Student Awards

After receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration from her university in Nepal, Alisha is now a full-time student enrolled in the Applied Arts Animation two-year program at the Victoria College of Art. At an early age she was motivated to explore the world and express her feelings through drawing and other forms of art. She came to Canada in 2016, enrolling in VCA simply as a means of improving her drawing skills. She was amazed to discover that her passion for drawing could lead to a career in 2D animation, a path and a profession that she is now pursuing with intention and delight.

As part of her community involvement, Alisha has been working on a character design project for production that is due in April 2020 for Oral Cancer Awareness. She has assisted at VCA events during their school year including the “Animation Talent Showcase Evening” held every July.

Animation today is somewhat different from the presentations with which many of us were familiar. Alisha has already absorbed the Harmony Toon Boom software program, which is now the industry “standard”. It’s “goodbye” to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and “hello” Alisha. What’s up now? The bursary will go towards art supplies, a drawing tablet and animation software.

Alana will be entering her second year in the Applied Arts Animation Program at the Victoria College of Art in the fall of 2021. Hard-working and organized, Alana is seen to possess great potential. Besides her artistic ability, writes her Department, she also displays those personal qualities that are so important to being a part of a team. In a profession that can make enormous demands on its employees, everyone must learn to work collaboratively together in order to meet the demands of animation.

Alana has demonstrated her energy and desire for involvement during a year when so many activities and events to which she wished to contribute were closed down due to the pandemic. While there were no annual Animation Community events, she volunteered and worked with children, creating costumes and masks, in camp programs and holiday events at Arrowvale Campground near her community of Port Alberni.

Her interest in storyboarding and characterization design have been well served by her love of drawing and of story-making. For now, Alana looks forward to continuing to learn from the “masters of their craft”, as she describes her teachers. But for her, witnessing her peers’ work and the opportunities for inspiration, advice and ideas that they all draw from one another, is foundational—the best kind of experience for a demanding career.

Sage Bennett is a visual artist based in Victoria but is originally from Vancouver. She is a visual artist specializing in canvas art, line art and illustration. She has been drawing since she was very young and is multifaceted in many artistic areas. Sage is also a mother and works hard inside of the Victoria community to create a safe space for the high risk population in supportive housing. She wears many hats during the day but is an artist at heart, and creating is her purpose and passion.