2026/27 Merit Scholarship Recipient: Nico Gomez Fisher

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

The focus on Animation specifically, the technology resources employed to ensure students are up to date with industry standards and prepared for life after graduation, and the small college environment where my professors are able to give students the attention and encouragement necessary to succeed.

How/why did you choose your area of study?

I love film. I love comics. Animation is the cross between both, a triumph of the imagination and human collaboration.

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

My first film submitted was my stop motion short, "Ya Chupo Faros," which was a life flashing before deaths eyes as it prepares to cut the string of fate. I used life action footage green screened in of my travels in South East Asia during my study abroad, as well as footage of my family and friends from the past year, to build a stronger narrative of life before it ends.

Next was "Trash Day," a rigging animation using live action footage and claymation strata cutting, about a boy flipping through radio stations as the news gets darker and more terrifying, all from recent events happening in the US and specifically Minnesota, as he and his uncle drive to the local land fill to illegally dump their trash after missing the garbage bill. My final film was my sophomore film, "Honk," which was the very first 2D animated film I completed, about a clown who finds a baby in the sewers in a "one mans trash is an other mans treasure" whimsical adventure.

What are your plans for your senior year? And beyond?

I am completing my senior thesis film, "Thunderstruck: A Journey Though The Aztec Deathwords" as of now, which will be an exoerimental Dante's Inferno style story told through 2D and Stop Motion. After graduation I plan on applying to grad school for my Masters degree.

Favorite thing about college life (so far)?

Professors who believe in me

What inspires your creative self?

Rage at the industrial war machine and spite to prove myself.

What's the best ting you've found on the Free Shelf?

Loaf of bread.

Lastly, do you have a favorite question we didn't ask? Tell us and answer it!

What is your room/studio on campus? The Library!