Margo Drew was named the winner of the category, accepting the award at the Concept Art Awards Celebration.

Illustration faculty member Sean Murray led the charge of entries for this competition in Spring 2024 and assisted students in selecting their best work to enter for consideration of a nomination. 

Faculty members Michael Marsicano and Dominick Saponaro were asked to present an award category at the Saturday night ceremony. They also hosted a Ringling Illustration exhibitor table, along with Illustration students, Alyssa Chau, Lauren Avila Santana, and award winner Margo Drew.

Two ������Ƶ Illustration students—Margo Drew ’25 and Sophia Andrade ’25—were selected as finalists in the 2024 for the Student: Character Finalists category. The awards are hosted by the Concept Art Association and celebrate professional, independent, and student work and include a Rising Star, LBX Luminary, Community Icon, and Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The annual Awards are judged by a panel of industry experts and recognize excellence in character, creature, vehicle/prop, environment, keyframe, color keys, and visual development.

Concept Art Awards entry work Circe Character Lineup by finalist and Illustration student Sophia Andrade.

Sophia Andrade is an aspiring character designer and visual development artist originally from Los Angeles, California. Currently enrolled as a senior at ������Ƶ, visual development and character design is her passion. Her selected work, Circe Lineup, was a project she designed for Warrior Art Camp’s ‘Dynamic Character Design’ with Anastasiia Platoshyna. It is based on the novel, Circe, by Madeline Miller, which explores themes of power, femininity, and transformation. The rest of the project can be seen on Andrade’s .

Margo Drew’s other award-winning work, Don’t Wake the Sleeping Dragon.

Margo Drew is an illustrator and concept artist also completing her senior year at ������Ƶ. Her work centers around creating whimsical illustrations with expressive characters. Drew’s CAA finalist work demonstrates her distinctive use of moody color, mid-century-inspired texture and style, and fantastical depictions of nature. 

To learn more about Margo, visit her and follow her .

The will be held on Saturday, October 26 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium during LightBox Expo.

is the ultimate gathering of artists who work in the entertainment industry, bringing your favorite films, animation, games, TV shows, and illustrations to life.

������Ƶ Illustration faculty and Admissions representatives will be attending the LightBox Expo this year. Ringling’s Illustration booth can be found on the Expo floor, and an Admissions rep will be available on Friday, October 25, at the Concept Art Association booth. The Expo will take place at the Pasadena Convention Center, Oct. 25-27, 2024.

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For the second consecutive year, Motion Design was ranked #1 in the world for Motion Graphics. The program has occupied top positions in the rankings almost every year and has celebrated three Rookie of the Year Awards over the last five years. The program grabbed #2 in the United States for Visual Effects, thanks to the work of MD faculty member Christian Huthmacher, who has worked hard to bring the program’s VFX work into the spotlight. They were also ranked  #11 in the World for 2D Animation, and #3 in the United States. Morgan Williams has been incorporating more hand-drawn elements alongside the 2D computer animation project assignments.  

Ringling’s 3D Computer Animation program once again ranked #1 in the United States for Production Excellence and #3 worldwide. They were also ranked #1 in the United States for Production Excellence in 3D Animation and #5 worldwide.

Virtual Reality Development was named #1 in the United States for Production Excellence in Immersive Media and #2 in the United States for Immersive Media. 

Game Art claims #2 in the United States for Game Design and Development. The College was also named #2 in the United States for Concept Art.  

These designations are especially significant today, as colleges all around the country face challenges and even close down. This achievement signifies the College’s resilience—������Ƶ is flourishing, dedicated to providing students with rigorous academics, cutting-edge technology, exceptional faculty, and state-of-the-art facilities, all enriched by valuable industry experience.

Since 2015, The Rookies have given trusted and industry-respected rankings, providing a reliable showcase of art institutions worldwide. Their official rankings are calculated based on the performance of students’ work submitted to their industry panel. According to The Rookies, “to formulate these rankings, we engaged industry-leading professionals to review student art portfolios based on criteria that encompass creative skills, technical proficiency, presentation quality, diversity of skills, project complexity, raw talent, and employment potential.” . 

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