SCAD sends two teams to Disney Imaginations finals

Written by Eve Katz, Photos courtesy of Disney: Gary Krueger

Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) is the creative center where ideas for immersive experiences at all Disney locations are born. The Imagineers are the driving force behind the “Disney magic” that guests at any park, resort, attraction or cruise ship are sure to experience. WDI puts on an annual competition called Disney Imaginations where college students and recent graduates can compete to present their immersive experience creations to the Imagineers themselves.

Six teams were chosen as finalists in 2020’s Imaginations competition, including two teams from the Savannah College of Art and Design. They created projects entitled “Urban Jewel” and “Savannah Chora.”

“I think what’s so special for us is that we all consider ourselves storytellers, and we look at the industry and the leaders of storytelling at Disney, it’s an honor for us to create a concept for a company that we respect so much and that brings so much happiness to everyone,” said Maria Primera Darwich, Savannah Chora team leader.

“For this year’s prompt, we had to create an icon for our city. With Savannah being a historic city, there’s so much you can do, Darwich said. “For Savannah Chora, what we started to do was go to different parts of Savannah and different communities and interview people. We started going to local libraries and reading local books, and that’s how we found out that the Girl Scouts were founded here.”

The Urban Jewel project focused on the restoration of a public sqaure in Savannah and using that as a gathering space to create unity in the community.

“When we were looking for a site, we were looking for something that not only honor the past of Savannah but also we wanted to bring it into the future. We knew the importance of the squares in Savannah and that we could bring so much to that, not only by bringing back that life that Savannah had when the square was there, but also restoring it and bringing it into the future with different elements,” said Nayeli Delgadillo, Urban Jewel team member.

All projects needed to contain a visual or audio experience for potential guests and they had to be immersive. They had to create a sense of reality within their chosen space in order to bring in the theme and guests’ experience.

“One of the best things about immersive entertainment is how it can become such an authentic experience to an audience member,” said John Manos, team leader for the Urban Jewel project. “When we were designing [Urban Jewel], we really wanted to make an experience that could be immersive and could make people feel connected to that history and feel connected to Savannah as a whole. Our project evolved and became about the concept of unity: unifying the different groups of people in Savannah.”

Since the prompt for this year’s Imaginations competition revolved around creating an icon for a city, SCAD’s representatives had to be mindful and reflective upon their time in Savannah in order to develop a project that they could integrate into this unique community.

“I really like the Savannah environment; it has a lot of transitional architecture. Savannah is a rich place for me to draw in my sketchbook, from the architecture or the environment. It always inspires me on my projects,” said Haosong Chen, Savannah Chora member.

Besides Savannah’s physical environment, the locals are an important aspect to take into consideration when crafting a project meant to represent the city. “What makes Savannah really special is the diversity here. Even in our team alone, Nayelin is from the Dominican Republic, Chris is from Puerto Rico, I’m from Japan [and] John is from Chicago. This helps us bring together one of our big themes of bringing together a diverse group of people,” said Oki Honda, the illustrator for Urban Jewel.

The teams maintained their devotion to capturing the spirit of Savannah, and citizens of the city remained enthusiastic, helpful and welcoming towards the students.

“We were able to get support and guidance from the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia,” said Darwich. “We talked to them over the holidays to have them be part of a video. It’s incredible how quickly we were able to get support from the community, get to know the moms, the troop leaders, the people from the museums, everyone was just so willing to help. That’s not a common thing that you see in cities. We are just so honored to be part of a city that represents that human warmth, and that was the inspiration for our project.”

Walt Disney Imagineering prides itself on a diverse team that provides multiple perspectives on every project. Both teams from SCAD displayed a similar diversity, with each team member coming from a different background and area of study.

“The wonderful thing about working this way, with so many different majors, is that’s really how our industry works and how Disney Imagineering works,” Manos said. “The workflow is super multidisciplinary, and it was great to see how this project prepared us for that.”

After Urban Jewel and Savannah Chora presented to WDI, the Urban Jewel left with a third place award. Both teams truly represented the heart of Savannah and made their city proud.