The partnership between University of Wisconsin and TAMK has now been extended to involve Fine Art and Media. Professor Kevin Pontuti will participate in our International Week and Tampere Art Factory in April. We asked him to introduce himself and his department:


I am a transmedia artist and photographer currently in my 2nd year of teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. I received my MFA from Syracuse University in 1993. Presently, I teach Digital Narrative, Animation, Video and Digital Painting courses, as well as, the Senior Project course for our Multimedia Design Concentration.

Prior to moving to Wisconsin, I lived in Los Angeles for 13 years where I founded Studio P Inc., a digital art production studio that collaborated with Advertising Agencies, Entertainment Studios, Artists, Designers, Galleries and Museums to create a wide range of art and media related projects.

My creative research, pedagogical and curricular interests include transmedia narrative and entertainment design, primarily within animation, digital cinema, photography and games. I am currently developing and producing a number of projects including a short film, a motion comic, as well as, a continuous stream of photography related projects.

I am pleased to be participating in the TAMK School of Art and Media International Week. One of the main goals for my trip will be to explore exchange opportunities and to look for ways to foster collaboration between our respective universities. I’m also very excited to see what the students at TAMK School of Art and Media are up to and learn about their creative interests, as well as, the interests of the faculty. This will be my first trip to Finland and I greatly look forward to visiting Tampere.

UW-Stout, is located in Menomonie, Wisconsin, which is about an hours drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul. As a member of the University of Wisconsin System, one of the largest systems of public higher education in our country, UW-Stout is a Polytechnic University that offers of 40 undergraduate and 17 graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines.

The Department of Art and Design is one of the largest units on the UW-Stout campus with a fall 2010 enrollment of 887 students, providing a 4 year Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with 5 concentrations: Studio Art, Multimedia Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design and Graphic Design. We also recently added a new and very popular Game Design and Development major, which is taught in collaboration with our Computer Science Department. We’re launching a new MFA in Design Program, which will start in 2012.

Kevin Pontuti
Assistant Professor
Department of Art and Design
University of Wisconsin - Stout
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Tampere Art Factory
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