After graduating with an engineering degree in the Philippines in 1990 after pressure from his parents, Armand Serrano still felt that the arts were something he was meant for. That same year, he landed a job at a Manila animation studio where he worked on American television cartoons like “Yo Yogi!”
“I wasn’t really enjoying the field…and far along the way in civil engineering, I wanted to make a difference,” Serrano says. “I wanted to be serious in my life…I’m so deep in my civil engineering but I want to leave, I want to move to fine arts. I’m getting sucked into the arts, but I also don’t want to mess up my promise to my parents that I would finish my engineering.”
Thirty five years later, he has worked on popular animated films and blockbusters like “Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch,” “Brother Bear,” “Tarzan,” and “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Serrano’s portfolio also crosses over into video game production and innovating fields like VR animation.
As Fullerton College’s 2025 Artist in Residence, Serrano has his work showcased until March 27 at the FC Art Gallery. The Artist in Residence program is an annual month-long exhibit held at the gallery, where professional artists’ work is displayed in the aim of creating a connection between students and professionals.
This year, FC’s artist in residence breaks traditional barriers. Serrano’s exhibit is the first time the gallery has displayed fully digital artwork, including an interactive video projection display of Serrano’s innovative virtual reality creations. Some of the pieces showcased at the exhibit include environmental concept design for movies like “Lilo and Stitch,” “Big Hero 6,” “Frozen,” and video games like “World of Warcraft.”
Serrano’s residence represents the increasing shift in art to digital mediums, especially in the animation and broader entertainment industry. During his week of residency at FC, Serrano conducted several demonstration sessions on digital art design, VR production design and career lectures, including portfolio advice for students.
Serrano recalls his mom always telling him that he had been drawing since at the age of two, but he never pursued a profession in the arts field since it was against his parents’ suggestions. Initially, Serrano was attracted to a musical career, having grown up in a music-loving household and having been part of bands in his teenage and college years.
After finding a job at Hanna-Barbera Studios in the Philippines through his future wife’s friend, however, Serrano found his way into the world of the animation industry. Shortly after, the Marvel studio based in the Philippines hired him to work on the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” shows. A couple years after that, Serrano was recruited to work in the United States and at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Florida in 1996, where he worked on hits like “Mulan,” “Tarzan” and more.
Serrano has worked as a visual development artist, art director and production designer for three decades for different studios, specializing in environment design and concept art. His family, faith and heritage are important elements of his identity that sometimes influence his art.
In “Lilo and Stitch” (2002), for example, he jokingly put his son’s name, Luki, on the design of a shaved ice vendor’s logo. The popular Disney movie features “Luki’s Shaved Ice” indeed, and the spinoff series does so too. In another example given by Serrano, in a Christmas episode in “Lilo & Stitch: The Series,” he designed the background environment with a Christmas tree ornament resembling a Filipino lamp.
For Serrano, an artist not confined to but comfortable in the virtual realm, it’s important to stay curious and play around with the latest innovations in art technology. During Serrano’s main lecture at the Wilshire Auditorium on March 7, Serrano recalled surprising his boss the virtual reality world he made at the studio. Serrano has cautious but embracing views towards technology’s use in the arts.
“If you can control it, there are new technologies that will speed up your process. Don’t be afraid to use technology, all this good stuff is here for you to enjoy,” Serrano said. “Imagine if Leonardo Da Vinci was alive today, oh man, he would be having fun, he doesn’t have to go into the morgue and dig into cadavers to study anatomy, he would be building anatomy in VR. So use the technology that is at your disposal.”
In community colleges, where programs and degrees are shorter and where a diverse student body exists, bringing in a professional artist and showcasing their career can help students with career expectations. “I feel like because community college has more stigma of not going anywhere, when [students] see we have this artist in residence who has worked with all of these companies, especially art students…we can show how advanced they can be with their work,” said Cindy Rivera, a museum studies and art history student.
Although Serrano recognizes that stable employment and success can be hard to achieve in the art industry, he encourages students to persevere and to “practice, practice, practice.” When asked by a student how to combat self-doubt when competing in the job market, Serrano explained that even though the process to join the industry is different now than when he joined, some elements remain.
“The context may be different but I believe your will –how you discipline yourself– is exactly the same. Competition is happening, even in our time it was,” Serrano said. “You have to have a positive outlook when you decide to go into the industry. To be honest, any industry you go to, even outside arts, is difficult.”
Seija Rohkea, FC’s Art Gallery technician and head, doesn’t merely just agree that having a professional artist come in and bond with students is important. They have personally witnessed students’ reactions that prove the effectiveness of the Artist in Residence program.
“I was just talking to a student in this medium who is having a lot of anxiety putting a portfolio together and looking for a job, so having an artist in residence here–students get to see what it really takes to get a job, what it really takes to put a portfolio together, how sometimes you have to accept rejection and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad artist,” said Rohkea.
According to Jasmine McNeal, head curator for the art gallery, Artists in Residence are nominated by full-time art faculty months prior to the exhibit, selected and then asked to provide artwork for the exhibit. This year, Serrano had sent 70-100 pieces of digital artwork, from which McNeal had to select some to display.
“I had to interview Armand and ask him what was important to him and his career, and a lot of what he said was this relationship between good and evil, and how he liked exploring that journey of a person fighting between good and evil,” McNeal said. “Essentially, that’s a hero’s journey. It’s figuring out who you’re going to be, and everybody has to go through that in their life.”
Artwork was then printed at FC’s printing lab and assembled by McNeal and her museum studies students in the art gallery. Although at first glance, a museum display can be taken for granted, there is a lot of careful mathematical detail put into the display of each piece. As curator, McNeal ensured that all pieces were diverse enough and that the display had structure. Although the layout in the gallery is designed to tell a story to the visitor, McNeal reassured there’s no one way to observe and appreciate art.
“Honestly there is no right way to ingest art, so I don’t like imposing that on folks,” McNeal said. “But always read what…the show is about and then it’ll give you a little background, and then just kind of let the work take you wherever you choose to go.”
Philip Dimitriadis, full-time faculty and Serrano’s nominator for Artist in Residence, has known Serrano for 20 years. They met through the industry with mutual friends and eventually realized they had even more mutual connections. Dimitriadis has been in the industry full-time himself, having worked in well known projects like Veggie Tales.
Dimitriadis believes it’s important for young artists and students alike to have someone like faculty guide or advise you in the career. After getting arrested and being in constant trouble when he was a teenager, Dimitriadis found a better path guided and motivated by his teachers at Fullerton College. He compared Serrano’s brief mentorship and counsel on campus this month to that type of relationship one can foster through education.
“I think those conversations [with professors] really helped me when I was…younger, to make the right decisions that influenced my life. And I think [similarly on] having somebody like Armand come here and talk about his struggle, where he came from, in the Philippines, how he got better…what he’s doing now, and how he’s still overcoming obstacles.”
Dimitriadis recalled that, throughout his career and witnessing his students’ careers, students often reconnect in the industry, either with professionals they met while in college, or with former classmates. He believes that connections are especially beneficial in the art industry.
“It is such a positive event with Armand here. What will happen is someone, one of my students, will be in a job in three or four years from now, they’ll run into Armand and be like, ‘Oh my god, you were at my school, and you inspired me so much,’” Dimitriadis said. “In fact, I already know one of our students ran out, bought a computer, bought the VR headset, and he’s already doing that to incorporate that into his drawings.”
For Kade True, a museum studies second-year, the Artist in Residence program can be an excellent opportunity to learn the skills necessary of a curator in the assembly of a gallery.
“It also gives the museum studies class experience of setting up a gallery because it’s a good experience to know when you’re interning at MOLAA, LACMA, or the Getty. It’s nice to say that you’ve had experience doing college shows,” said True.
The art gallery aims to have more events and activities that open its doors for everyone, not just FC fine arts students. Rohkea works with the Promise Center on campus to coordinate tours for high school students from around Fullerton. They also plan on fostering collaborations with different departments and divisions on campus.
“The whole month of March we have about eight [high school] tours set up,” Rohkea said. “I want to make sure that this gallery is accessible to other departments, other programs. This coming summer we’re doing a collaboration with fashion and architecture. They’re going to have an exhibition here.”
The FC Art Gallery has two exhibits per semester and is exhibiting Serrano’s work until March 27. They are open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Fridays by appointment.
Future projects in the summer include a printmaking collaboration event with the drone technology department and a fashion and architecture exhibit. More information on future events will be shared on the art gallery’s Instagram, @fcartgallery.