Lunch on Fridays: Jared Bendis

Jared Bendis is an award-winning installation artist, photographer, teacher, playwright and filmmaker. He is a specialist in photography, virtual reality, and computer graphics and serves as the Creative New Media Officer for Case Western Reserve University’s Kelvin Smith Library. As the Creative New Media Officer, Jared weaves together cutting-edge technologies with proven, innovative pedagogical strategies to create rich multimedia experiences. Jared serves as the senior media expert for the campus, developing digital media strategies for media creation (and use) by researching and developing new-media applications for education. Jared also holds adjunct appointments in the CWRU Art Studio, Music, and SAGES departments where he teaches courses on multimedia, instructional technology, and New Media Literacy.

As a visual artist Jared focuses on the way people see, augmenting their reality via technology and visual perception. As a photographer he prefers to view the world through a wide-angle lens and specializes in spherical panoramic and stereoscopic photography. On his first trip overseas, in March 2000, Jared visited the Chateau de Pierrefonds in France and became driven (if not obsessed) with capturing and sharing cultural and architectural experiences and has photographed over 400 architectural, archeological and cultural sites (primarily castles) in 14 countries. Jared’s art practice also includes creating immersive installations that provide interactive social and sensory experiences for viewers. As a practicing commercial artist, Jared is lead developer, designer, and co-owner of Lemming Labs Limited that develops interactive media applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms. His mobile applications include: “Mandalas,” “EasyDraw,” “HoopDreams,” “Carve-It,” “Egg Draw,” “Hex Doodle,” and “Mow-It” to name but a few.

Jared received his BA from Case Western Reserve University in Psychology with minors in Music and Art Studio and his MA in Art Education from the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Art joint program.