During the Spring of 2020, Bowling Green State University students produced animated public service announcements for non-profit organizations that focused on the environment. The ARTC 4410 Collaborative Digital Arts Development class taught by Professor Bonnie Mitchell from the Digital Arts Division in the School of Art invited representatives (clients) from four organizations to lecture on important environmental issues and discuss their organization’s goals. Green Energy Ohio, Freshwater Future, the Black Swamp Conservancy and the BGSU Office of Campus Sustainability all participated. The students brainstormed possible ideas and created storyboards which were sent to the clients for review. The organizations selected the storyboard that would best communicate their message and then the students formed teams and began animating.
The goal of this class was to “teach students real-world skills and how to work as a team to produce animations that had the potential to make a positive difference in the world”. Mitchell believed that with climate change and environmental problems playing such a major role in defining the future these students will inherit, it was imperative that students became aware of the issues. She wanted to empower them to use their creativity and animation skills to help create a clean, livable world for everyone.