it’s been a bit over a month since the news came out that don perro passed away 😢 don was the founder of capilano university's animation programs, a good teacher, and deeply missed by so many
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lovely tribute. Don was so genuine of a person that you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who could speak ill of him. The right person to lead a school, to usher students into the next stage of their path, to foster community and respect and everything that came with. Don was one of a kind ♥
i graduated from the cap program in 2018, and the relationships my classmates and i had with don was a bit different than others because in my first year he was on a sabbatical to work on his book. but even in that absence, his name and influence was all throughout the program
capilano’s animation program stood out to me, not because of its accolades, but because when i looked into it as a choice for post-secondary education, all the grads i met were encouraging and had warm things to say about its culture and faculty
compared to bigger schools like emily carr, sheridan, calarts, artcenter, and so on- the ratio of good reviews to bitter and regretful ones was striking to me
at the time i was choosing schools, i hardly saw reviews that had strong warnings about choosing cap, when many more prolific schools came with a lot of warnings against things like overpriced tuition, overwork, abusive staff, etc
capilano’s not perfect either ofc- i think mileage varies greatly for any student going into any kind of schooling. cap’s program specifically prioritizes training people to work in the vancouver animation scene, its faculty are human, the workload can get intense, and so on
but here is what stood out to me when i was a student 7 years ago:
- the school has deep connections with the local animation scene, and weaves that into the program
- teachers didn’t pit students against each other or foster a culture of obvious favoritism
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this is such a lovely tribute and testiment to his legacy ❤️ I felt very similar about cap, it was the no-brainer choice for me because of the community that he created and his enthusiasm for Vancouver anim and teaching
yeah!!! i think for people that value learning in community, if they look for it at cap they'll find it there haha. technical resources, i can find that in all kinds of places... what i really wanted back then was friends to make art alongside, and teachers that encourage me :'^)
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- the school has deep connections with the local animation scene, and weaves that into the program
- teachers didn’t pit students against each other or foster a culture of obvious favoritism
(cont.)