Hi Design Families! It’s that time of year for our students to show off their learning and creative skills.
Here is a sneak preview of what you will be experiencing next week when you attend Exhibition Night at DVD! We will see you next Thursday, March 26th. Please join us from 5:30pm to 7:30pm to celebrate the amazing work of our students!
Here is quick preview! Thank you to all the students and teachers who are working hard to put this together:
- 9th Grade– Rethinking Transportation in LA: Getting around Los Angeles is challenging, especially in the face of The World Cup, The Super Bowl, and The Olympics on the way. It’s even more difficult when we think of what modes of transportation to use – ebikes, scooters, ride shares, electric, hybrid or gas cars, buses or trains. Which way, LA? Come see how our Freshmen have rethought getting around Our Fair City, even LAX.
- Jason Kartez’s Class- Da Vinci Design Fine Arts students focus on community building through collaboration by creating a moving sculpture in the form of an art car. Da Vinci Design’s art car team the “Renaissance Roadster’s Team 4401”, present “California Dream’n” a Southern California themed car. The drivers side of the car represents an outsiders view of Los Angeles, the beach, the sun, sports, celebrity and fame. The passenger side represents the experience of those who call Los Angeles home; community, diversity, food, social justice, graffiti, urban beauty, fires and other natural disasters. This project has been co-created with former Key Hot Wheels/ Matchbox Principle Designer for 25 years Bryan Benedict. Other collaborators and industry partners include: Jonathan Fidler Assistant Chair of Industrial Design at Otis, Joyce Mesch Assistant Chair of Toy Design at Otis, Rickey Polidore Houston Art Educator and Art Car Artist, Dave Kempken Instruction Shop Manager at the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly SLO, Bobby “Z” Rodriguez, Graffiti Artist and Gallery Owner, Sara Horvet Head of Community Relations at Galpin Motors
Sponsors Include:
Galpin Motors with the generous donation of a 2009 Ford Taurus
Gitana Cafe
- Sally Sun’s Class- Nootropics: Reading is fundamental to brain development, cognitive growth and critical thinking. In recent years there has been a sharp decline in literacy rates among young adults, and this project stems from a strong concern for this unfortunate trend. To help bring awareness to this issue, students were tasked with selecting a book that they read during their high school years and designing new cover art for it.
- Ricardo Placencia’s Class- Our Biology students are diving into a powerful project called Rooted in Culture, where science meets culture, sustainability, and real-world application. Students are researching medicinal plants used by cultures around the world, exploring both their biological properties and their historical significance. Each student is growing their own plant in a recycled bottle, reconnecting to the resourceful practices of past generations while learning how plants can support human health. Through this project, students are also creating infographics and preparing to present their learning at Exhibition Night. By combining hands-on investigation, cultural storytelling, and scientific explanation, Rooted in Culture challenges students to think critically about our reliance on modern pharmaceuticals and the importance of preserving traditional plant knowledge.
- Grant McMullen’s Class- Juniors started their Artist Building project by choosing an existing artist and researching them and their work. After learning about their artist’s design and style, students created a blueprint of a building and used their artist’s work as inspiration in their own design. This design was then translated into a 3D model where students used paper and styrofoam to construct a 3D representation of their artist-inspired building. For the spring exhibition, we are showing the 3D models of the students’ artist inspired buildings, as well as the hand drawn, watercolored, blueprints that they are based on.
- Hannah Shier’s & Joe Campanelli’s Classes- This semester, students read The Crucible in their English class while studying the Red Scare of the 1950s in History. They explored the connections between these two units and developed studies of characters, historical individuals, and events from both to create detailed profiles and visual representations of their learning. Utilizing their research and demonstrating their knowledge of the events and characters studied, students developed a script in the genre of historical fiction for a scene that could fit into The Crucible and fill a gap in the story.
- Christy Won’s Class- Students combined creativity and algebra in this unique exhibition project exploring inverse functions and symmetry. Using Desmos, they traced designs that represent communities they belong to—such as cultural backgrounds, neighborhoods, teams, and shared interests—by writing functions and their inverses and examining reflections across the line (y = x). They then transferred their designs onto tiles, transforming digital work into tangible art. This project highlights students’ ability to connect mathematical concepts with personal identity, resulting in thoughtful pieces that reflect both their math skills and their communities.
- Dan Centofanti’s Class- Equilibrium: The intermediate entrepreneurship students this year have studied the game industry and have learned the basics of game theory. One of the most important concepts in game theory, Nash’s Equilibrium comes from John Forbes Nash Jr. a game theorist and Cold War policy consultant. Students utilized Nash’s equilibrium alongside their newfound understanding of the game industry to develop games that reciprocate ideas from their English class where they read The Crucible and their history class tackling The Red and Lavendar Scare. Students will be presenting and playing the games they created with our audiences during the exhibition night. So, come ready to play games and learn about the ethos of The Red Scare.
Design Families, we hope to see you here!
