ANIMATION EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
The Animation Education Association is a group founded by Griffin in 2020 for the purpose of promoting and preserving America's heritage of animated film through community projects! Griffin has worked with historical societies across the country to dedicate memorials to significant figures in the history of animation in their hometowns. Take a look below at some projects!
"Creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Historical Marker (2022 - 2023)
Event Poster (Designed by Anna Chavez)
Griffin (left), TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman (center), and project co-director Anna Chavez (right)
From left to right: NHDHR director Amy Dixon, Peter Laird's daughter Emily (and her son!), Peter Laird's wife Jeannine, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, and Dover mayor Robert Carrier. Anna and Griffin are kneeling beneath the marker.
The marker! Cowabunga!
Griffin (left), TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman (center), and project co-director Anna Chavez (right)
In July 2022, Griffin and artist Anna Chavez successfully drafted a petition and proposal to the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The marker, unveiled in November 2023, coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' creation in Dover, New Hampshire. TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and the family of co-creator Peter Laird attended the ceremony on what was officially proclaimed KEVIN EASTMAN AND PETER LAIRD DAY thanks to their efforts!
John Hubley Memorial Project (2020 - 2023)
Mayor's Proclamation
Griffin with the mayoral proclamation and the marker!
The marker at the Stephenson Public Library
Joanna Lewis, Hubley's cousin, and Griffin unveiling the marker. Joanna's dog, Magoo, came too!
Griffin with the mayoral proclamation and the marker!
Event Poster (Designed by Griffin)
In the fall of 2020, Griffin contacted the Wisconsin Historical Society to propose an official state historical marker to commemorate the life of animation titan John Hubley (one of Griffin's biggest influences) in his hometown of Marinette, WI. Thanks to generous grants from organizations like ASIFA-Hollywood, Yale University School of Art, the Marinette Lion's Club, and the Stephenson National Bank & Trust, the project met its fundraising goal! Griffin also worked with the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the Stephenson Public Library, the Hubley Family, and the City of Marinette. The memorial was dedicated on May 20, 2023, a day officially declared JOHN AND FAITH HUBLEY DAY in Wisconsin!
Stephen Hillenburg Memorial Project (2020 - 2021)
Top row, left to right: Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabbs), Tom Kenny (Spongebob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Jill Talley (Karen Plankton), Derek Drymon (creative director) Bottom row, left to right: Marc Ceccarelli (executive producer), Griffin "The" Hansen, Karen and Clay Hillenburg
Voice actors, crew members, members of the Hillenburg family, and Griffin!
The bench, specifically picked by Karen Hillenburg
Top row, left to right: Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabbs), Tom Kenny (Spongebob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Jill Talley (Karen Plankton), Derek Drymon (creative director) Bottom row, left to right: Marc Ceccarelli (executive producer), Griffin "The" Hansen, Karen and Clay Hillenburg
In the summer of 2020, Griffin reached out to the Anaheim Historical Society with a pitch to commemorate animation legend Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants. Over the next year, Griffin worked with the Historical Society, as well as the Hillenburg Family and Savanna High School to have a memorial for Stephen installed at Savanna, the school he graduated from in 1979 and where his love for marine biology and art began. Karen Hillenburg, Stephen's wife, specifically chose a bench she thought captured her husband's goofy, yet reserved character perfectly. Want to know more? Griffin made a video about the process of putting the project together you can check out here!
(Even though they spelled Griffin's name wrong!)
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Outside of the AEA, Griffin's always looking to give back to the community through art or historic preservation. Read some more about his stuff below!
New Hampshire Historical Markers
The marker for the New HampshireFence Company in Raymond
Surviving employees of the fence company and members of the Mafera/Spinnazolla families
Griffin unveils the marker!
The marker for the New HampshireFence Company in Raymond
Griffin is nuts about the New Hampshire Historical Marker program, and has worked with the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources closely on several projects to install new markers in the state! Above is one in Raymond, NH for his family's fence company - the first company in America to manufacture chain link fencing!
Kimball-Jenkins Estate Murals (2016 - 2017)
Griffin and the first mural he worked on!
The first mural (on the CVS on Main Street in Concord, NH).
A rainbow and a mural!
Griffin and the first mural he worked on!
In 2015, Griffin had the incredible honor of being selected to be part of a team of artists to design and paint a mural in memory of local artist Haley Rae Martin. Working on the project meant the chance to work with the prestigious Kimball-Jenkins Estate in Concord, NH under the direction of the ingenious Carla Giordano. For months, Griffin and a team of other teenage artists from New Hampshire worked with the City of Concord and the Martin Family before the unveiling in the summer of 2016. The mural was such a success that the City of Concord asked the same team to make another mural for the city! This time, it would be a larger piece for the Ralph Pill Marketplace - a tall building overlooking New Hampshire's busiest highway. The piece was unveiled in 2017. It also received much acclaim, and has since become arguably the most-viewed piece of public art in all of New Hampshire!