Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

For those who are unfamiliar with Mesa Community College, it is one of the largest (if not THE largest) community college in the United States. We have an average of 28,000 students per semester. The headcount in my program alone is 408 students.

Each year, we have an annual juried art show. The 1500 art students per term produce three to five pieces of art. The results in a potential 9,000 to 15,000 works that are eligible for the annual show. Of that number about 250 are selected. There are prizes for Best of Medium, Emerging Talent and Juror’s Choice. The top prize is BEST OF SHOW and, this year, the best of show went to Digital Filmmaking student Stephen Olmstead. To be fair, Stephen also took photography, drawing and design courses at MCC so it’s appropriate that he would win Best of Show.

His winning film was entitled Losing Jim. The cinematography is excellent. Since Stephen is also a musician, it’s not surprising that the music was terrific. This week, Kai Kim (MCC Drawing & Design Professor) and I will have the pleasure of attending the annual awards banquet at the college for the purpose of presenting Stephen with the award. Sweeeeeeet.