The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute awarded the Love Every Minute of Your Life — Kylie B. Park Artist Award to Sydney Ostendorf and Rachel Buzarde for the 2022-23 academic year.
“We are encouraged and inspired by the ways our students support the creative vision of the Lassonde community,” said Anne Bastein, program director at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. “This award is a way to acknowledge their artistic work and the positive impact it has on the Lassonde community.”
This annual award was established in memory of University of Utah student Kylie Park to support and recognize the work of creative, artistic students in the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute community. Park shared her passion and brought joy to many by creating inspirational art on the whiteboards throughout Lassonde Studios. Her final art creation can be found printed on one of the walls in the lobby.
Sydney Ostendorf is a film and media arts student and founder of No Society Films. She has produced marketing videos for the Lassonde Institute as a freelance contributor.
“My artistic passion is filmmaking,” Ostendorf said. “Through the film and media arts program, I have become an established cinematographer and have worked as a director of photography on ten student productions. Under my production company, No Society Films, I have written and produced two original short films.”
She added, “Living at Lassonde made me want to start my own company and turn my love of art into a career. I am very thankful that I was able to live in a space meant to encourage and assist young entrepreneurs and creators. Being in that environment, you can’t help but feel inspired.”
Rachel Buzarde is an Entertainment Arts and Engineering (EAE) student and current Lassonde Studios resident. Buzarde shares her art with the community on whiteboards across Lassonde Studios.
“l always knew I wanted to pursue art,” Buzarde said. “I came to the U to join the EAE program, a video game creation degree that combines computer programming and digital art. I’m really interested in character design and would like to work in game design in the future.
“I’ve been producing art at Lassonde for about three semesters. One of the first times I did a whiteboard, someone on my floor took a picture and showed it to the rest of the floor, without even knowing I did it. It makes me happy knowing that people enjoy my art and can maybe get inspired by what I do.”
In addition to the Love Every Minute of Your Life — Kylie B. Park Artist Award, five students received the Launch Your Imagination — Kylie B. Park Memorial Scholarship. They are Abigail Cheney, Nicole Duckering, Lauren Lay, Kaden Meza, and Cynthia Wang.
These annual awards were established in 2020 through gifts from Kylie’s parents, Ryan and Melissa Park, with contributions from the David Eccles School of Business.
Learn more about the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and ways to get involved as an artist at https://lassonde.utah.edu/directory
