Hi, Thanks for visiting my website!
I am an animation and video artist who lives and works in the Boston area. I enjoy creating short films that range in content from whimsical and funny cartoons to fine arts based and documentary style explorations of serious subject matters.
As the daughter of a fine artist and reading teacher, I was encouraged at young age to share my view of the world through visual art and storytelling. My first animation was a flipbook drawn on the corners of my 5th grade social studies book pages. Despite some mild discouragement from my teacher that year, the realization that I could bring my drawings to life was an exciting moment for me.
Years later, I found my way into the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where I majored in animation. Animation is the perfect medium to combine my interests in drawing, storytelling, music, photography and sculpture. The MassArt program encouraged us to focus on individual expression and to push the boundaries of animation as an artform. My work there culminated in senior degree project titled ECT: The Story of Two Women which has screened in festivals all over the world and won numerous awards.

 photo of laura piraino
Upon graduation, I was awarded the Godine Travel Fellowship to volunteer and teach art with the children of the Baan Unrak Orphanage on the Northern Thai-Burmese border. I found this experience to be deeply rewarding and inspiring on many levels. When I returned from my summer abroad I was hired as the lead video producer of Untravel Media in Boston. With Untravel, I created several educational projects for the New England Aquarium and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to my professional animation and video work, I have developed a series of animation workshops to teach at the local children's art studio Kidcasso. My experiences in teaching and creating meaningful educational media are the most satisfying to me. I hope that in the future I can continue to find work that allows me to use my talents to help others, and at least in some small way, as cliche as this is going to sound - make the world a better place.