Way to Go! Julia Farley of Glen Cove
Glen Cove High School senior Julia Farley with Tom Cardone, art director of Blue Sky Studios, at the studios in Greenwich, Connecticut. Credit: Glen Cove School District
A Glen Cove High School senior who created an award-winning animation about self-acceptance was rewarded recently with a private tour of a prominent Connecticut film studio.
Julia Farley won Best in Show at the 2016 Long Island Media Art Show and first place in her category at the 2016 LIU Post Student Film Festival for her 90-second animation titled “Pretty.”
She used more than 200 still frames and the software ArtRage 3 to create the work, based upon a poem she wrote as a sophomore.
“I wanted to make something meaningful that would impact students with poor self-image,” said Farley, 16. “I’m blown away by how much people like it.”
Glen Cove TV production teacher Chris Barry sent it to his friend Tom Cardone, art director of Blue Sky Studios, known for its franchises “Ice Age” and “Rio.” Cardone, who called the work “really sophisticated and well-done,” invited the student to tour the studio’s headquarters.
Farley started sketching and drawing in middle school and later took six semester-long classes at Long Island Academy of Fine Art in Glen Cove. She has created some 20 animations in her free time.
A Girl Scout, she is secretary of her school’s Model UN, vice president of the select chorale, Yearbook Club editor, and a member of the National Honor Society, DECA and Ski Club.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
