“Litter Bug” is an art show created by USI alumna Kayla Allen. It is on display in the Virginia Thomas Memorial Gallery until Aug. 22.
The film and show are about Cheyenne befriending a “magical guardian of the woods named Farley.” Cheyenne works with him to try to stop her father, who owns a logging company, from destroying the forest.
When writing about the inspiration for the show, Allen wrote that it was inspired by both the modern “political landscape” and the “educational and moral shows” she grew up watching.
“Something that is political today that should never have been political, is the issue of climate change and deforestation,” wrote Allen. “We’ve ended up in a bad cycle of making the planet worse and then hoping the future generation will fix what we caused.”
She hopes that her story discusses this topic in a way that is accessible to all audiences.
As for why she chose to animate it, she was always interested in animation, and it became the reason behind her decision to attend college.
“Entering into what was my final year of college without ever having a big chance to dabble into that was disappointing for me,” wrote Allen. “I really didn’t have anything to lose so I applied for the endeavor grant to support getting outside education to learn how to do animation and got accepted!”
The show was created with funding from USI’s Endeavor Awards and was meant to be displayed in the Endeavor Symposium.
Allen explained, “Due to the fact that my project went on for much longer than a normal endeavor grant, there ended up being issues with me being able to showcase my work in the symposium.”
She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to display her show in the Virginia Thomas Memorial Gallery. She added that she wished she could have added the costs of creating a gallery show to her grant proposal.
“It can get kind of expensive really quickly – had I known I was going to showcase my work here, I would have added that into my endeavor funds,” wrote Allen.
Still, Allen is proud of what she was able to do with the space and especially with the whimsical decor.
Allen’s passion for the project is apparent even as it wraps up.
“I miss having all those pieces in my home,” she wrote. “It’s been more difficult to work on the film without its origins surrounding me!”
She is excited to finish the film and to showcase a fully 3D animated film one day.
“In an ideal world, the 3D animation would be fully finished and you would be able to sit and watch the entire film, surrounded by all the work that went into making it,” wrote Allen.
