by Jennifer Tipton
Stuart Goldman’s love of photography was greatly influenced by his grandfather when he was still quite young. Stuart’s grandfather spent greater than 20 years teaching in China and Japan pre-war era and was later taken prisoner of war in Japan during the war, he was in the first exchange of prisoners.
The stories and paintings done by Stuart’s grandfather to tell his story greatly inspired young Stuart to capture memories as well by taking his very own “little camera box” with him everywhere, that is when he could mow enough lawns to buy the film he says. Stuart accounts this for awakening his love for photography, video and writing as well, he sees it as a technique to communicate these stories and goes on to say that “communication is so vital to understanding and growth.”
Initially hired as one of the Directors of Admissions in 2003, Stuart Goldman was promoted to the first Dean (Director of Academic Affairs) at The Brooks Institute, Ventura Campus (since shuttered). During his tenure as Dean, he would constantly receive calls from students from other colleges, professionals in the industry, and from amateurs interested in short courses, seminars and workshops. With each call, he would have to tell them no, Brooks didn’t offer these types of courses. This started the process of Stuart creating a school designed to fill the void.
Stuart left Brooks in 2006, and in 2007 after much research, developing a business plan, establishing a faculty base and formulating financial projections, he created the beginnings of his own school. He says he knows that much has changed in the field of technology since that time.
Stuart believes that now the best way to reach a large volume of potential students is through an online approach and has amassed over 1,200 contributing faculty from around the world in the media arts to include photography, film, visual journalism, networking, employment, competitive festivals and psychology of communication.
The business model is a subscription based online program and he reports he’s working with a network that has the capability of streaming to over 2 billion mobile devices around the world at any one time.
He’s calling it “Masters Institute of Media Arts” and he’s seeking those “who understand the benefits of knowledge and the ability of creating the opportunity to bring cultures together by communicating and understanding more effectively through knowledge, and creating a more global vision.”
For more information contact Stuart at [email protected].
