An innovative and accessible contemporary art school based in Seattle, WA, Gage Academy of Art is unapologetically independent and fiercely committed to excellence in the fields of painting, drawing, sculpting, and printmaking. Each year Gage enrolls more than 3,000 adults and youth in ateliers, studio intensives, and youth programming and welcomes another 8,000 community members to our campuses, partner locations, and online for free lectures, free youth programs, community art programs, and family-friendly events.

The Annual Gage Gala raises funds for the school programs. This year the Gala was a hybrid event with an in-person and digital immersive experience. The event featured an online & in-person auction of artworks and experiences by local artists and community members.

I have been working with Gage Academy for two years now as an art director for their events, advertising, and marketing materials. For the 2022 Gala we created a Virtual Gallery with the VR company MXT Reality.

The concept was to create a unique, immersive experience for the at-home gala attendees to enjoy and view the artwork. I worked closely with the MXT Reality team to bring the Virtual Gallery to life. I designed several surreal environments for the gallery based off of a Bubble World concept I fleshed out with the Gage team. We wanted to create a bubble, magical world to house the virtual versions of the artwork featured in the Gala Art Auction.

I designed a storyboard of environment snapshots which created a path that the virtual gallery visitor would follow along and be able to view every piece of artwork featured in the gala art auction. Then, I worked with the MXT Reality team as the brought the still artwork in to the VR framework. It was a short deadline with us creating this entire virtual gallery in just six weeks.

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