Over the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of alumni from The Ohio State University created a design competition to allow students to develop their skills through a summer competition. Their first competition, which occurred over the summer of 2020, gave teams the task of designing a land for a theme park in Helena, Montana, with the central theme coming from one of twelve different artists. For the competition, I teamed up with three amazing individuals I had never met in person before. We all met virtually through the Themed Entertainment Student Discord. This is a platform for students interested in themed entertainment to socialize, connect, and develop. My team included:

• Jessica Goldberg: Multidisciplinary Engineering with a Concentration in Theatre Engineering at Purdue University 

• D’Angelo Reyes: Civil & Structural Engineering/Themed Entertainment Design/Theatrical Design Major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

• Mike Sturman: Construction Engineering and Management Major at Cal Poly Pomona

As evident through the various degrees and universities, none of us met in person for the entire competition. All file sharing was done via Google Drive, and meetings were held via Discord. This was a unique challenge, but reinforced time management and communication, two factors critical in any project. As a team, we decided to theme our land to the artwork of Yayoi Kusama.

For this project, I was the Project Lead for the Dark Ride, Beyond Pumpkins: INTO The Elements of Art, a one-of-a-kind dark ride that brings guests into the 7 elements of art. As the lead, I was responsible for creating the concept for the ride, the story of each showroom, and the design and mechanical functionality of the ride system. Additionally, I was the Project Assistant for the general land layout. As the assistant, I was responsible for creating CAD models for all the various scenery items throughout the land such as benches, fountains, tables, lamps, etc.  I also assisted with the SketchUp model as needed. I also was the Project Assistant for the nighttime light show: The Hymn of Life. I was responsible for creating the soundtrack for the show, utilizing my background playing music. Below is the presentation that was given to the judges of the competition. Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Gardens was awarded first place in the inaugural competition.