SVA’s Computer Arts Community Shines At SIGGRAPH 2025

This summer, MFA Computer Arts headed west to contribute to, participate in, and volunteer within a community of industry experts at the computer graphics and interactive techniques conference, SIGGRAPH 2025. Hosted in Vancouver, Canada, the department was represented in person by five student volunteers, as well as through contributions to panels and presentations from alumni, faculty, and staff members.

Student volunteers Ronnie Ahlborn, Zachary Dresher, Akshita Yadav, Hyeonghoo Cho, and Euijin Lee spent the week assisting with operations and gaining an inside scoop from some of the conference’s exhibitors.

First-time attendee and student volunteer Ronnie Ahlborn shared their experience: “Prior to attending, I wasn’t very familiar with SIGGRAPH, but in SV orientation, they quickly explained all the intricacies of AMC and SIGGRAPH. I was extremely inspired by much of the work I saw, and it was an amazing opportunity to meet many of the people whose Art Paper presentations I had watched and ask further questions.” They were excited to meet so many new people coming from a variety of branches of digital art and computer graphics.

Hyeonghoo Cho reflected on how different the real experience was from what they had seen through photos or videos prior to the conference. The scale, density, and the way multiple fields and programs occurred at the same time created a dynamic and complex atmosphere in unexpected ways. He mentioned, “It felt closer to stepping into a living ecosystem than attending a typical conference.”

As a Creative Technologist at the conference, MFA Computer Arts 2024 alumnus Justin Dormitzer assisted with the Computer Animation Festival (CAF) Pre-Show committee. Justin connected with Dawn Fidrick, the director of SIGGRAPH CAF 2025 and a fellow MFACA alum, in March 2025, and they worked together for the next five months to develop a show that blended dance, traditional Coast Salish artwork, and real-time AI graphics.

The pre-show revolved around an artwork titled Protector by Coast Salish artist Maynard Johnny Jr., depicting an orca whale saving a child who capsizes while canoeing in a storm. Johnny narrated the story of his artwork while dancers told the story through movement on stage. On a video screen behind them, Justin and the team generated imagery of the story using StreamDiffusion, a real-time implementation of Stable Diffusion. Both the original artwork and a live video feed of the dancers were used as inputs for the AI model, allowing them to gradually add generative AI content and switch between inputs seamlessly.

Assistant Director for Innovation Technologies, Rochele Gloor, attended SIGGRAPH this year, supporting faculty member Michael Gold during his presentations and helping student volunteers connect with professionals of interest, as well as attending networking events together.

MFACA’s involvement at SIGGRAPH — as attendees, active participants, and student volunteers — was fruitful and inspiring, providing direct exposure to the computer arts and animation industry.

Located in the creative hub of New York City, the School of Visual Arts is situated in the artistic core of the East Coast. Thanks to its diverse students and industry-active faculty, emerging artists can readily begin forming strong professional connections. When it comes to building networks and planting roots outside of classrooms, SVA’s MFA Computer Arts department has forged a strong community that empowers recent graduates to broaden their impact and thrive alongside thousands of alumni across the globe.