It’s always great to hear positive feedback about our graduates, but it’s particularly fine when the kudos are so high. I’m referring to art director Irene Gallo’s comments on her blog http://igallo.blogspot.com/2009/08/cassandra-diaz.html about Cassandra Diaz IL’09. The story of how Irene “found” Cassandra is a little bit of a “Two Degrees of Separation” story. Cassandra, along with all our other senior students, participated in the Illustration Showcase in May where our students Skyped portfolio reviews with noted NY art directors. Irene Gallo was one of those art directors, but did not Skype with Cassandra — here is where it gets interesting. Images from Cassandra’s indy published comic Estrellita made their way via noted illustrator Sam Weber, who has taught part-time in the IL Dept., to Irene and now Cassandra is her new “art crush.” The intersection of our valued part-time teachers, the great things they have to say about our students, events like Showcase, the benefits of technology like Skype to get our graduates work in front of notable art directors and the enduring talent of our graduates makes for a perfect storm of success. Cassandra’s work has been included in the Society of Illustrators Student Competition and was a Zankel Scholars finalist in 2008. See her site at http://cassandradiaz.blogspot.com