Pixar Director from Clawson Artist-in-Residence at Michigan Youth Arts Festival

Dan Scanlon, film director and artist at Pixar Animation Studios, will serve as the official Artist-In-Residence at the 52nd annual Michigan Youth Arts Festival, which will take place May 8-10, 2014, in Kalamazoo.

Scanlon, a native of Clawson, MI, is most recently known for directing Disney·Pixar's 14th feature film, "Monsters University," which received the 2013 "Hollywood Animation Award" from the Hollywood Film Awards. Scanlon has also worked as a storyboard artist for the award-winning feature films, "Cars" and "Toy Story 3," co-directed the short film "Mater and the Ghostlight," and served on the senior creative team for "Brave."

Prior to joining Pixar, Scanlon worked as an animator for a variety of films, including, "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea," "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure," "Joseph: King of Dreams," and "The Indescribable Nth."

"We're absolutely thrilled to give Michigan's top youth talent an interactive experience with such a renowned professional in the creative field," said Marianne Dorais, Executive Director of Michigan Youth Arts. "It's important for students to know that they can build exciting and promising careers in the arts, and we're overjoyed that Dan Scanlon will be there as proof of that inspiring message. If students are encouraged to embrace their creativity, they are more likely to pursue work that fits their personal definition of success."

Scanlon is an alumnus of Digital Arts, Film & Television (DAFT), one of the 16 statewide arts education organizations associated with the Michigan Youth Arts Festival.

As Artist-In-Residence of the Festival, Scanlon will provide a lecture and presentation for all 1,000 high school participants - all of whom have demonstrated exceptional talent in one of the following artistic disciplines: instrumental music, vocal music, dance, theatre, digital arts, creative writing, visual arts, or music composition. 

Scanlon will also conduct specialized master classes for students in select disciplines. One session will be free and open to the public to observe; dates and times to be determined.

To participate in the Festival, Michigan high school students must earn the highest scores throughout yearlong adjudication events, coordinated by Michigan Youth Arts' 16 statewide partner associations. 

The top 1,000 students are then invited to the Festival, which consists of three days and two overnights on the campus of Western Michigan University. All participants will attend discipline-specific master classes, led by industry professionals, and will showcase their work in the form of 50 live musical and theatrical performances, a film festival, a published book of creative writing, and a visual arts exhibit. All performances and exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Other featured Guest Artists at the 2014 Michigan Youth Arts Festival will include: Judy Bowers (All-State Honors Choir conductor), Kristen Harvey (dance clinician), Greg Jasperse (vocal jazz conductor), Mark Liermann (theatre clinician), Telaina Morse Eriksen (creative writing clinician), Ronald Newman (music composition clinician), Garik Pedersen (piano clinician), Bruce Uchimura (strings clinician), Donald Schleicher (Honors Orchestra conductor), and Scott Teeple (Honors Band conductor).