Visual Communication & Digital Media Arts Major

Tewodross Melchishua Williams

Areas of Expertise and Research

2D Animation • Motion Graphics • Filmmaking • Digital Cinematography • Video Editing and Compositing • Projection Design and Mapping • Visual Communication and Design • Hip-Hop Studies • Visual Culture • Afrofuturism • Contemporary Black Art • Immersive Media • Virtual Production • XR/VR/AR • Internships and Experiential Learning • Portfolio Development • Senior Thesis Exhibitions

Biography

Tewodross “Teo” Melchishua Williams (pronounced Tee-oh-droze Mell-keshu-ah) is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, visual artist, motion graphics and projection designer, educator, and arts administrator from Prince George’s County, Maryland. His interdisciplinary work explores the intersections of art, technology, animation, filmmaking, African diasporic aesthetics, hip-hop culture, and contemporary visual media.

Williams earned his B.A. in Fine Arts: Photographic Media from Morgan State University and his M.F.A. in Imaging and Digital Media Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He previously taught visual communication, animation, design, and motion graphics at Howard University and Prince George’s Community College.

He is a tenured Professor at Bowie State University, serving as Program Coordinator for Visual Communication and Digital Media Arts (VCDMA) and Immersive Media, Entertainment and Gaming (IMEG), Internship Coordinator for VCDMA, and Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate. Previously, he served as Chair of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, providing leadership across visual arts, music, theatre, dance, and digital media.

Williams has contributed to the development of innovative academic programs, including the B.S. in Immersive Media, Entertainment and Gaming, B.S. in Virtual Reality and Gaming, and B.A. in Dance. He developed interdisciplinary minors in Hip-Hop Studies and Visual Culture, among the first of its kind at an HBCU, and Museum Studies and Visual Culture. His leadership has supported Studio Ayoka Chenzira, MOCAVI-XR, the LAIKA stop-motion animation studio, and the Dionne Warwick Theater. He has helped secure more than $1.5 million in funding, grants, donations, and partnerships involving Adobe, LAIKA Studios, A+E Networks, HBCU in LA, Tapestry, and other organizations.

His teaching and research encompass 2D animation, motion graphics, digital cinematography, filmmaking, visual culture, hip-hop studies, Afrofuturism, contemporary Black art, projection design, immersive media, virtual production, and extended reality (XR). He emphasizes student mentorship, internships, portfolio development, and experiential learning.

Williams' films, animation, and visual art have been exhibited nationally and internationally. He curated the hip-hop exhibition M3: MCs, Mics and Metaphors and serves as resident VJ for the Shaolin Jazz multimedia project. His projection design and multimedia work has appeared at the Kennedy Center and numerous regional theatres. He was a featured artist in the Kennedy Center's One Mic: Hip-Hop Worldwide Festival and contributed design to Cinderella: The Remix.

His film and television credits include opening title sequences for BET Her's The Couch, featuring Everything Is Fine, directed by Victoria Rowell, and Baby Blue, directed by Kim Fields. He served as production designer on The Available Wife, produced by BSU alumna Tressa “Azarel” Smallwood and MegaMind Media, with VCDMA students participating as production assistants. He also created motion graphics for All In, which aired on BET, and animation for As Above, directed by Sewra Kidane.

His honors include the Sony Innovator's Award in Animation and Paul Robeson Award in Film and Video. A Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Fellow, he has participated in international educational experiences in Senegal, Morocco, Israel, and Ethiopia

Williams continues developing independent film and animation productions through Visual Jazz, associated with the Gateway Media Arts Lab in Mount Rainier, Maryland. His professional affiliations include AIGA, The Television Academy, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc..

Courses Taught and/or *currently Teaching

VCDM 230 Introduction to Computer Graphics 
*VCDM 219 Portfolio Review and Assessment I
VCDM 315 Conceptual Thinking in Drawing and Illustration
VCDM 340 Intro To Visual Communication
VCDM 341 Advanced Visual Communication
VCDM 360 Digital Cinematography I
VCDM 361 Digital Cinematography II
*VCDM 394 History of Animation
VCDM 395 Stop-Motion and Experimental Animation 
*VCDM 396 2D Digital Animation I
*VCDM 397 2D Digital Animation II 
*VCDM 419 Portfolio Review and Assessment II
*VCDM 408 Visual Culture (Hip-Hop Studies)
VCDM 450 Multimedia Workshop: Web Design and Digital Media 
VCDM 470 Self Promotion and Marketing in the Arts
*VCDM 475 Advanced Digital Studio: Filmmaking, Animation & New Media
VCDM 495 Advanced Digital Imaging: Topics in Design and Digital Imaging
*VCDM 491 Internship in Art and Visual Communication
*VCDM 498 Senior Thesis Exhibition
*VCDM 499 Independent Study

Websites, Portfolio and Social Media

Contact Information

Office: Fine and Performing Arts Center (FPAC), Room 2130
Phone: (301) 860-3731
Email: tmelchishua@bowiestate.edu