DANBURY, CONN. — For the sixth year, the Center for Graphics Research (CGR) at Western Connecticut State University will host its annual festival to give computer animation and graphics enthusiasts a glimpse into the industry and its artistry.

AniFest 07 will be from Tuesday, April 24, through Thursday, April 26, in the Student Center on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The festival will be free and the public is invited. A presentation featuring a storyboard artist from Academy Award-winning Blue Sky Studios, a student animation competition, a display of faculty and industry works, and a traveling student exhibition will be among the highlights, said CGR Director Dr. William Joel.

“We’re inviting everyone to come see the latest and greatest of computer animation and graphics as represented by the works of students and professionals in the field,” Joel said.

Storyboard artist Chris Gilligan, of The Blue Sky Studios, will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, in the Student Center Theater. Blue Sky is a heavyweight in computer animation. A unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, Blue Sky created the hits “Ice Age,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown” and “Robots.”

AniFest 07 also will feature the juried student animation competition with international submissions. Selected student works and those created by university faculty, members of the CGR and industry professionals will be presented during the “Animation Theater” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in the Student Center Theater. “The Art of Animation” will be displayed daily in the Student Center Lobby. A traveling student show from the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques also will be exhibited.

Those who attend will be able to learn more about the university’s plan to offer a camp focused on computer animation this summer. Open to high school juniors and seniors, the camp will provide an intensive computer animation program, with the students attending classes at WestConn from Sunday, July 22, through Friday, July 27. “The whole intent is to expose the students to all the fundamentals of computer animation,” Joel said.

For more information, visit http://cs.wcsu.edu/cgr, call Joel at (203) 837-9353 or call the WCSU Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.