Tools for the Creative Life: More than Meets the Eye: Conversation about AR in Art

Augmented Reality (AR) can literally add another dimension to a piece of artwork. It can enhance an audience member’s experience in ways bound only by our imagination. This technology is not to be ignored. Join the Tools for the Creative Life team for a panel conversation about why this technology is more relevant than ever and how it can be integrated and leveraged in a variety of creative mediums.

Panelists:

Sharifa Lafon, Denver Digerati, moderator

Teague McDaniel, Creative Integration Initiative

Eric Jaenike, Prismajic

Corrina Espinosa & David Hanan, Denver Digital Land Grab

About the panelists:

Sharifa Lafon (she/her) is a curator, interdisciplinary artist, and educator. Her current roles include serving as the executive director and curator at Denver Digerati, as a lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Colorado Denver, and as a board member of Tilt West, where she is the co-managing editor and co-curator of the Tilt West Journal. Previously Sharifa was the chief curator of art and education at the Center for the Arts Evergreen and associate curator at the Emmanuel and Next Stage Galleries on the CU Denver campus. She holds a BA in Art History, and a BFA in Photography from the University of Colorado Denver, and is finishing her Masters in visual studies with an emphasis on experimental film and media.

Teague McDaniel (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator. Their current roles include acting as the founder and curator at Creative Integration Initiative (CII), adjunct professor in the Department of Art at MSU Denver, as an art writer for Out Front Magazine, and as an artist in residence through Denver Digerati with art that includes an AR component. Their art practice is media agnostic and frequently traverses installation, performance, social practice, painting, and printmaking. Teague will contribute to this panel from their experience as a single parent, queer, trans, artist and art consultant who is white, multiply-disabled, and neurodivergent. They hold an MA in Art from Colorado Western University and BA in Studio Art from MSU Denver.

Eric Jaenike (he/him) grew up in a household where art was ubiquitous. His mother was an accomplished multidisciplinary artist who earned her masters degree in silversmithing and his uncle is an accomplished woodworker, sketch artist, and painter. However, he chose to focus on business, graduating from UCLA and eventually CU Boulder with an MBA. Among other professional achievements, he helped found a financial software startup that was purchased by Standard and Poors. His love of the arts eventually led him to co-found Prismajic, an immersive arts company that marries cutting edge technologies and traditional art forms. The company’s first large-scale experience, Natura Obscura, ran in 2019 and was a smash hit, hosting over 55,000 guests. Their second experience, Shiki Dreams, opened in 2020 and was named the 4th Best Immersive Art Experience in the country by USA Today. Prismajic is currently building their first permanent immersive experience and bar at Colorado Mills Mall. Covering 10,000 square feet, the first two phases of the experience are expected to open later this year.

Corrina Espinosa (she/her) is a Denver based new media artist & curator interested in all things Art & Tech. She teaches Digital Art at CU, Boulder & has exhibited her art locally at Denver Art Museum, Meow Wolf & BMoCA as well as internationally at venues in Barcelona & Bosnia. Along with a list of friends and collaborators she spent the last decade throwing local art shows with a zeal for community and inclusivity. She is a co-founder at Denver Digital Land Grab, an artist collective and recipient of Denver Westword’s “best renegade art show, 2023” for the first of its kind citywide augmented reality (AR) exhibition, Manifest Dystopia.

David Hanan (he/him) is a web designer & 360 photographer. He has nearly a decade of experience working in Virtual & Augmented Reality. He headed XR at Spectra Art Space & has designed virtual experiences for the International Design Center, Tipper & Friends music festival and Lion Brand Yarn. David was the world’s first virtual reality tour guide as the Travel Proxy. He is a cofounder of Denver Digital Land Grab, an artist collective on a mission using AR/VR to take back space for artists without asking for permission.

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Tools for the Creative Life is a workshop series aimed at providing creatives with connection, new skills, inspirational capital and tools to craft a healthy creative ecosystem. Presented in partnership by the RiNo Art District, Transforming Creatives, CBCA, the Creative Integration Initiative, and the Denver Public Library.

While this is a free event, please register in advance as there is limited capacity!