Nashville's Belmont University Launches Animation & Media Arts BFA - Animation Magazine

Belmont University — a private Christian university located in Nashville, Tennessee — has launched a new Animation and Media Arts BFA, a joint degree program offered through the Watkins College of Art and Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. The program, currently enrolling students, brings together Watkins’s nationally recognized illustration and design programs with the Curb College’s deep roots in film and media, storytelling and audio production.

The four-year program offers three emphasis areas: illustration & art direction, storytelling & production and interactive & immersive. Students work in specialized classes with an average size of 15, complete a required internship and finish with a two-semester senior project culminating in a public showcase.

Mike Meredith, the program’s inaugural director, brings more than two decades of experience in illustration and animation education, including building animation and digital media curricula in higher education. He holds an MFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has worked for clients such as Hasbro, Lifeway, the Clever Factory and Dead Sea Squirrels.

“With leading industry studios advising our curriculum, students will be working on real commercial projects throughout the program,” Meredith said. “From narrative storytelling and digital media to architecture, fashion and healthcare, we are building a new type of animation program that understands that wherever a screen is involved, animators are needed. Our students will be equipped to serve in every job sector that uses visual media.”

All new industries are creating demand for animation and digital media, expanding beyond narrative storytelling. Animated graphics power the music industry’s biggest concert tours with visuals, provide pre-visualization models for the country’s leading architecture firms and drive the motion design filling screens at corporate events and branded experiences.

“The steep demand for animation and digital media assets in Tennessee and beyond has only risen, and there aren’t enough animators to keep up,” said James Pierce, dean of the Watkins College of Art. “This has created a real opportunity for students as the industry grows up around us.”

The Animation & Media Arts BFA is designed to prepare graduates for the full range of opportunities where creative storytelling and technical skills converge.

The launch builds on Belmont’s broader investment in creativity, character and innovation. The program will be housed in the forthcoming CORD at the Historic Powerhouse, made possible through a $10 million lead gift from Cordia Harrington. It will also be shaped by the endowed AWC Chair for Faith, Hope and Culture in Cinematic Arts, established by a $3.5 million gift from the AWC Family Foundation and held by Chief Creative Officer Rick Rekedal.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Mike Meredith to Belmont. Mike combines a deep heart for students with a commitment to world-class training at the highest professional standards. Students welcome the opportunity to learn by doing, contributing to real-world projects and working alongside pro-level mentors,” said Rekedal. “In this program for Animation & Media Arts, we’re unleashing a whole new generation of storytellers trained in the newest technology tools.”

Belmont University (belmont.edu) serves nearly 9,000 students from across the U.S. and 33 countries, offering more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and eight doctoral degrees.