LIBBY ROWE
: n io t a r o b a ll o C f o t The Ar e if L o t t a C l o o C a Bringing By Javi Valdes
This past year brought Southwest School of Art many exciting and unique opportunities. Among one of the most interesting was an idea presented to the School by Armando Camina. Camina is the founder of Hope, Faith, and Dreams, a charity based here in San Antonio that aims to empower young people through creative arts. An award-winning foundation in literary publishing for young writers, Hope, Faith, and Dreams has been Camina’s brainchild since 2002 when he began the foundation in efforts to enrich the lives of children in Texas.
Armando Camina is the founder of Faith, Hope, and Dreams
In May 2021, Camina approached SSA in hopes of finding collaborators for a project his foundation was planning. This project, entitled Cool Cat Dan, is an illustrated audio-visual short video for children that follows feline protagonist, Dan, on his journey to achieve his dream of traveling across the country in his ’54 VW Wagon while he learns life lessons every step of the way. When asked why he decided to reach out to the School, Camina explained that he often enjoys walking through downtown San Antonio and would frequently pass by the SSA campus during his strolls. “This little voice in my head kept saying, ‘You’ve got to contact them’ and I did”, Camina said. “I look at it as divine intervention.” He was put in contact with former SSA Director of Student Affairs, Chelsea Titus, to whom he was able to present his idea for collaboration on Cool Cat Dan. When he initially approached SSA, the writing and audio recording for the project had already been completed. However, Camina and his team were still in need of artists to create the designs and artwork that would carry the visual narrative. Cool Cat Dan was one step closer to completion when three BFA students offered their talents to the project. Natasha Shirley, Oliver Lyric, and Alicia Martinez
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ARTIST’S PROOF SOUTHWEST SCHOOL OF ART
