Alumni News: Fall 2026
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni from all four academic departments—Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design Media Arts, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance—have shared updates about their work and accomplishments since graduating from UCLA. This column features their recent achievements, publications, exhibitions, performances, career updates, and more.
Awards and Honors
Thomas (Tom) Butt M.Arch. II ’73 (Architecture and Urban Design) was named one of UCLA Alumni Affairs’ 2025 Bruin Excellence in Civic Engagement honorees, recognizing alumni who make a lasting impact through civic leadership, public service, and community engagement. Tom is what the American Institute of Architects call a “citizen architect,” who uses “his insights, talents, training, and experience to contribute meaningfully, beyond self, to the improvement of the community and human condition...seeks to advocate for the broader purposes of architecture through civic activism, writing and publishing, by gaining appointment to boards and commissions, and through elective office at all levels of government.” Tom served two terms as the elected mayor of Richmond, Calif., and served on multiple regional commissions. He currently serves on the boards of two Richmond-based non-profits.
A vibrant photograph by Ketchum. (Courtesy of Robert Glenn Ketchum)
Robert Glenn Ketchum ’70 (Design) has received a Lifetime Achievement in Nature Photography award from the North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA), the largest organized group of nature photographers in the United States. For more than 50 years, Ketchum’s accomplishments and campaigns have covered diverse landscapes, including the Tongass National Forest and Bristol Bay’s No Pebble Mine Campaign in Alaska, the Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio, the Hudson River in New York, and the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.
Li directed Monsters, an official music video created for Puddle of Mudd. (Courtesy of Irene Xinyi Li)
Irene Xinyi Li M.Arch. ’24 (Architecture and Urban Design) co-directed The Lost Song, an AI-assisted animated short film created with filmmaker Gexin Zhang. The film explores a fantastical world in which music becomes a source of life, memory, and connection. It was selected by Dreamina AI for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it received a finalist award. Li also directed Monsters, an official music video created for Puddle of Mudd. The film has received multiple international awards and festival selections, including a Bronze Telly Award and recognition from the Burano Artificial Intelligence Film Festival, Seoul International AI Film Festival, Stuff MX Film Festival, Los Angeles Animation Festival, Chroma Awards, and others.
An open September 1979 issue of Skyline magazine featuring architecture, design, photography, and advertisements. (Courtesy of Alex Maymind)
Alex Maymind Ph.D. '22 (Architecture and Urban Design) is a recipient of a 2026 Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for "Skyline: Rereading an Architectural Tabloid" with Lauren McQuistion and David Turturo. Between 1978 and 1983, Skyline was published as a monthly tabloid newspaper by the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Rereading the newspaper as an amplifier of pluralistic design culture, this project reconsiders Skyline as an ephemeral landmark for the contemporary publishing landscape.
A digital installation render of Triantafyllidis’ Feral Metaverse (Spider), 2026. (Courtesy Theo Triantafyllidis and The Breeder)
Theo Triantafyllidis M.F.A. ’16 (Design Media Arts) is the winner of the 2026 Frieze London Artist Award, co-commissioned and co-produced with Forma and, for the first time, in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. Triantafyllidis will introduce Feral Metaverse (Spider), a participatory sculptural installation and extension of his ongoing multiplayer game, rooted in a thought experiment built on shared digital spaces. The installation seeks to explore what these spaces could look like if they were built around co-operation, vulnerability, awkwardness and care, sitting between artwork, social experiment and interaction. The artwork will be on display at Frieze London, taking place at The Regent's Park from Oct. 14–18, 2026.
Exhibitions, Performances, and Special Events
Installation view of Declaration of Dependence (A Game of Surrender). (Courtesy of Adrian MM Abela)
Adrian MM Abela M.F.A. '18 (Art) is presenting Declaration of Dependence (A Game of Surrender) at this year's Venice Biennale at the Malta Pavilion. Declaration of Dependence unfolds as a stage divided into three temporal zones. To the left, eight coins spin on a table representing the future suspended in a moment of unresolved possibility. To the right, an illustrative drawing depicts the past, presented as fixed and legible, a record of what has already been written into being. At the curtained center, the personification of Malta, Melita, exists within a game engine, occupying the present as a living, responsive presence. The installation is on view through Nov. 22, 2026.
Stardust Gallery is an evening of contemporary dance that moves between the familiar and the unknown. (Courtesy of Kyla Barkin)
Kyla Barkin ’96 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) co-founded Barkin/Selissen Project in 2009. The New York City-based contemporary dance company will present Stardust Gallery at the Phoenix Festival in Nyack, New York, on Oct. 9, 2026. Stardust Gallery is an evening of contemporary dance that moves between the familiar and the unknown. Featuring repertory selections and glimpses of Stardust and the Gen(i)us of Fungi, the program blends powerful physicality, striking imagery, and moments of wonder, surprise, and connection.
Barrios' detailed, hyperrealistic sculptures transform familiar objects into milagritos—Mexican charms to meditate on how bodies hold histories of care, struggle, and evolution. (Courtesy of Brenda Barrios)
Brenda Barrios is featured in the 23rd annual New Original Works (NOW) festival at REDCAT in Los Angeles from Nov. 12-14, 2026. Drawing inspiration from her experience as a first-generation Mexican American, Barrios ‘ Muñequita Muy Muy blends cultural symbolism, queerness, and disability into a celebration of healing and visibility. Barrios uses sculpture, dance, song, and storytelling to bring life-size replica dolls and a motorized truck onstage alongside live musicians and performers.
Oz, left, and Tin Man are included in Campbell's forthcoming solo exhibition at Nicodim in New York City. (Courtesy of Rebecca Campbell)
Rebecca Campbell M.F.A. '01 (Art) has a solo exhibition at Nicodim in New York City from Dec. 3, 2026, through Jan. 15, 2027. Entitled Oz, the exhibition captures an urgency and complexity in converging metaphors of the American political landscape and the land of Oz: rich and knotty symbols of the interstice between fantasy and reality. Including paintings created in 2025 and 2026, the presentation illustrates Campbell’s integration of theoretical investigation, psychic exploration, and formal invention through her signature virtuosic style.
Dama performing Echoes of Urgencies. (Photographed by Oresti Tsonopoulos. Courtesy of the artist and The Immigrant Artist Biennial.)
Ivana Dama ’21 (Design Media Arts) is featured in the third edition of The Immigrant Artist Biennial, titled Identity Card, taking place across New York City from October through November 2026. The biennial brings together artists through screenings, performances, panels, workshops, and other public programs. The first biennial, Here, Together!, took place in New York City in 2020 across several venues, including the Brooklyn Museum, EFA Project Space, and Green-Wood Cemetery, as well as virtually, and presented more than 65 artists.
Vishal K. Dar M.F.A. ’02 (Design Media Arts) was co-curator of the inaugural sā Ladakh Biennale, which took place Aug. 1–10, 2026, across the lived landscapes of Ladakh, India, unfolding at an altitude above 3000 meters along the Leh-Kargil corridor. Conceived as a non-white box biennale, it positions contemporary artistic practice within ecological, cultural, and social terrains. Under the theme Signals from Another Star, the Biennale foregrounds regeneration, learning, and ethical engagement, inviting artists and audiences to attune themselves to the frequencies of land, memory, climate, and lived experience.
Installation view of Denniston Hill’s large-scale installation Chimera. (Courtesy of B-KD)
Koray Duman M.Arch. ’00 (Architecture and Urban Design) and his award-winning architecture and design studio B-KD has several projects currently on view. At this year’s Venice Biennale, B-KD designed the group exhibition Washwasha at the National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates. Also at the Venice Biennale, B-KD designed Denniston Hill’s large-scale installation Chimera. Both are on view through Nov. 22, 2026. For this year’s 59th Carnegie International, titled If the world we, at the Carnegie Museum of Art, B-KD oversaw the exhibition design, taking its cues from the curatorial statement emphasizing connections across dynamic artist communities and geographies. If the world we is on view through Jan. 3, 2027.
A vibrant architectural rendering by Paul R. Williams. (Courtesy of Gary Riichirō Fox)
Gary Riichirō Fox Ph.D. ’23 (Architecture and Urban Design) is a curator of the Getty’s upcoming exhibition on groundbreaking architect Paul R. Williams, the first Black architect licensed to practice in the western U.S. Paul R. Williams: Architecture Across the Color Line will be presented alongside exhibitions at LACMA and USC Fisher Museum of Art, marking the first major museum retrospectives dedicated to this influential figure. A robust slate of collaborative programming and a scholarly catalogue, co-edited by Fox, will accompany the exhibitions.
Kemell's installation Toward the North Star is currently on view at the Hospital of Emotions. (Courtesy of Dmitry Kemell)
Dmitry Kemell M.F.A. ’01 (Design Media Arts) has a multimedia installation, Toward the North Star, included in the immersive exhibition Hospital of Emotions, on view through Sept. 30, 2026, in Los Angeles. At Hospital of Emotions, 70 artists from diverse creative fields take over a hospital, transforming it into an immersive exhibition of artworks exploring the full spectrum of human emotion. Toward the North Star explores themes of hope, resilience, and transformation. At the heart of the installation, a hospital bed undergoes a metamorphosis into a sailing vessel, navigating physical and psychic terrains while charting a vital passage toward healing.
Devin Mallory ’21 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) joined the cast of Awakening at the Wynn in Las Vegas in 2025. In March 2026, Mallory was promoted to lead. The role includes dancing, singing, acting, and various magic tricks. Revolutionizing the live-theater experience, Awakening takes place in a state-of-the-art theater and features unforgettable characters, costumes, choreography, original musical score, and a compelling story. Awakening is scheduled to take its final bow on Oct. 10, 2026.
Installation view of Lauren Lee McCarthy and Casey Reas' AUTO TUNE at LACMA. (Courtesy of Lauren Lee McCarthy)
Professor Lauren Lee McCarthy M.F.A. ’11 (Design Media Arts) will present AUTO TUNE, a collaboration with Professor Casey Reas, as part of 3 Evenings: Experiments in Performance and Technology, organized by Somerset House Studios, October 16–18, 2026, at Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in London. AUTO TUNE transforms a programmable LED road sign into a two-minute looping sequence of hand-drawn animations exploring autonomy, control, and artificial intelligence. McCarthy’s AUTO will be presented at Mozilla Festival (MozFest) in Barcelona, Spain, October 28–30, 2026. AUTO is a participatory performance in which passengers collectively become a driverless vehicle, responding to live prompts and using their voices and bodies to enact the systems and decisions of autonomous transportation. AUTO will also be presented at the 7th AURORA Biennial, States of Becoming, in Dallas on November 21, 2026.
Stoller's The Still Point combines choreographed movement, responsive projection environments, and spatial storytelling to create a journey through interconnected emotional landscapes. (Photo by Nic Murphy)
Sophia Stoller ’10 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) premiered the immersive dancer-theater experience The Still Point at SOMArts in San Francisco in July 2026. The Still Point transforms the SOMArts Bay Gallery into a large-scale immersive experience exploring themes of fragmentation and reconciliation. The performance combines choreographed movement, responsive projection environments, sound design, scenic installation, and spatial storytelling to create a journey through interconnected emotional landscapes.
Wong's #FoodBankInfluencer comes to the East West Players next year. (Courtesy of Kristina Wong)
Kristina Wong ’00 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) has been touring her solo show Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer around the country. Most recently, the show did a special engagement run at Portland Center Stage. The show is a one woman karaoke musical about America's emergency food systems. The show will be coming home to Los Angeles in February 2027 when East West Players presents it in their season.
Dancers rehearse Yvonne Rainer's Trio A. (Courtesy of Sara Wookey)
Sara Wookey M.F.A. '08 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) co-staged Trio A (1966) at Tate Modern alongside Rosalie Doubal and Martin Hargreaves. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Yvonne Rainer's groundbreaking work, dancers performed the piece continuously in a staging devised for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. Rather than focusing on plot or narrative, the work consists of a continuous sequence of everyday gestures, including toe-tapping, folding, and rolling. Dancers deliberately avoid making eye contact with the audience. The production featured a diverse cast of 12 dancers, ranging in age from 29 to 67 and representing a variety of movement traditions and practices.
Olivia Wu painting. (Courtesy of Olivia Wu)
Olivia Wu '07 (Design Media Arts) will exhibit her work in Paris from Oct. 23–25, 2026. Wu is exhibiting her collection Bloom in Light at Art Shopping, Salon International d’Art Contemporain, held at the Carrousel du Louvre. Bloom in Light is an invitation to bloom into oneself, into the unknown, and into the quiet wonders of the universe. Each work captures a moment of expansion, where inner stillness meets infinite possibility, tracing the luminous thread between the inner world and the cosmos.
Publications
The cover for Alsnea and Alohali's Unveiling the Unseen. (Courtesy of Abdullah Alsanea)
Abdullah Alsanea M.Arch. II ’19 (Architecture and Urban Design) participated in the closing events of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, where he was invited to present his research and the book he co-authored with Faisal Alohali, Unveiling the Unseen, as part of the Shaping the City: A Forum for Sustainable Cities and Communities at the European Cultural Centre. Unveiling the Unseen is a visual research book exploring 20 years of national pavilions at the Venice Biennale.
The cover for Bayraktar's book Dissenting Through Dance. (Courtesy of Sevi Bayraktar)
Sevi Bayraktar Ph.D. ’19 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) recently released the book Dissenting Through Dance: Folk Dance, Gender, and Political Protest in Turkey. Published by University of Michigan Press, Dissenting Through Dance examines how femme activists in contemporary Turkey deploy folk dance as a powerful tool of political resistance and collective solidarity. Bayraktar brings to life the stories of feminist, LGBTQ+, and grassroots activists occupying public spaces with dance as a form of protest when conventional forms of assembly are suppressed or criminalized in Turkey.
Sienna Gonzales ’20 (Art) is publishing the book Somewhere in June: A Field Guide for Hard Times. The self-help book, published by Hachette, will feature Gonzales’s popular web comics focused on mental health, self-care, and healing. Somewhere in June is scheduled for release in early 2028.
Hanawalt worked as the production designer and a producer of the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman. (Courtesy of Lisa Hanawalt)
Lisa Hanawalt ’06 (Art) has a new comic book memoir coming out this October, titled I Can't Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex, published by Drawn & Quarterly. It’s an honest, silly, horny, and vulnerable memoir of a horse girl, now in her forties, reflecting on a lifetime of obsessions. Whether Hanawalt is confronting large life issues like whether or not to have kids, being an anxious lil freak, caring for a sick horse, revisiting childhood trauma, or dealing with a major breakup and the ensuing lustfulness, she delivers a reading experience that’s relatable, affirming, and almost always hilarious. Hanawalt will be doing a book tour this fall.
Janis Kent M.Arch. ’82 (Architecture and Urban Design) wrote the book ADA in Details: Interpreting the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, originally published in 2017 and since revised and republished. Whether you are designing newly constructed facilities or retrofitting existing ones, ADA in Details offers visual details and bullet-point specifications covering a range of topics, including paths of travel, vertical circulation, toilet rooms, and alterations. The book also covers specialty uses such as assembly areas, kitchens, site elements, hospitality, retail, restaurants, and recreational facilities.
Leandro Madrazo M.Arch. ’88 (Architecture and Urban Design) edited the book RE-DWELL. Transdisciplinarity for Affordable and Sustainable Housing. Housing is one of the most complex societal challenges of our time, situated at the intersection of social justice, environmental responsibility, economic systems, and spatial quality. Addressing these challenges requires more than bringing different disciplines together: it calls for new ways of integrating knowledge, research, and practice. Drawing on four years of collaborative research and learning within the RE-DWELL MSCA Innovative Training Network, the book develops a transdisciplinary approach to affordable and sustainable housing.
Interior view of Shapiro's The Secret Buttons. (Courtesy of Ellen Shapiro)
Ellen Shapiro '70 (Art) wrote and designed The Secret Buttons, an illustrated book for middle-grade children and young teens inspired by her mother's memories of escaping from Nazi-occupied Vienna and making a new life in England and, after the war, in Los Angeles. The Secret Buttons introduces Anni and Rosie Blum, girls who solve big problems while dealing with the fears, dangers, and difficulties all immigrants face when adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language.
Career Updates
Kyreeana Breelin Alexander M.F.A. '25 (World Arts and Cultures/Performance) is a 2026-27 artist-in-residence at Crystal Bridges’ The Momentary. The residency invites artists working across disciplines to Bentonville, Arkansas, where they collaborate with a world-class team of producers, preparators, and curators while exploring, experimenting, conducting research, and developing new work. Alexander is currently collaborating with visual artist Cornelius Tulloch on a performance piece for a museum installation.
Egeland-Mazzini, right, in a group photo with Stanley Clarke, center. (Courtesy of Ilaan Egeland-Mazzini)
Ilaan Egeland-Mazzini M.F.A. ’00 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance)—director of programs and activations at BroadStage in Santa Monica, Calif.—has spent the last three years building and overseeing a transformative artist residency with Stanley Clarke, a four-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, performer, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, composer for recordings and film, and one of the world’s most celebrated bass players. The initiative, which mentored more than 100 students from Santa Monica College and Santa Monica High School, culminated BroadStage’s 2025–26 season with high-profile performances at the inaugural Santa Monica International Jazz Festival this past May.
As part of Atelier LUMA in France, Gu explored quarries. (Courtesy of Jia Yi Gu)
Jia Yi Gu M.Arch. '14 (Architecture and Urban Design) recently completed a residency at Atelier LUMA in Arles, France, as part of the development of Biofabrique Los Angeles. The residency brought together a cohort of Los Angeles-based practitioners. The residency explored landscapes and material flows shaped by salt production, mineral extraction, clay, ceramics, agriculture, and craft, alongside visits to workshops, quarries, and sites of production and transformation. At Atelier LUMA, Gu organized a convening focused on L.A., presenting work engaging with practitioners working across timber, adobe, and unconventional materials.
Blake Jacobsen, left, and longtime collaborator Meghan Sabik contributed extensively to Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex. (Courtesy of Blake Jacobsen)
Blake Jacobsen M.F.A. ’22 (Art) and longtime collaborator Meghan Sabik contributed extensively to Gregg Araki’s latest feature film, I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Charli XCX. In addition to having 25 of their original photographic works and two videos pieces included in the film, Jacobsen and Sabik created additional work specifically for the film's fiction art world, and consulted with the art department on the selection, installation, and presentation of artwork through the sets. They also appear in the film.
Kagen's Needles or Knives? is currently on view in the NARS' exhibition Subject to... (Courtesy of Sharon Kagan)
Sharon Kagan '76 (Art) is currently a resident at the New York Art Residency & Studios (NARS) Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization committed to supporting artists and curators on an international level as well as engaging the local community in Brooklyn and the Greater New York area. Kagan layers intimate stories using performance, video, and needle work, creating a metaphor for how we impact each others’ lives, how an experience can trap or free us, or start the process of unraveling.
Cameron R. Kursel M.Arch. ’26 (Architecture and Urban Design) is a Digital Futures Fellow and lecturer at the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2023, the college established the Digital Futures Fellowship, a two-year appointment which rotates among the college’s schools, to support researchers whose work explores the future of design through technology, experimentation, and interdisciplinary practice.
Maya Man is a 2026 AI Artist in Residence at DATALAND. (Photo by Nayquan Shuler)
Maya Man M.F.A. ’23 (Design Media Arts) is among Dataland’s first cohort of AI artist residents. Dataland, the recently opened museum of AI arts in Los Angeles, co-founded by alumnus Refik Anadol M.F.A. ’14 and Efsun Erkılıç, announced that each resident will receive a $25,000 grant as part of the residency and will collaborate with Anadol and Erkılıç. The program concludes in December 2026 with a presentation of the residents’ work.
Studio portrait of Aquilah “KHILA” Ohemeng.
Aquilah “KHILA” Ohemeng M.F.A. ’24 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) joined Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts as a dance lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts. Prior to joining Howard University, Ohemeng returned to her alma mater, Spelman College, where she served on the faculty in the Department of Dance Performance and Choreography. Additionally, Dance Canvas, Inc. selected her as a 2025–26 choreographer for its Choreographic Career Development Initiative, where she premiered the first iteration of her latest project, ODE(2)PAC/Ode to Pac, in March 2026.
Carolyn Omine ’85 (Design) has written for The Simpsons since 1998, working on 27 seasons. She was the show's first female executive producer and has been nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five for her work. The Simpsons is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes.
A page from Peretz's visual poem, If / trees die, from pacificREVIEW. (Courtesy of Jeremy Jacob Peretz)
Jeremy Jacob Peretz Ph.D. '20 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) was recently interviewed, along with his collaborator Joan Cambridge-Mayfield, in the Massachusetts Review to discuss their poetry, which was featured in the journal's latest issue. Three of their collaborative poems were also included in the current issue of sx salon, under the theme of "Caribbean Ecologies." Jeremy's recent essay for the scholarly journal Worldviews takes up related issues of ecological religious knowledge in Guyana. In July, Jeremy contributed to an essay for The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and Policy Studies that was coauthored with colleagues at the University of Guyana and elsewhere, examining ethical and political dimensions of Guyana's withdrawal from Cuba's longstanding program of medical internationalism. Coming up in November, Jeremy will be presenting the invited keynote address to the Africa Working Group of the German Association for the Study of Religion.
CedarBough Saeji Ph.D. ’12 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) is now an Associate Professor in Korean and East Asian Studies at Busan National University. Recent articles from Saeji have appeared in Dance Chronicle, Journal of American Folklore, and Daejung Eumak (Popular Music).
A completed restaurant project by Wang. (Courtesy of Yuting Wang)
Yuting Wang M.Arch. ’23 (Architecture and Urban Design) is now a licensed architect in California. Wang has completed several restaurant projects and is currently working on a healthcare pharmacy project.
Projects and Initiatives
While reinforcing the building’s diplomatic identity, the project responds sensitively to its urban context on Manhattan’s East Side. (Courtesy of Alper Derinboğaz)
Alper Derinboğaz M.Arch. II ’08 (Architecture and Urban Design) is chief architect and founder of architecture practice Salon. Construction has begun on the facade renovation of the Permanent Mission of Qatar at UN Plaza, New York. The adaptive reuse project reinterprets the building’s proportions to create a more integrated presence within Manhattan’s East Side, balancing modest scale with a proportional response to the area’s evolving skyline while enhancing the building’s environmental performance.
SALA are a series of free gatherings organized by Froot. (Courtesy of Dan Froot)
Research Professor Dan Froot M.F.A. ’00 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance), alongside his Los Angeles-based theater ensemble Dan Froot & Company, organized a series of free gatherings titled SALA that brought communities together across Los Angeles through literary readings, food, and music. Four Los Angeles neighborhoods hosted SALA events, with representatives from each community curating selections of essays, poems, articles, and short stories that were performed by actors and local community members.
Halverson's Living Art Experience uses live models to recreate famous sacred masterpieces. (Courtesy of Jeannie Halverson)
Jeannie Halverson ’75 (Design) launched the non-profit Living Art Experience in 2023 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, Calif. Similar to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, the event uses live models to recreate famous sacred masterpieces, including Michelangelo's Pieta and DaVinci's Last Supper. The event is accompanied by an orchestra and vocal ensemble. Halverson is currently developing the March 2027 event.
Watcho has received coverage from Latino and Spanish-language media outlets including Caló News, Telemundo, N+ Univision, Estrella TV, and Grupo Fórmula. (Courtesy of Adrian Hernandez)
Adrian Hernandez ’25 (Design Media Arts) is the founder and creator of Watcho — Por La Comunidad, a free bilingual community-safety app created specifically for Latino families across Los Angeles County and Southern California. The app transforms fragmented and difficult-to-find public-safety information into a clear, accessible mobile map available in English and Spanish. The app does not require an account or sign-up and was intentionally designed around privacy, accessibility, accuracy, and community trust. Within its first weeks, Watcho reached more than 30,000 downloads across iOS and Android with zero paid advertising.
Prints for a Purpose sells a variety of original artwork, including this astronaut under the ocean. (Courtesy of Coco Holtz)
Coco Holtz ’05 (Design Media Arts) founded Prints for a Purpose in 2026, a platform designed to make original artwork more accessible while supporting organizations doing meaningful work. The project brings together Holtz’s background in visual art, design, branding, and creative direction with a direct-to-consumer approach to art publishing and e-commerce, with the goal of building a business where art and philanthropy are inherently connected. Each piece is produced using giclée printing on heavyweight, 100% cotton fine art paper that is acid- and lignin-free for true archival permanence, with a softly textured surface and museum-caliber color and detail.
Frederick Fisher and Partners will rehabiliate the Ebell of Los Angeles. (Courtesy of Frederick Fisher)
Frederick Fisher M.Arch. ’75 (Architecture and Urban Design) and Partners has been selected to lead a multiyear, multi-phased campus rehabilitation and preservation of the historic Ebell of Los Angeles campus. This iconic cultural institution, founded as a women’s club in 1894, continues to serve as a gathering place for civic dialogue, the arts, and educational programming. The plan addresses critical life-safety, seismic, and accessibility improvements across the complex, while modernizing building systems and enhancing day-to-day functionality.
YVESLU is a menswear fashion label. (Courtesy of Yves Lu)
Yves Lu M.S. ’23 (Architecture and Urban Design) founded a menswear fashion label, YVESLU, focusing on contemporary styles and subtle luxury. The brand collaborates across North America and Europe. With a background spanning architecture, technology, and fashion, Lu was formally trained in architecture under Frank Gehry. His design language is rooted in structure, proportion, and material precision. YVESLU currently has three collections available.
Susie Lundy Ph.D. ’08 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) partnered this past spring with RYSE Center in Richmond, Calif., to amplify its youth-led listening campaign. The Listening Campaign 2.0 is part of RYSE’s legacy of listening, learning, and leading. The young people who participated produced a collective diagnosis of the systems around them. Through images, journal entries, and layered dialogue about their lived experiences, more than 150 youth articulated not only what’s broken, but also what’s possible. Lundy met with the interns, studied their findings, and designed four billboards that capture their vision and experiences. The billboards will be on view in Richmond this fall.
Manos' Fuzzy Dice is a collection of frameworks, methodologies, and resources dedicated to leveling up human capacity for ideation. (Courtesy of Matthew Manos)
Matthew Manos ’10 (Design Media Arts) recently launched Fuzzy Dice: Toolkits for Human Ideation, a collection of frameworks, methodologies, and resources dedicated to strengthening human capacity for ideation. The initial launch includes 12 toolkits, with a textbook releasing this fall. This content is designed to support creative and strategic thinking among individuals, communities, and organizations.
Sandra Parra '16 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) is the founder of Infinite Meridian, a community centered project that provides free healthcare services to artists of all trades and backgrounds. Their first program will be a free virtual physical therapy workshop focused on injury prevention and recovery. Artists can sign up to subscribe to receive alerts for free healthcare opportunities. Infinite Meridian is in process of becoming a 501(c)(3).
Ileana D. Vasquez '91 (Art) has co-written, alongside James Vasquez, the forthcoming female-led action thriller TOPPLE. Ileana will also direct and produce. Their production companies, LolitaMoon Productions and Perfidious Movie, LLC, have secured a stellar cast, including Lotte Verbeek (Nuremberg), Maria Pedraza (Netflix's Money Heist), Carla Diaz (Netflix's Elite), Tamara Feldman (Gossip Girl), Graham McTavish (Aquaman), and more. Filming is set to take place in Croatia.
Vanessa Neva Verdoodt ’06 (World Arts and Cultures/Dance) is the founder and president of Piyoda Flow in Los Angeles. Piyoda Flow is thrilled to offer the community free weekly youth performing arts classes for the entire 2026–27 school year with the support of Holly J. Mitchell 2nd District Office and The Youth Justice Fund.
World’s Largest Pop-Up Book
González stands in front of the world's largest pop-up book. (Courtesy of Daniel González)
Daniel González ’14 (Design Media Arts) created the art for the world’s largest pop-up book, Luceros y Penumbras, at Los Angeles’ Richard J. Riordan Central Library for the historic library’s centennial. Commissioned by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles in partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library, the ambitious feat of scale and storytelling, constructed in the rotunda, is inspired by the library’s enduring “light of learning.” Luceros y Penumbras unfolds across two giant pop-up spreads that evoke memory, culture, and discovery through rich imagery drawn from González’s personal history, the spirit of Los Angeles, and the history of Central Library. Luceros y Penumbras has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest pop-up book ever created. It is on view through November 2026.
Header image: Luceros y Penumbras, the world's largest pop-up book, open to the spread featuring a “Tree of Wisdom,” with artist and alumnus Daniel González. (Photo courtesy of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. Photo by Joshua White/JWPictures)
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