Bruce E. Wands (October 22, 1949 – July 6, 2022) was an American educator, author, artist, and musician, with a specific interest in

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

. As well as art and music, he was interested in creativity in general. Specifically, he was a pioneer of

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

. He founded the BFA Computer Art Department at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and directed the New York Digital Salon. ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'' named Wands as one of the "99 People to Watch in 1999". Born in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

, and raised in nearby

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, as the youngest of three children, Wands graduated from Verona High School in 1967. In 1971, he received a BA degree from

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

and in 1976 he was awarded a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree by

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. He was director of Computer Education at the

in New York and then founded the BFA Computer Art program at the School, which he led from 1994 until 1998. He was later Chair of the MFA Computer Arts program during 1998–2016, and Chair Emeritus from 2017 until 2022. Wands was curator (1993–1995) and director (1998–2017) of the New York Digital Salon (NYDS). He authored two books, ''Digital Creativity: Techniques for Digital Media and the Internet'' (

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...

, 2001) and ''Art of the Digital Age'' ( Thames & Hudson, 2006), together with many articles on digital art. He lectured, performed, and exhibited his creative output around the United States and also internationally. In 1992, he was the first musician to perform live using an

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...

connection on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. Wands died in

in July 2022. The EVA London 2023 conference was dedicated to his memory, a year later.

References

External links

Bruce Wands home page
(2017)
Bruce Wands website
(2022) 1949 births 2022 deaths Writers from Montclair, New Jersey People from Verona, New Jersey Lafayette College alumni Syracuse University alumni Artists from New Jersey Musicians from Montclair, New Jersey American education writers American digital artists School of Visual Arts faculty Verona High School (New Jersey) alumni {{US-academic-bio-stub