Daemen College will unveil its new center for animation today at the Tri-Main Center on Main Street.

The private college in Amherst renovated 17,000 square feet of leased space on the fifth floor of the Tri-Main building to house its new animation program.

Daemen introduced a bachelor of fine arts in animation program in the fall in response to feedback from professionals in the industry, said Daemen President Edwin Clausen.

Animators are looking to hire graduates with a higher level of artistic training, Clausen said.

The field continues to grow, with films, television, video games and the Web all using animation.

“The industry is growing like nothing I’ve seen,” said Laura Watts Sommer, chair of Daemen’s visual and performing arts department. “Everything is animated.”

Scott Holmes — an accomplished animator whose film credits include “The Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers,” “Garfield” and “Stuart Little”—was hired as Daemen’s academic director of animation.

The college also is collaborating with the Buffalo-based company IBC Digital. The company — which has worked on projects for such clients as MTV and Disney — will share space in the new International Center for Excellence in Animation and give students valuable exposure to the industry.

IBC President Ben Porcari will serve as the director of industry for the animation center to help link students with companies in the animation business.

Porcari—whose company currently employs eight people — believes the relationship will help grow the animation industry in Buffalo, where the reasonable cost of living and studio space could encourage start-ups.

“The ground is fertile,” Porcari said.

The new animation program is a natural fit for Daemen’s visual and performing arts department, which includes programs in graphic design, applied design and illustration. The animation major currently enrolls 10 students, despite little advertisement or recruitment, Sommer said.

Daemen, expects to expand the program to about 100 to 125 students, adding about 25 people a year, she said.

The space for the International Center for Excellence in Animation was renovated to include five studios, three editing rooms, a library and video library, as well as an 80-seat screening room.

The opening event will run from 6 p. m. to 9 p. m. today in Suite 530 of the Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main St.

jrey@buffnews.comnull