2014-15 NACMA 'Best of Awards' Winners

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The only art school in the NCAA set itself apart once again this past week with national recognition for its marketing efforts in 2014-15. The National Association of Collegiate Marking Administrators awarded Academy of Art University Athletics its highest honor (gold) in the category of Promotional Schedule Poster, silver for Urban Knights' "Share Your Shot" Photo Competition under the Interactive/Social Media category, and bronze for "Battle of the Halls" as Student Promotion.

These honors were out of approximately 1,000 schools from NCAA Division II, Division III, and NAIA. Initiated in 2003, the NACMA Best of Awards program honors outstanding achievement in marketing and promotions. Awards are presented in 13 categories, with each category divided into three groups based upon school size and conference affiliations to promote fairness. The winners were recognized during NACMA's 24th Annual Convention at the awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida.

"It is an honor to even be nominated by NACMA, however, placing in three categories and winning gold is very special," said assistant athletic director; external operations Kevin Sanchez. "The recognition truly demonstrates the abilities and visions of our artist-athletes and they deserve all the credit."

For the 2014-15 seasons, ART U Athletics implemented a scheduling poster campaign that highlighted the unique talents emerging from classrooms on its campus. Challenging its student staff to create something that had never been done before, a creative team was assembled composed of former artist-athletes including Graphic Design major Melissa Genao (women's golf), Animation & Visual Effects major Caitlin Boring (volleyball), as well as Illustration majors Alisa Griggs (women's basketball) and Hannah Emmett (women's soccer).

"I feel honored and thankful to be recognized," said Boring. "I was initially kind of nervous doing the posters of our current athletes because I wanted to do each athlete justice. Drawing athletes can be a lot of fun doing action poses and showing movement. You get a chance to exaggerate a lot."

Schedule posters highlighting each sport's seniors or standout athletes were conceptualized, sketched, and designed following a hand-drawn theme on crumpled paper. Embracing the personal style of each illustrator, the posters ranged from digital to hand-sketches to animations which made the athletes resemble superheroes. The poster submitted to NACMA was of women's soccer senior goalkeeper Rachael Rempe as illustrated by Boring and designed by Genao.

"Being an athlete not only involves the physical hard work, but equally welcomes the opportunity to think creatively and an athlete's creativity could potentially live in the strategy and execution of their 'game plan,'" said Genao. "Being an artist works in the same way. You must push yourself to accomplish endeavors you might not thought possible. These poster series were about creating an inviting poster that would represent ART U's talents, in all the forms in which they blossom. To be nationally recognized is amazing not for just me, but more importantly for our school. It shows that people are intrigued by the way artists think, on and off the field."

In the fall of 2014, Academy of Art students came out to a volleyball match with a competitive opportunity of their own. Though focused on artists from the School of Photography, ART U's "Share Your Shot" Photo Competition was open to anyone in attendance who tagged their photos from the match to the Urban Knights' Instagram account (@ARTU_Knights) using the hashtag #ShareYourShot prior to midnight. Students selected among the top five finalists then used various social media platforms to promote their photo for one week, instructing their peers to vote for their photo via "likes."

"Opportunities such as Academy of Art University Athletics' 'Share Your Shot' Photo Competition present students with the opportunity to capture the amazing events within sports photography that often times go unnoticed by the casual observer," said Director of Graduate Photography Will Mosgrove. "The winning images demonstrate how creating images rather than taking pictures makes a significant difference in the story being told."

The three photos that received the most likes after one week were named the winners (Mike Anderson and Matthew Schumacher of Photography and Jason Harrel of Web Design & New Media on this occasion) and were announced at ART U's season-opening basketball game. First place was awarded $100 to the Adolph Gasser Photography store in San Francisco and had their name placed on the perpetual trophy that is displayed in the Photography department along with the winning photo. Second and third place each received gift cards as well. The "Share Your Shot" contest is an ongoing, bi-annual competition that takes place during volleyball and basketball season.

"Academy of Art University Athletics' 'Share Your Shot' Photo Competition is a great opportunity for students to attend sports events and train their cameras on compelling imagery," said School of Photography Executive Director Dr. James Wood. "Developing an understanding that timing is a critical part of capturing the key moment in sports photography has produced some wonderfully captivating sports photography."

Another bi-annual event, Academy of Art University's "Battle of the Halls" student promotion was also hugely successful this past year. "Battle of the Halls," which takes place at one volleyball match and one basketball gameday each year, serves as the culmination of "Hall Cup Week" a week-long competition between the various residence halls.

Working in conjunction with the Housing department, ART U athletics creates a fun and interactive gameday experience for students with a pre-game pep rally, face painting, and sign-making. Then, during the athletic contest at Kezar Pavilion, the "best fans" are awarded the prestigious Hall Cup as mutually agreed upon by the resident directors. The criteria are based on percentage of residence hall in attendance, enthusiasm and loudness, as well as performance during multiple in-game contests (serving competition, musical chairs). After the match, the winner of the Battle of the Halls is named and they receive a pizza party, courtesy of Papa John's Pizza.

The gold, silver, and bronze NACMA awards ART U received this year were each firsts in program history.