Innovative artists in the creative fields.
- LCFTRA’s STEAM “Win Cycle” February 2, 2024
On New Year’s Day, 2024, a “cool bus” made its way down Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard.
This wasn’t just any bus. In fact, it wasn’t, technically, a bus at all.
What it was, was La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association’s award-winning Rose Parade® float, “Flower Power”, drawing delighted responses from parade goers as it went by.
“Flower Power” was a peace-symbol-decked, 1960s-style school bus (labeled “cool bus”!), driven by a rose and with a band of flowers playing 1960s music on their instruments. It was led by a small yellow satellite float, in which were riding two “group-bees”.
And it was preceded by a “Golden State Award” banner–for “Best Representation of Life in California”.
(Rendering/float design by Grant Delgatty. Image courtesy of LCFTRA and used with permission.) As one of six noncommercial float builders, or “self-builts’, entering their creations in the Rose Parade®, nonprofit LCFTRA has won multiple awards. However, 2024 marks their first “Golden State Award” since they first began entering floats in the Tournament of Roses® Parade in 1978.
In fact, 2024 marks the first time a self-built has ever won this particular float award from Tournament of Roses!
A journey behind the scenes
Since March of 2023, Over Coffee® has had the honor of following LCFTRA’s float building journey, as the ultimate expression of creativity at the intersection of art and science. LCFTRA Vice President of Float Development Pam Wiedenbeck has generously taken us behind the scenes and through the stages from rendering to reality.
Receiving approval from the Tournament of Roses®, naming the float, frame construction, animation decisions, character construction and music selection have all been milestones we’ve had the opportunity to discuss.
And now, LCFTRA is restarting the cycle. They’ll shortly be selecting a new design for their 2025 Rose Parade®float. They’re recruiting volunteers, if you’d like to help, and have a GoFundMe page and several fundraisers coming up, to cover the cost of float materials.
Pam shared the final months of the journey to Colorado Boulevard with “Flower Power”, offered a look at the judging and awards, and previewed what’s next!
On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:
- What was happening from October to December, as LCFTRA completed the float;
- A last-minute “Murphy’s Law” occurrence, just prior to the T2 test drive, and how the team dealt with it;
- A closer look at the “Golden State” Award, as well as the ones they’d still like to win;
- How LCFTRA is currently moving forward with plans for their 2025 float;
- What float-judging day was like;
- How the float awards are announced;
- Unprecedented awards for not only LCFTRA, but three of their fellow self-builts!;
- Pam’s favorite memory from working on “Flower Power”;
- How to support LCFTRA as they prepare for the 2025 Rose Parade®;
- Why very few float materials are donated from local gardens;
- Upcoming fundraisers;
- Pam’s thoughts on LCFTRA’s process in coming up with a float idea in keeping with the 2025 theme, “Best Day Ever”;
- Facets of S.T.E.A.M. January 24, 2024
An Over Coffee® special-edition podcast!
(Royalty-free image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay.) What does S.T.E.A.M. mean in your life?
Huh? What’s S.T.E.A.M.?
Well, you’re probably familiar with the acronym STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math.
S.T.E.A.M. is, simply, the addition of art to the mix.
As we celebrate a new season of Over Coffee®, here is our special-edition look at the ways science, technology, engineering, art and math are intertwined–and the ways they can boost creativity.
Here are excerpts from our previous conversations, each illustrating a different discipline of science, technology, engineering, art and math.
On this edition of Over Coffee®:
Sociologist, author, educator and haunt consultant Dr. Margee Kerr explains some of the science of our enjoyment of a good Halloween scare.;
Fairchild Botanic Garden Director of Education Amy Padolf discusses the citizen-science classroom program, Growing Beyond Earth, which she developed in partnership with NASA.
University of Chicago doctoral student and Calico robot developer Anup Sathya offers a look at the tiny wearable robot he and his colleagues developed.
La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Director of Float Development Pam Wiedenbeck explains the engineering elements behind award-winning float creativity.
Meow Wolf Senior Creative Director Spencer Olsen explores the ways science, technology, engineering and math serve as vehicles for the creativity of local and international artists in Meow Wolf’s second permanent installation, Omega Mart.
CSULB Director of Educator Preparation Dr. Fred Uy offers a math lesson for artists! (Want more? Dr. Uy previously served as a member of the Steering Committee of the California STEAM Symposium–the eleventh annual edition of which is happening February 9-10 in Long Beach!)
And thank you, to all the talented musicians whose royalty-free music we’ve used as transitional elements in this special-edition podcast! You’ll find them all on Pixabay’s music section–and they’re available to be hired for independent work!
Continue reading → - A VR-ctic Perspective December 18, 2023
Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2023!
(Photograph courtesy of Louise Edwards, and used with permission.) What if you could experience life in the Arctic, in a highly matriarchal culture?
And what if, by doing so, you were learning about a unique culture which few people experience–or understand? Not to mention the ways members of that culture are adapting to a changing planet?
That’s exactly the opportunity provided by Found in the Fjords, a soon-to-be-released VR game which takes players into the world of orcas==a sea creature more similar to humans than most of us realize.
Found in the Fjords is an unexpected result of an all-women science and art expedition to Norway’s Arctic fjords. During this research expedition, creators Dr. Louise Edwards, Tiffany Duong and Aya Walraven met for the first time.
Louise, who is both a geoscientist and a VR developer, had wanted to enter the U.N.’s “Metaverse for the SDGs” competition. But, she says, she hadn’t yet hit upon a project that she felt explored any of these initiatives…
…and then, on her journey, she met Tiffany, an ocean storyteller and speaker/educator, and Aya, an emerging-technology and web-based media creator.
(Photo courtesy of Aya Walraven,, and used with permission.) Their shared experiences during the expedition provided a catalyst. Louise, Tiff and Aya began collaborating on Found in the Fjords, as they discovered how much each woman’s skill set complemented the others’, towards the goal of re-creating the world they’d seen, in virtual reality.
Inside an orca’s life
Entering Found in the Fjords, players become Nora–a young orca traveling to the Arctic fjords for the first time, with her family.
Along the way, they’ll learn skills while experiencing“whale culture” and gaining a new perspective on an often-misunderstood animal.
And the virtual reality experience amounts to a call to action, in real life
Louise says she and her team are seeking beta testers for “Found in the Fjords”, with the goal of releasing the game later this year. Here’s the link for updates.
Louise and Tiff shared the story of creating Found in the Fjords, explained what players can experience in the game and offered a preview of what’s next.
On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:
- How Found in the Fjords came about;
- How Tiff first came on board with the project;
- One moment, during the journey, which especially inspired Louise and Tiff to create the game;
- What players experience, in Found in the Fjords;
- How the game educates participants about orcas–and what that knowledge means to us, as humans
- A closer look at “whale culture”;
- The way in which each team member’s skill set complemented the others in creating the game;
- How each grew through their experiences as a collaborative team;
- Main creative obstacles which Louise and Tiff had to troubleshoot;
- A “failure” that served as a lesson (and an encouragement!);
- Favorite resources;
- What’s next for Louise, Tiff and Aya!