From Point Park University to the Pittsburgh Penguins: How a Passion for Animation Became a Dream Career for Delaney Pater '25 Alumni Profile

Why did you choose Point Park University’s animation program?

I always knew I wanted to be an artist growing up, but I struggled to choose a path. It wasn’t until high school that I took a multimedia arts class, where I was exposed to creating animation for the first time. I really enjoyed the qualities of animation and a friend told me that they could see me being an animator.

That possibility started to feel real when I was researching animation programs and found that Point Park had a highly accomplished and successful program right here in my home city. What stood out to me was that students were animating on day one of the program, whereas most other animation programs push animation classes back to sophomore year. Having four full years of experience as you enter the industry gives Point Park grads an advantage over their peers who may only have two or three years of experience from a different program.

Additionally, the financial aid that Point Park can provide is great. Out of all the colleges I applied to, Point Park gave me the most aid and was the most affordable despite having the highest sticker price. It took some work grinding scholarship applications each year, but it paid off when I received endowed scholarships on top of my financial aid package. This made getting my B.F.A. possible.

The quality of the animation program, the closeness to home and the generous financial aid offered ultimately drove me to choose Point Park.

Which faculty impacted you most?

I was primarily taught and guided by two professors, David Morrison and Jonathan Trueblood, who taught almost every animation class I took and helped me build a strong student-professor relationship with them.

Over four years, they helped me grow from a simple hand-drawn bouncing ball animation to professional-level work in my senior thesis. They watched my progression and knew when and how to push me to become a better animator. Instead of starting each class over with a new professor who doesn’t know me or understand my skills, each class built directly on the last because my professors already knew what I was capable of. Now that I work in the animation industry, I reach out to them often.

How did you land your job with the Pittsburgh Penguins?

I got my job through an internship I did with them through Point Park. In my sophomore year, Professor Trueblood promoted a motion graphics internship with the Penguins under their Senior Motion Graphics Artist, Aaron Speigel, to all junior and senior students. Even though I was only a sophomore, I asked him if he thought I should still apply and he told me to go for it. He helped me submit my reel; I interviewed and got the internship.

It was an amazing opportunity where I learned a lot about working in motion graphics and made great connections at the Penguins. Then, a few years later, as I was wrapping up my senior thesis and getting ready to graduate, I posted some parts of my thesis on LinkedIn. Aaron saw my post and reached out, telling me he was impressed with my improvement since my internship and that he was leaving the Penguins, so they were looking for someone new. After Aaron's recommendation, part-time work with the Penguins over the summer, and an interview process, I landed my current role at the start of the 2025-26 season.

What are your key responsibilities?

Currently, I am the only full-time motion graphics artist at the Penguins, so I am responsible for a lot here. I develop and animate headshots, opens, advertisements, matchups, noise prompts — really anything we need to make the game entertaining for fans.

With 41 home games (soon to be 42) each regular season, we host a variety of theme nights and each new theme requires custom themed content. Examples from this past season include Star Wars Night, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Night, Peanuts Night, Country Night, Casino Night and more.

This is more work than one person can do, so I have part-time animators who help me with projects. I help assign projects and manage timelines and approval processes to ensure that we have everything we need for every game. Additionally, I now run the motion graphics internship to help develop junior motion graphics artists, which is an awesome full-circle moment for me.

What advice do you have for prospective students?

Don’t take anything for granted in school. While it can be tough and overwhelming, the time you have at Point Park is unlike anything else. You have access to industry-standard software, top-of-the-line computers and professors who still work in the industry. You are surrounded by other creatives and animators. This type of environment is rare; once you leave Point Park, you may not be in an environment this creatively concentrated again.

In this program, you get out what you put in. Everything you practice here will apply to your professional life and career. It is extremely important to get to your classes, participate in class critiques and give yourself enough time to work on your projects. Doing projects at the last minute is cheating yourself out of an opportunity to be intentional and thoughtful with your art and you miss out on a lot of learning and growth. You also lose the opportunity to ask your professors for feedback or help before the due date. Critique pushes your art to be better and develops your artistic eye so that as you progress in the program and your career, you can look at a piece and pick out what is working, what isn’t and what can make it better. Writing down and applying your critiques helps you get different, deeper feedback, which in turn makes you better.

Do as much work as possible in the school labs. The computers are top-notch, so you won’t be limited by your computer’s specs and there will be other students in there. Get to know them, troubleshoot with them, talk about art, inspirations, goals and techniques. These people will become connections in the future; you never know who will land what job or who will have opportunities to hand out.

Speaking of opportunities, don’t let them pass you by. Your professors will have opportunities for you — redo an assignment, internships, gigs — take them! I am where I am today because I took an opportunity that was presented, even though I wasn't sure it was the right time.

You spent your whole life developing yourself as an artist to study at the university level; don’t make it this far just to make it this far. You have just eight semesters here. If you keep saying “I’ll get it together next semester,” you will wake up one day and realize there is no more “next semester”; there is only everything you actually did with your time here.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

There are some weird and fun classes at Point Park; if you are interested in one of them, take it! Have some fun with your education. One of my favorite non-animation classes was a Zombie Cinema class where we watched and dissected Zombie movies and what they say about us. It was fun, but it gave me a better understanding of media literacy, which is very important.

More About: internships, animation, Film and Animation, Pittsburgh Penguins, alumni, Film and Animation Alumni, success story, North Allegheny Senior High School, School of Theatre, Film and Animation Alumni