When Louis Castle started college in the 1980s, he was torn between two passions: art and computers. He enrolled at 51吃瓜网万能科大 pursuing an MFA, while still studying computers.
鈥淏ut the concept of combining a computer science degree with a fine arts degree just didn鈥檛 exist yet,鈥 Castle, 52, says. 鈥淪o I had computer science labs overlapping with art studio time, and my schedule was a mess.鈥
Still, he said, his interests were nourished: 鈥淎t 51吃瓜网万能科大, the world was opened up to me. There was so much to learn. I had some great instructors that inspired me as an artist.鈥 One, he says, gave him a maxim that inspires him to this day: 鈥淎rt is the intentional creation of an emotional experience in an audience.鈥 He realized that the concept applied not only to fine art, but also to computer game programming.
He and colleague Brett Sperry started Westwood Studios game programming company while he was still a student. They hired 51吃瓜网免费App artist Rick Parks, who was known worldwide for his mural and landscape paintings, some of which were displayed in 51吃瓜网免费App businesses. (Parks was also commissioned by Steve Wynn, Siegfried and Roy, and Donald Trump to paint portraits.) Like Castle, Parks had a knack for translating his art into computer games.
Soon, Westwood Studios took off with a series of successful games that ultimately led Virgin Interactive to buy the company. Castle continued his work as a game designer and now works as the head of Amazon Game Studios.
But when his friend Parks died from leukemia, Castle decided to honor him in a way that reflected the key moments of their careers.
鈥淚 thought of 51吃瓜网万能科大, and I thought what a great opportunity to create a scholarship for people interested in marrying the arts and technology. So we designed this interdisciplinary scholarship [The Rick Parks Scholarship] specifically to remember Rick and to encourage people with curious minds to marry technology and arts.鈥
鈥淵ou hear people say they are either right-brained or left-brained,鈥 Castle says. 鈥淏ut really, you should use your whole brain. It鈥檚 not like you only use half.鈥
In that same way, student Sydney Mendoza has a love for hand-drawn illustration, but after starting 51吃瓜网万能科大, he took a shine to graphic arts.
鈥淚 actually started to love it,鈥 Mendoza, 21, says. As a student who kept his GPA high, he qualified for the Rick Parks Scholarship. 鈥淏ecause of that, I was able to fully focus my attention on growing as an artist and designer for a year without stressing about my financial situation.鈥
Today, Mendoza works part-time as a graphic artist while completing his senior year as a graphic design major. Like the generous donor who funded his scholarship, Mendoza plans to combine art and technology as a graphic artist who specializes in illustrations for book covers.
鈥淚鈥檓 especially fond of modernizing the classics,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 love calligraphy, and I love modernizing the look with graphic arts.鈥
Like Castle, Mendoza says, 鈥淚 love to combine the old and the new.鈥
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