This is a delightful animation that we’re sharing for a few reasons. First, this is one of our favorite student pieces from the Barbaric Yawp project, a new initiative involving Bethany’s Memorial Library, the Ada Stokes Writing Center, and BLC Studios. Through the Barbaric Yawp, Bethany students celebrated national poetry month by creating videos to accompany student-read poems by established authors.
Leah Kurth was a 2015 grad who returned to Bethany a couple years ago to work as a graphic designer. While on campus, she signed up to take a Media Arts topics class in stop motion animation, which was taught by Kurt Paulsen. Each student in the class interpreted a poem through animation. Leah animated “Surrogate, a poem by Alexandrine Vo. In addition to its inclusion in the Barbaric Yawp series, Surrogate was accepted for screening in one of the animation showcases at the 2019 Speechless Film Festival.
We’re also sharing this because it feels like an appropriate farewell to Leah, who recently left her job designing for Bethany. She’s moving on to study illustration at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. We wish you the best as you begin this next stage, Leah!
