March 31, 2023
CHARACTERISTICS
In Exceptional Minds, autistic artists turn creativity into careers
With the support of Apple, the non-profit academy in Los Angeles prepares a new generation of animators, VFX artists and motion graphics designers.
Growing up in Burbank, California, Angela Ibarra always knew she wanted to be an artist.
“My mind has always been coming up with really creative things — endlessly,” Ibarra explains. “I thought, ‘I need to put this on paper and let it come to life.’ I draw things and it becomes what it wants.”
Ibarra draws an illustration of a Renaissance-era figure interpreted through an anime aesthetic. He has been using Procreate with Apple Pencil on iPad for years to refine his art, with a dream of working one day as an animator or visual effects artist in Hollywood.
Ibarra is in her first year at Exceptional Minds, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit academy and studio founded in 2011, where she and her fellow students can often be found working in the lab, taking figure drawing classes , and learn how to render motion graphics. . Using products and technology provided in part by Apple’s community grant program, the school trains neurodivergent artists for employability in entertainment through a blend of technical training, hands-on experience and career planning.
“Exceptional Minds is so unique in the way it works with students on the autism spectrum,” says Tim Dailey, the school’s academic dean and director of academic programs. “We want to create a world where a student on the spectrum is recognized for their talents and not for the challenges they face.”
In just a few years, alumni have gone on to land jobs in industry powerhouses such as Marvel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and these successes are a testament to the school’s approach. At Exceptional Minds, students have the freedom and flexibility they need to go at their own pace, while being held accountable to the rigors of a three-year program—a methodology that sets it apart from the more traditional schools students have attended. to grow . Feedback is plentiful, designed to help artists set reasonable expectations for themselves and their work.
The school’s instructors trust that they learn as much from their students. “There’s a saying we like to say: ‘If you know a person with autism, you know a person with autism,'” explains Jessica “Jess” Jerome, a professional entertainer who has taught at Exceptional Minds for nearly a decade. from my students that not everyone learns the same way. So I have to find different ways to make sure that everything I’m trying to pass passes.”
At the school, students learn specific technical tools and skills that will help them be successful as animation, motion graphics, visual effects and 3D artists once they graduate and enter the competitive Hollywood job hunt.
This means career preparation courses and training on current, industry-standard hardware and software. Students are introduced to the Adobe Creative Suite of apps on the Mac – including Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere and Animate – in their first year, and for many, the Procreate app on the iPad allows them the freedom to create beyond classroom Students also stay on top of daily tasks with productivity apps like Finch and Zinnia, available on iPhone, and can improve focus using Apple’s built-in cognitive accessibility features like Sound Sounds or Guided Access.
Students particularly enjoy the combination of iPad and Apple Pencil for their creative process. “It bridges the gap between physical drawing and digital art,” says Matthew Rohde, a sophomore aiming for a career in visual effects or motion design. “That’s what makes it so great. I’ve tried using other styluses, and there’s some sort of disconnect.”
“Apple Pencil has pressure sensitivity,” adds Matthew Rada, a third-year student at Exceptional Minds. “When you hold the pencil in this way, it will act like a real pencil and will do some shading like a regular pencil.”
Adjacent to their technical training, students complete three years of professional training, including a Career Reality track that builds on their skills in resume writing, portfolio creation, career planning, interviewing, and other skills of life to help them succeed in future roles in the industry. . Through mentorship and internship programs, students begin to develop relationships with employers, and those employers begin to learn about their needs or work styles.
“Our artists learn how to hone their voice to get better opportunities and better networking,” adds Jerome. “We’re not changing their stories; we’re just making sure people can see their stories.”
For students like Ibarra, Rohde, and Rada, this means that by the time they leave Outstanding Minds, goals like launching comic books at DC or working as a motion designer for a major studio aren’t just dreams – they are well within reach. .
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