Creativity
The Mount’s renaissance man
Photos by Lee Ferris
Carlo Rossi of New Windsor, N.Y. recently had the opportunity to display his one-two punch of artistic talent.
Rossi, a Business Management and Administration major and Graphic Design minor, hosted an art exhibition featuring his vintage-style posters and album cover designs at the Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center.
Much of the exhibit was focused on the album Out of the Shade, Under the Stars, which Rossi wrote, recorded, and produced under the artist name Decent Colors. The 10-track indie album, released in March of this year, is available on YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more.
Rossi graduated in May with about 450 of his peers. He received his degree from his father, Richard Rossi, Mount Saint Mary College Security Supervisor.
Artists reveal inspiration for ‘Mandorla in Pieces’ at CMA Gallery
Photos by Emily Gursky
Local artists Joan Ffolliott and Charles Purvis discussed the inspirations and motivations behind their mixed media exhibition, “Mandorla in Pieces,” which was recently hosted at the Mount’s CMA Gallery.
“Mandorla in Pieces” incorporated the unique skills, disciplines, and experiences of the artists and their selected mediums, with impressive results. They approached their work from different disciplines: Ffolliott is a sculptor, master printmaker, and educator. Purvis is a photographer working primarily with analog film and collage.
In this exhibit, they met in the middle with a shared passion for their processes. The artists ranged from working side-by-side with identical photographic images to handing over partially completed works for the other to bring to life.
The CMA gallery was created in 2019 as a professional artist space to exhibit media picked by Mount faculty from among the rising population of artists who live and work in Newburgh, Beacon, and throughout the Hudson Valley.
Celebrating creativity: students show off original film, radio, and photos
Photo by Lee Ferris
Communication, Art, and Digital Media (CADM) students presented their best media of the semester at the annual CMA Show on Friday, April 19 on campus.
This year’s program featured comedy from the college’s TV show Last Friday Knight; a film about the history of the stained-glass windows in the Mount’s Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary; and several personal films that deal with Long COVID, PTSD, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and more.
Also included were original animation, podcasts, and radio programs from MSMC Knight Radio, as well as a selection of noteworthy graphic design and photography projects from this year.
The Mount’s CADM programs encompass the study of digital media production, graphic design, and more. CADM programs prepare students for both traditional and emerging professions.
MTV, Nickelodeon producer discusses streaming’s impact on the entertainment industry
Marta Ravin, a seasoned showrunner and executive producer for networks like MTV and Nickelodeon (right) discusses how streaming services changed the landscape of entertainment. To the left is Merle Becker, an instructor of Digital Media Production at the Mount and former MTV producer. Photo by Lee Ferris.
It’s an ever changing medium, explained Marta Ravin, a seasoned showrunner and executive producer for networks like MTV and Nickelodeon, but there’s always a place for those who have the drive, determination, and creativity.
Ravin revealed the ins and outs of working in television content creation to the Mount’s next generation of producers during her recent talk at the college. The talk was part of the Mount’s CADM Speaker Series and was spearheaded by Merle Becker, an instructor of Digital Media Production at the Mount and herself a former MTV producer.
Ravin has produced everything from live music shows, award, and reunion shows to paranormal docuseries and kids’ renovation shows, as well as digital content. Her credits include MTV’s Total Request Live, TLC’s Long Island Medium, and Universal Kids’ Get Out of My Room.
Ravin got her foot in the door working as an intern on The Joan Rivers Show and also The John Stewart Show, a late-night talk show that preceded Stewart’s run as host of The Daily Show. But a lot has changed in her industry since the ’90s and early 2000s, she said. The days of the “wild, wild west” of cable, with dozens if not hundreds of channels, are far behind us. And it’s more difficult than ever to walk into a room of executives, pitch a show idea, and have it picked up for production.
That’s all due to what Ravin calls “the streaming wars.”
“We are at a crucial moment where streaming is struggling to find ways to make money,” Ravin explained. “People don’t want to pay for seven different services at $9 a pop. Companies are trying to find new ways to monetize entertainment.”
The ability to tell a story, however, is an evergreen skill. And students in the Mount’s CADM program graduate knowing how to do that, she said.
“You’re going to know how to tell a story and make a piece of content,” Ravin noted. “The platform that it gets shown on, or the business that hires you to do that, can be any sort of business. Every business has a website, every website needs content, and content needs to be more and more engaging.”
