Breadcrumb
Careers & Alumni
With a strong foundation in critique, history, and technique, our students are highly prepared for their futures as a positive force in contemporary society.
Art students find a strong foundation in advanced verbal and written communication skills. Students use visual information to inform and explain ideas, problems, events, and people. They also learn to find necessary sources by analyzing, compiling, and organizing ideas within materials.
Film students demonstrate fundamental aesthetically driven technical skills essential to media production and develop films grounded in ethical storytelling. They apply creative problem solving and collaborative practices in their work. Students analyze global film studies and synthesize knowledge through the creation and completion of short films.
Potential Career Paths
The following list is not meant to be all inclusive and some positions may require further education.
- Advertising Designer
- Animator
- Art Appraiser
- Art Center Director
- Art Conservator
- Art Director
- Art Handler
- Art Therapist
- Artist Assistant
- Audio Engineer (Production and Post Production)
- Cinematographer
- Community Programs Director
- Conservator
- Creative Director
- Director
- Display Designer
- Drafter
- Editor (Film/TV)
- Editor (Book, File, Media)
- Exhibit Designer
- Fashion Designer
- Furniture Designer
- Freelance Artist
- Gallery Director
- Graphic Designer
- Grip/Gaffer
- Illustrator
- Interior Designer
- Industrial Designer
- Jeweler
- Landscape Architect
- Marketing Director
- Metal Fabricator
- Museum/Gallery Curator
- Photographer
- Potter
- Producer
- Product Designer
- Production Audio Mixer
- Screenwriter
- Set/Stage Designer
- Sound Designer
- Teacher
- Visual Effects Artist
Meet our Alumni
Alumni Updates
Victor Hernandez
Art, 2007
Victor Hugo Hernandez ('07), inventor of the ErgoFlex Desk, is excited to announce the upcoming launch of his Kickstarter campaign for the first AI-powered ergonomic desk. The ErgoFlex Desk, designed to sit, stand, tilt, and glide, was inspired by Victor’s passion for innovative design, which began during his time at Cal Poly Humboldt. After moving back to Southern California to care for his mother, Victor returned to school to refine his idea, leading to a patented design that enhances health and productivity. Recently featured on How I Built This, Victor’s journey showcases the impact of Cal Poly’s hands-on learning approach.
Harris Fogel
Art Master of Arts, 1982, 1984
Harris Fogel is a staff writer and photographer for Copper Magazine in Boulder, CO. Fogel has authored a monograph called "The Wonder Years 1988–1991, Photographs by Harris Fogel," published in 2017 and revised in 2024, and "Helmut Remiorz, Color 1969–1974, Photographs by Helmut Remiorz,” released January 2023. He presented a lecture on the exhibition "About Who? Andy Warhol" at the Passagen Linköping Art Gallery in Sweden in March 2024. Additionally, he is the publisher of Mac Edition Radio and participated in "Plutonium & Silver - The Atomic Photographers Guild (APG)/Imaging The Nuclear Condition" in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2024.
Rebecca Beard
Art, 2001
Rebecca Beard ('01, Art) is currently on the Privacy Leadership Team at Meta where she focuses on Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Device spaces. She leads a team of global managers who develop privacy practices to protect users' data in the development of the Metaverse. She completed her MBA from SFSU and EMBA from Yale.
Brian Benfer
Art, 2000
Brian Benfer ('00, Studio Art) was named a Fulbright Scholar and Associate Professor of Art at the Art Academy of Latvia. His research revisits the history of the exchange program between the Art Academy of Latvia and Cal Poly Humboldt, one facilitated by the late Latvian-American Sculpture Professor, Maris Benson. Living in Riga, Latvia during the invasion of Ukraine, he also co-authored a publication with Dr. Courtney Queen on the impact of the occupation on the local community.
Jenna MacFarlane
Art, 2002
Jenna MacFarlane ('02, Studio Art) moved to the east coast in 2005 and since that time has owned a marketing company. In early 2022, she published her first novel entitled "Hardware Stories," and has since released an award-winning feature called "Adopting Audrey" nationwide.
Brittany Britton
Art, 2012
Brittany Britton ('12, Art) received her Master of Fine Arts in Craft from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2015. Britton moved back home to Humboldt County and worked as an Art History lecturer at the College of the Redwoods at the Klamath-Trinity Instructional Site in Hoopa. From 2018 to 2020 Britton was the Curator/Registrar of the Native American Collection at the Clarke Historical Museum. In June 2020 Britton became the Gallery Director of the Reese Bullen and Goudi'ni Native American Arts Galleries at Humboldt State University.
Pamela Schwartz
Art, 1994
Pamela Schwartz recently started a business working freelance as a presentation design specialist at www.butterflypam.com. A Powerpoint design pro, Schwartz specializes in helping business present a professional presentation. Schwartz also still paints and has a thriving art career.
Gloria Miranda
Art, 2008
Gloria's most recent accomplishment is that she is now a recent graduate from Claremont Graduate University Masters of Science in Information Systems Technology in Data Science as well as a Masters of Business for the Arts through Sotheby's Institute of Art at Claremont Graduate University.
Brittany Britton
Art, 2012
Brittany Britton, Art, 2012 received her Master of Fine Arts in Craft from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2015. Britton moved back home to Humboldt County and worked as an Art History lecturer at College of the Redwoods at the Klamath-Trinity Instructional Site in Hoopa. From 2018 to 2020 Britton was the Curator/Registrar of the Native American Collection at the Clarke Historical Museum. In June, 2020 Britton became the Gallery Director to the Reese Bullen and Goudi'ni Native American Arts Galleries at Humboldt State University.
Barbara Muskat
Art, 1975
Barbara Muskat, Art, 1975, has been teaching in a public school setting for the last 26 years. She taught as a secondary art teacher and for the last 15 years taught kindergarten where she includes the arts in many ways. Muskat will be retiring at the end of the 2020 school year.