Ricky Vega Nierva

Art Director / Production Designer, Pixar Animation Studios

Ricky Nierva joined Pixar Animation Studios in May 1997. He began with the animation team as a visual development artist and did additional storyboarding on “Toy Story 2”. He was the lead character designer for “Monster’s Inc.” and was awarded an Annie award as the character art director for the Academy Award winning feature “Finding Nemo”. Nierva was the production designer for another Oscar winner, and Best Picture nominee, “Up”. He latest role was as the production designer on Disney•Pixar’s feature film “Monsters University”, which opened on June 21, 2013.

Nierva has illustrated a children’s book published by Random House, titled “‘M’ is for Monster”, and his artwork is also featured in the books, “The Art of Monster’s, Inc.”, “The Art of Finding Nemo”, and “The Art of Monsters University” by Chronicle Books.

Nierva attended California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Character Animation in 1994. He credits his visual style to close mentor and famed Warner Brothers and Disney designer, the late Maurice Noble. Ricky has worked with talented artists at Turner Feature Animation, Warner Bros., Baer Animation, and Hanna Barbera.