Released on: November 13, 2007, 9:21 am

Press Release Author: The Art Institutes International Minnesota

Industry: Education

Press Release Summary: Animation students from The Art Institutes International
Minnesota receive Best In Show award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
animated musical PSA.

Press Release Body: During the American Conservation Film Festival held in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia from November 1-4, 2007, several animated Public
Service Announcements (PSA) produced by students who attend Art Institutes schools
were unveiled. The musical PSA developed by a team of Media Arts & Animation
students attending The Art Institutes International Minnesota received the Best In
Show Award for their project titled, "Migration at Minnesota Valley."

"Migration at Minnesota Valley" focused on the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife
Refuge in Bloomington, Minnesota. The team met with local representatives at the
refuge and developed a concept for the animation. During the meetings, the team
wanted the PSA to demonstrate people and animals working together and the migration
of different species of birds. Dustin Rients, a Media Arts & Animation student,
wrote an original song for the PSA that helped deliver all the messages in a fun and
interesting way. Instructor, Jon Dege, lead the students throughout the creative and
developmental process. The students involved in the project include: Sarah Minor,
Erin Horton, Eric Domholt, Allyssa Howard, Katie Hoffman, and Sam Huber. Combined,
the team put in an estimated 7,000 hours in the one minute, and fifty second long
PSA.

The Teddy Project originally began at The Art Institutes International Minnesota in
2002, where Media Arts & Animation students developed an animated Teddy Roosevelt
and his side-kick Puddles the Blue Goose. The Art Institutes International
Minnesota has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each year since 2002
and this year they produced an award-winning musical PSA.

Each year, students from The Art Institutes system of schools take on the daunting
task of making a two-dimensional Teddy Roosevelt come alive in an animated
educational campaign entitled \"The Teddy Project.\" This year, the project, which
partners the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with Art Institutes throughout the US,
is designed to introduce urban youth to the wonders of natural wildlife within its
own habitat. The final versions will be used both locally and nationally as
informational pieces about the 547 National Wildlife Refuges nationwide. The PSAs
will also be shown at local movie theaters, visitor centers, outreach events, and
schools, as well as at the American Conservation Film Festival.

Among The Art Institutes involved with The Teddy Project are schools located in
Atlanta, GA; Arlington VA (as The Art Institute of Washington), Brookline, MA (as
The New England Institute of Art); Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Las
Vegas, NV; Miami, FL (as Miami International University of Art & Design);
Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; San Diego (as The Art Institute of
California - San Diego); San Francisco (as The Art Institute of California - San
Francisco); The Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago; The Illinois Institute of Art -
Schaumburg; The Art Institute of New York City; and The Art Institute of
Pennsylvania - York.

The Art Institutes International Minnesota is one of The Art Institutes
(www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of over 35 education institutions located
throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts,
fashion and culinary arts professionals.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for
conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats
for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the
94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535
national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management
areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices,
and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife
laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It
also oversees the federal aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of
dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife
agencies.


Web Site: http://www.artinstitutes.edu/minneapolis

Contact Details: The Art Institutes International Minnesota
Anj Kozel
15 South 9th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-656-6862
612-338-2417
akozel@aii.edu