Major Animation
I dream of designing relatable characters that come alive inside worlds of my own imagination.
Entertain, Inspire and Educate
Breathe life into characters and worlds of your own creation. Unleash your imagination and bring joy to fans and audiences. Challenge the norms and redefine what is possible in the realm of visual storytelling.
Why animation at CIA?
Art and technology collide to shape the future of animation in CIA’s state-of-the-art facilities. From digital video to motion-capture systems, green-screen studios to drawing tablets, ignite your creativity in a space designed for innovation. And don’t forget the render farm. It will support all your wildest ideas and stories.
Imagine animating in an extended reality (XR) studio or testing your video game concept in an in-house arcade. All this and more will come to life in our Interactive Media Lab, opening in Spring 2025.
Combined, your animation professors have over 20 feature film credits, 200 TV episodes, 100 TV series, 300 digital productions and expertise in nearly every aspect of animated production. There is always someone available that can answer your questions.
Disney Connection
CIA grads have worked for Disney since its early years. Some early alums like David Hilberman, who studied at CIA in the 1930s, worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Today, we have students who spend their summers interning at Disney and then graduate to continue working with them. Zharia Rahn ’21 is a prop and character designer for Disney Television Animation.
Student Experience
Chase Leidy ‘23 is a 3D Artist at NASA Glenn Research Center. He has completed 3 previous internships with NASA. For his first internship, he created an animation for the Lunar Surface Propagation (LSP) project that would simplify intricate scientific concepts for a wider audience. Read more
Zharia Rahn ‘21 is a Prop and Character Designer at Disney Television Animation. She has worked on the shows Chibiverse, Chibi Tiny Tales and show-style song shorts.
Ty Scott ‘20 is a Designer/Animator for the Cleveland Guardians. He creates graphic content for the team’s social media and designs scoreboard animations. Read more
Alex Marek ‘19 is currently a Motion Graphics Designer for American Greetings. He has previously worked for Sesame Workshop as a 2D Animator, where he assisted with 1-minute PSA videos for COVID-19 awareness.
Derrick Nau ‘13 recently started as a CG Texture Lead for Sony Pictures Animation. He previously worked for Dreamworks Animation and worked on films such as Trolls World Tour, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and Kung Fu Panda 4.
Meet Faculty
Lincoln Adams
Associate ProfessorLincoln Adams has worked for 20 years as an illustrator, storyboard artist and designer. His projects have included magazines, television shows, character design, book covers, and greeting cards and was…
View profileRobert Lauer
Visiting Assistant ProfessorRobert 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…
View profileAnthony Scalmato
Associate ProfessorAnthony Scalmato has created more than 100 published works which have been viewed on television, web and mobile devices. Before joining CIA, Scalmato worked as a Senior Creative Developer at…
View profileJeff Simonetta
Assistant ProfessorJeff Simonetta began his path into animation by attending Bowling Green State University. While attending Jeff was active as the chair of the BGSU ACM SIGGRAPH Student chapter for two…
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