The City of Seminole Recreation Department’s Digital Art Studio known as the “Digital Den” is where creativity and imagination collide with the digital world. The brainchild of a local citizen who donated both hardware and software for the digital art studio is the first of its kind in the State of Florida because it’s housed at Seminole’s Recreation Center. The first item you notice is the bright colored mural on the wall and green walls. Your eyes will soon take you to the hardware. The Digital Den is home to10 Apple iMac computers, 10 Wacom Intuos Draw, 5 Wacom Intuos Pro Medium Touch, Wacom Cintiuq Touch, a true Color monitor, a graphic scanner, and 4k 65 inch TV. As impressive as the equipment is what’s housed in the iMacs is where the fun begins. Each computer is home to 24 creative software and 10 programming/gaming software. The software, normally designed for professionals, allows children, teens and adults the opportunity to use resources never offered at this level.
It raises the bar as to what their potential is in learning, and creativity Mark Ely, Community Development Director (Donor) & Becky Gunter, Recreation Director The Digital Den offers instructional classes, day-long workshops, and open den hours for those wanting to check out the equipment and finish projects. Multi-week programs such as 2D Game Design, Digital Sculpting and Customizing Minecraft are a huge success with children and teens. The adults are gravitating towards Graphic Design and Photo Editing. The location of the Digital Den creates a hub of digital arts in Pinellas County with St Petersburg College (SPC) Seminole Campus located across the street. SPC Seminole Campus has an Associate of Science Degree in Digital Arts and the library puts on a Makers Bootcamp. A child can start at SPC in Makers Bootcamp, fine-tune their skills in the Digital Den and then receive a degree all within a half-mile. The City of Seminole Recreation Department recognizes that recreation is not just about sports and by reaching out with alternative programming they are educating, engaging and including more members of the community. The way children play is changing and this exciting program and advance equipment give the ability to reach beyond the sports, fitness and traditional arts and move digital arts and recreation into the future.
