{"id":345,"date":"2018-12-07T16:30:07","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T00:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999930311"},"modified":"2018-12-07T16:30:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-08T00:30:07","slug":"go-nickname-to-be-determined-the-posts-csulb-mascot-contest-day-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/go-nickname-to-be-determined-the-posts-csulb-mascot-contest-day-5","title":{"rendered":"Go [Nickname to Be Determined]!!! The Post\u2019s CSULB mascot contest, Day 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we found out that Cal State Long Beach was looking for a\u00a0new nickname\/mascot<\/a>, we could not have been happier. The only thing \u201c49ers\u201d told you about the school is when it was founded (1949).<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, entering its 70th year, it\u2019s time for a nickname\/mascot that reflects what it\u2019s\u00a0become. And we want YOU to tell us what that is. But please, no lions or tigers or bears, OK? We want a nickname\/mascot that reflects the Cal State Long Beach experience: the people, the parking (or lack thereof), the fact that no one will look you in the eye, whatever, we want your names and your images.<\/em><\/p>\n

To get you started, we\u2019ve asked five terrific illustrators\/artists to have a run at it. We\u2019ll release one of their efforts each day this week. Have a look. Be inspired. Send us something. And Go [Nickname To Be Determined]!!!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Artist and illustrator Dave Van Patten chose the brain cell as the CSULB mascot “because it\u2019s the fundamental part of the college experience whether it be building up the brain cells in class throughout the week, or destroying brain cells with beer over the weekend.”<\/p>\n

Van Patten says he had a “Chris-Farley-in-Tommy-Boy type of college experience” because it took him nine years to graduate\u2014he took two years off during the seven years he was actually taking classes.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s easy to view me as a slacker, but I honestly think it took so long because I didn\u2019t want to leave,” Van Patten said. “I kept changing my major. I started as an art major and after the first semester I needed a break from the thing I had been doing my whole life, so my curiosity led me to change my major to film and philosophy. Even later I changed it to creative writing and stuck with that. My favorite professors were Pomroy, Mohr, Locklin Sr., and Weinstock.”<\/p>\n

The artist remembers a moment that summed up his college career, when he was speaking with a professor after class one day about his mental state at the time.\u00a0He told the professor, “I feel\u00a0like the rug has been pulled out from under me, shaking my ideological foundations. I used to feel like I knew the answers, but now I feel like I know nothing.” They responded, “Welcome to adulthood.”<\/p>\n

Van Patten, a Long Beach-based artist, illustrator and muralist, has been a participant in POW! WOW! Long Beach,\u00a0 done album work for bands including The Grateful Dead (Live Concert Series) and has been published in Juxtapoz, Vice and more. Learn more about the artist on his website here<\/a> and Instagram @davevanpatten<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Submission Requirements<\/h5>\n