‘Game Changers: Women Making Games’ at Moore

Three years after launching a major in Animation & Game Arts (AGA), the only visual arts college for women in the US sees its “Game Changers: Women Making Games” panel on February 25 as a crucial career crossroads for its students — and a free event for anyone interested in what women are bringing to the gaming industry.

Moore College of Art & Design’s AGA program launched in 2013, “designed for women who want to pursue careers as visual artists in the fields of animation, game art and mobile media design,” an industry that has been extremely male-dominated for the past two decades. Moore hopes to help close that gender gap with this program, and stay on the cutting edge of arts-based industries. And the major has been getting more popular: in 2014, eight students had declared an AGA major. Now, that number is close to 30.

According to Moore, the panel will explore women’s roles in the contemporary game and mobile industry, and the future of the field at large. It’s the third year for the event, and a networking meet-the-artists reception will follow the panel, as well as classroom visits the following day from the speakers.

The school notes that it’s an especially important year for the panel: the first AGA majors are now juniors finding the internships they’ll need this summer, and the event should yield important connections for this next generation of artists and designers.

“It’s very important to me that the students get out of their comfort zone and speak to professionals working in the field,” says AGA instructor Stephen Wood.

The discussion will be moderated by Alison Carrier, a UI/UX Designer (that’s “User Interface” and “User Experience”) with mobile game studio Red Crow Austin, of Electronic Arts. The event will feature three speakers: Nicole Kline, Amanda Renfroe, and Kat Webster.

Kline is an analog game designer, writer, and editor. She’s the co-designer of the card game RESISTOR_, from Cardboard Fortress Games (which raised over $23,000 for the concept through Kickstarter last year), a Geekadelphia contributor, the co-founder of Game Makers Guild Philadelphia, and much more. The Florida-based Renfroe is a 3D character animator (specializing in facial animation) at Steamroller Studios. Webster is another 3D character artist, and she’s working on BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic.

“Game Changers: Women Making Games” is coming to Moore College of Art & Design, 20th Street and the Parkway, on Thursday, February 25 from 6-8pm. The event is free and open to the public, but online reservations are required. The conversation will also be live-streamed at moore.edu/gamechangers.