By Idyllwild Arts Academy
Contributed

The intention of Idyllwild Arts Academy’s InterArts department to teach artists “to collaborate, to innovate, to be entrepreneurs and to be adaptable and resilient, as well as socially aware.” This will be embodied by Jackson Bujnosek at his Friday night Nov. 15 IDYTalk at the Idyllwild Town Gallery.
“I’m interested in visual arts,” Bujnosek says. “But I also have broad interests outside of visual arts.”
Broad interests are to be expected in a family that features both a mathematician — Bujnosek’s father, who teaches at Mount St. Mary’s University, in Los Angeles — and a creative writer. The creative writer is Bujnosek’s sister Bailey, who will graduate from Idyllwild Arts Academy along with him next May.
The InterArts department permits students to develop interdisciplinary interests. Bujnosek’s favorite courses during his two-plus years at the academy have included theatrical production taught by Department Chair Abbie Bosworth.
“We learned how to do all the theatrical behind-the-scenes stuff,” Bujnosek says. “Actors need sets, and we built them.”
But another favorite course was electronics for artists taught by Braden Diotte, a walking example of interdisciplinary interests since he belongs to both the mathematics and music faculties.
“That class was fun,” Bujnosek says. “I built a board studded with lights and the lights would flash in time to music.”
A common denominator of theatrical production and electronics for artists is the chance to build things that each class provided. Bujnosek will probably attend College of the Desert next year. However, down the line he plans to transfer to the University of San Diego whose “really good architecture program” should help him satisfy his love of building.
“I’ve been interested in architecture since I was nine,” Bujnosek said. “It started with video games.”

Grown from the seed of video games
Video games appear to be all about motion. So, for video games to provoke a fascination with the stable structures commonly associated with architecture may seem surprising. But video game characters, like actors — like all of us on the stage of the world making our exits and entrances as we play our many parts — need sets to move through.
“In middle school, one of my teacher’s introduced me to SketchUp,” Bujnosek continues.
SketchUp is a three-dimensional-modeling computer program with drawing applications for interior design and landscape architecture as well as to the traditional discipline of architecture.
As he explains his interest in architecture, Bujnosek’s affinity for the InterArts commitment to social awareness becomes clear.
“I like the idea of designing experiences for theme parks,” said Bujnosek. “You can see how the lightboard that I built for electronics for artists would connect to that. But that would only be a sideline architectural interest for me. I’m mainly interested in residential architecture.”
It doesn’t sound exciting at first. Then he elaborates.
“My mother was a high school teacher until she stopped working to take care of my older brother Beck, who’s severely autistic. She and the rest of us in our family are able to give my brother the love and care he needs. As an architect, I’d like to do something else — design housing that would satisfy the needs of people like Beck.”
Bujnosek and his sister have already organized two fundraisers for autism-related causes. Given their devotion to Beck, additional fundraisers seem inevitable.
Another thing that seems inevitable is that more students like Bujnosek will graduate from Idyllwild Arts Academy. The academy wishes to educate young people who aspire to be citizen-artists and who understand that the attainment of artistic excellence can lead to something of greater value than fame.
Meet a young man on his way to a beautiful fulfillment of the citizen-artist ideal at Bujnosek’s Nov. 15 IDYTalk at the Idyllwild Town Gallery, 54425 N. Circle Dr. The talk is free and open to the public.