anderson (co-author, Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook), Peter Krogh (author, The DAM Book - Digital Asset Management for Photographers), Chris Broughton (Brooks Institute faculty member), Dr. Glenn Rand (Program Director of the MFA Degree in Photography Program at Brooks Institute). Photo credit: The Paradise Cafe

Richard Anderson and Peter Krogh, best known for their work on an award to ASMP from the Library of Congress for their work on a definitive workflow process for digital photography, gave a presentation to students and faculty this past Friday morning and held a roundtable discussion with Brooks Institute faculty members in the afternoon about methods of integrating their methodology into college curriculum. Richard’s and Peter’s work for ASMP and the Library of Congress can be seen at http://www.dpbestflow.org.

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Photo Credit: Laurel Costa/Brooks Institute

On Friday, July 31st, Brooks Institute honored local firefighters in a private reception by giving them a poster of images from the Jesusita Fire along with messages of thanks. The poster was conceptualized by BI faculty member Bill Robbins and composed of images taken by students, staff, faculty and alumni. Those on-hand to accept a framed version of the poster and letter of gratitude on behalf of their department were: Interim Fire Chief for the City of Santa Barbara Fire Department, Andrew DiMizio; Fire Chief for the City of Montecito Fire Department, Kevin Wallace; Battalion Chief for the Ventura County Fire Department, Bryan Vanden Bossche; and Captain Ron Topolinski of the Ventura County Fire Department. Thank you to all who worked very hard to stop the Jesusita Wildfire.

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On Thursday, May 28, Girl’s Inc of Santa Barbara and Brooks Institute joined forces to host 11 high school girls in honor of “Take Our Daughters to Work Day.” Director of Career Services Katie Huber, Mason Street Studios Facility Manager Traci Jaslove, Professional Photography program faculty member Marcia Rubenstein, Professional Photography program Faculty Member Christy Schuler, and Master of Fine Arts in Photography student Chris Pierre-Jerome teamed up to give the girls insight into the world of photography. The afternoon included a photo retouching presentation to show the girls what goes on behind the scenes with retouching in order to help promote a positive self body image for the girls. After that, the girls were able to step in front of the camera for a portrait session that included a retouching demonstration on their own images. It was a very positive afternoon and hopefully the start of an on-going relationship between Brooks and Girl’s Inc.

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Brooks Institute has a coed softball team called “The Brooks Zone Masters.” The Brooks Zone Masters are managed by faculty member Chris Broughton. Chris has a history with the team. He has played on the Brooks team for over 20 years and has been managing it for the past 10. The team is currently composed mostly of students with Chris Broughton and Dean DePhillipo being the only faculty members, but in the past, faculty members Paul Liebhardt, Russ McConnell, and even VP of Academic Affairs, David Litschel played for Brooks. The Brooks Zone Masters typically play at Dwight Murphy Park in Santa Barbara and just won there first game of the season last night. Congratulations Brooks Zone Masters!

Team photo from last season. Photo Credit: Chris Broughton

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Richard Carlson had a best-seller with Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…And It’s All Small Stuff.

As we all know, it is the small stuff – the little things – that often sets the tone of our days or turns an experience into a positive or negative one.

Some small stuff to recognize:

The staff of our Cota and Mason Street campuses recently cleaned all the student chairs with a steamcleaner and scrub brush. (They even picked off hardened gum!) We know that students appreciate a desk, chair, meeting table or learning environment that is clean and attractive. To our fantastic Cota and Mason people: thank you!

Faculty and staff at the Ventura campus recently spent part of a Friday roaming the campus picking up disgarded cigarette butts. Even though we have special cigarette disposal units located throughout the campus, many people simply chose to toss and smash on our sidewalks and lawn areas. To the “butt picker-uppers” at Ventura: thank you!

Brooks Institute allows all of its full-time employees to use up to eight hours of paid time each year to volunteer for a local, non-profit organization. Although Brooks already has a high level of community involvement and civic engagement, we wanted to increase our commitment – especially in these difficult economic times. (The entire 7-member Brooks Institute Leadership Team will be working an entire day for FoodShare of Ventura County in late March as our collective commitment to this fantastic program.) For all faculty and staff who have served in 2008 and already in 2009: thank you!

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Brookie images of Santa Barbara appear on flat-screen tv's throughout the airport. Image provided by ProDIGIQ.

Brooks Institute has recently partnered with a company called ProDIGIQ, Inc. to complete a wonderful visual project with the Santa Barbara Airport. As of January 1, 2009, Brooks Institute’s students and alumni are showcasing their work of the Greater Santa Barbara Area through digital video content and dynamic slideshows of still photography on huge flat screen TVs throughout the Santa Barbara Airport. More than 1 million passengers use the Santa Barbara Airport every year. This is such a tremendous opportunity for the students and alumni to exhibit their talent and creative work at the airport. Next time you’re in the Santa Barbara Terminal, make sure to look up, and view the wonderful images of our students!

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Image by Matt Mallams

We invite the public to attend the artist reception for If the Way is Open at our Visions Gallery in the Marriott Ventura Beach on Thursday, January 22 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. This exhibit portrays the ebb and flow of life as seen by two Brooks alumni, Matt Mallams and Elyse Butler. The Marriott is providing food and beverages and covers parking in the hotel lot for the reception. This should be a fun evening for everyone.

The public is also invited to attend the next exhibit at Brooks Institute’s Gallery 27 located at our Cota Street campus (located at 27 East Cota Street in downtown Santa Barbara). Under the Sea showcases unique underwater images created by our students and graduates. This stunning multimedia exhibit details the elegance and fluid motion of life captured underwater. The artist reception is scheduled for Thursday, February 5 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. As I mentioned in my last posting, Brooks Institute is a major player in the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization’s First Thursday art celebration and gallery tour each month. Refreshments will be served at the February 5th reception.

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