Anthony Scalmato

Anthony Scalmato is an artist, visionary leader, and passionate educator. As the Department Chair of Animation and an Associate Professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA), he has played a pivotal role in building the animation program from the ground up. Anthony’s responsibilities included developing the program’s curriculum, staffing, assessment, and building external partnerships. He also led the design and renovation of a new state-of-the-art animation studio at CIA. Under his guidance, the program has become an award-winning institution, with students receiving a Student Academy Award, Film Festival Awards, and recognition from industry professionals as the #3 Best 2D Animation School in the World 2022 and #13 in the 2022 Best Creative Media & Entertainment Art Schools in the World, by The Rookies website.

Anthony created the Community Projects course in the department, which enables students to work directly with clients and community partners on real-world projects. This practical experience has exposed students to how the medium of animation is used across industries and has resulted in every student in the program gaining invaluable internship and client-facing experience before graduation, preparing them for lifelong success.

Before joining CIA, Anthony worked as a Senior Creative Developer at American Greetings, where he provided animations, illustrations, and art direction for products viewed by millions of people every month. He has created hundreds of animations that have connected families across the globe and has been awarded the American Greetings Chairman’s Award for Creativity and Ingenuity. Some of the products he continues to work on have become family traditions for many, consistently ranking in the top 10 on the app store each year during the month of December.

Anthony’s contributions to the field of animation have earned him over a dozen “Best Animation” awards from film festivals worldwide, including a Student Emmy and the Bricker Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Television and Arts and Sciences. He has worked with renowned clients, including American Greetings, Applebee’s, Disney, Pixar, Sony, UPS, Taylor Swift, Walmart, M&M’s, Ferraro Chocolates, Key Bank, Jacquie Lawson, Skoda Minotti, and many others.