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Animation

Academics . Animation . Faculty

Animation Faculty

Daniel Olszewski

Daniel Olszewski

Title Adjunct Faculty
Department Animation
Phone 216.421.7000

Courses  Animation Portfolio Reel + Shorts

Degree BS, Digital Design, University of Cincinnati

While my passions for design and technology co-exist, the journey to the final product is what motivates me. The relationship between a creative idea and the tools or techniques needed to bring it to life is a challenge I look forward to facing on a daily basis.

Zachary Owens

Title Adjunct Faculty
Department Animation
Phone 216.421.7000

Courses  Animation Portfolio Reel + Shorts

Degree BFA, Cleveland Institute of Art

Zachary Owens is a CIA alum and received his Animation BFA in 2018. Zach is versatile with a background in Illustration, Animation, and 3D modeling. Just as new applications, software, and workflows are being introduced he makes sure to stay up to date, exploring the latest and the unknown.

Lisa Tan

Title Adjunct Faculty
Department Animation
Phone 216.421.7000

Courses  Intro to 3D Modeling

Degree BFA, Cleveland Institute of Art

Lisa Tan developed a love for the 3D animation pipeline and has applied modeling, texture mapping, rigging and animation skills to 3D animatics for theme park design at Universal Creative, holographic anatomy for the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and previsualization footage for Paul Schraeder's film Dog Eat Dog. She has created two short films: Wisteria, a collaborative animation that premiered on a planetarium dome at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and High Hedges, her thesis film which was on exhibit at the Cleveland Institute of Art's 2017 Student Summer Show.
Lisa currently works as a freelance designer and multimedia artist and spends her free time learning and teaching creative skills, participating in local community organizing, and building cat trees.
Lisa graduated in 2017 from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA in Animation.

Nicholas Leysens

Title Assistant Professor
Department Animation
Phone 216.421.7000

Courses  Specialized Animation Production | Storyboarding & Sequential Art

Degree BFA, Laguna College of Art & Design

Nick Leysens is a Storyboard Artist / Animator with 8 years professional working experience in TV shows, promotions, and music videos. Through his years of work, he has worked with Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, Shadow Machine, Cinemax, Adult Swim, and Fox.

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Robert Lauer

Title Adjunct Faculty
Department Animation
Phone 216.421.7000

Courses  BFA Thesis + Exhibition | Game Media Production IV

Degree BFA, Cleveland Institute of Art

Robert Lauer completed his BFA in game design at the Cleveland Institute of Art. He has freelanced for companies like Bio Enterprise and Halo Media Works and taught animation courses to high school students through the Center for Arts Inspired Learning. Robert has a passion for teaching, and frequently conducts game design workshops and lectures on the history of game design.

Lauer continues to teach through CAL and currently works as the Creative Director for 360 Alley; an Augmented Reality design company.

Outside of his work as a director, Robert works diligently to grow the game development community, serving as an organizer with the Cleveland Game Developers. He has had his independent work exhibited at various venues including the Akron Art Museum, GDEX, and the Cleveland Maker Faire.

Student Growth: Daniel Johnson

Featured Student Work view all

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