• by Larissa Faw , April 11, 2014

Talented creatives are hard to find which is why the University of Colorado, Boulder, developed BDW (formerly known as Boulder Digital Works), a 50-week graduate program designed with heavy agency input to prepare students to work for their companies.

Indeed, BDW was founded four and a half years ago jointly by the University of Colorado and CP+B, and initially funded by MDC Partners.

Now, the latest group of students are ready to demonstrate their abilities through RE:, an advertising event from April 30 to May 2 to be held simultaneously at Boulder Theater and the BDW studio. 

The RE: event features activities designed for both industry professionals and students. As such, the Creative Agency Crawl includes a tour of Boulder Based creative agencies, Victor & Spoils, Made Movement, School, and EVB and provides access to Boulder's thriving creative scene.

In addition, Evan Fry, Executive Director of Creative Development from CP+B will be leading a discussion at the BDW studio. And RE: will serve as a recruitment session for industry execs throughout the U.S. as BDW students will compete in design sprints through a one-hour design-driven “RE:brand.”

Still, RE:Veal is the feature event during RE:, taking place on May 1, that showcases projects and individual talent from BDW's program. This event is supported via a six-day art and digital communication project from artist Gary Hirsch, who will also serve as the host of this year's RE:.

Starting April 26, the Portland, Oregon-based artist will debut giant murals of monster-like creatures called bots on public wall space all around Boulder. Each bot is designed with an inspirational message such as joy, love, creativity, and dream. And these bots are super-sized to this event. Although there are more than 25,000 bots showcased in Hirsch's art projects across various cities, the majority of these installations feature small bots. These murals, however, will feature large bots. 

To complement these murals, the bots will be accompanied by an digital initiative serving as a set of operating instructions to encourages viewers to take digital photographs and videos in front of a bot and post their own personal answer with the hashtag #botstoriesboulder to questions like what brings them joy and what serves as their inspiration.