Alumni Spotlight: Spring 2021
School of the Arts and Architecture alumni from all four academic departments – Architecture and Urban Design (AUD), Art, Design Media Arts (DMA, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance (WACD) – submitted updates about their work and accomplishments since graduating from UCLA. This column features their achievements, awards, publications, and other honors, as well as upcoming exhibitions of their work.
Achievements
Carolyn Omine '85, B.A. Design Media Arts, has been a television writer for "The Simpsons" since 1998. She was the show's first female Executive Producer and has won four Emmys for her work.
Alexis Readinger ‘99, M.Arch, founded the design firm Preen, Inc and has designed restaurants in Los Angeles including Tesse, Piccalilli, Socalo, Heroic, Akasha, and Howlin’ Ray’s (of hot chicken fame). The restaurants have all since reopened after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paulina Quintana ‘95, B.A. Art, ran an international children’s clothing brand for 13 years, but was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new plastic hangers that are generated and discarded by the industry. To solve this problem, she designed the (re)ˣ hanger made from – and packaged in – 100% recycled materials. The ASUCLA Student Store plans to stock the hangers starting in fall 2021.
Jason Lewis ‘01, B.A. Art, has been the owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Standard newspaper since 2016. The Standard is a monthly print and online publication that is distributed in the Black communities of Los Angeles where Lewis is from. It is known for its photography work, most of which is taken by Lewis himself.
Lall Nishant ‘02, M.Arch II, designed a public space initiative along the River Ganges in India from 2013-2020. The initiative, funded by the World Bank, provides much-needed public space in a dense urban district. For the project, Nishant designed a 6.6km walkway along with four community buildings, including an electric crematorium.
Kristina Wong '00, B.A. World Arts and Cultures, is making masks with the "Auntie Sewing Squad" for underserved and at-risk communities.
Upcoming Exhibitions and Performances
Paul Andersen ‘01, M.Arch I, “American Framing,” Venice Biennale: May - November 2021
Pinar Yoldas ‘08, M.F.A. Media Arts, “Hollow Ocean,” Venice Biennale: May - November 2021
Gala Porras-Kim '07, B.A. Art, 13th annual Gwangju Biennale: April 1 - May 9, 2021.
Joshua Fishbein ‘14, Ph.D. Music Composition, “Out of the Ashes of Holocaust”, Washington Master Chorale, May 21-24, 2021.
Patricia Fernandez ‘02, B.A. Art, “NOT I: Throwing Voices (1500 BCE–2020 CE)”, LACMA, April 1 - July 25, 2021
Shasha Dothan ‘18, M.F.A. Art, “14 Days”, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Available online now.
Derek Curry ‘10, M.F.A. Art, “Going Viral,” 2021 International Symposium on Machine Learning and Art, June 10 - 20 2021.
Various artists, “Body (Manipulated)," BOZOMAG (the gallery of Daniel Bowman ‘12, B.A. Art), April 18 - May 23, 2021.
Paul Mpagi Sepuya '16, M.F.A Art, "Stage," Document Gallery, Chicago, April 16-May 29, 2021.
Christina Moushoul '18, B.A. Architectural Studies, and Chase Galis '18, B.A. Architectural Studies, co-founders of design collective Office Party, will complete "Window Shopping" and “Good Night” in Princeton, New Jersey this spring.
Monica Majoli '89, B.A. Art, '92 M.F.A Art, "Blueboy" series, part of "Made In LA 2020," on view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino.
Nikita Gale '16, M.F.A. Art, "Nikita Gale: PRIVATE DANCER," California African American Museum, March 27 - May 9, 2021.
Amir H. Fallah '05, M.F.A. Art, "First Person Shooter Game," Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, March 27 - May 29, 2021.
Brenna Youngblood '06, M.F.A. Art, "the LIGHT and the DARK," Roberts Projects, Culver City, March 20 – May 15, 2021.
Awards
Athena Do ‘14, B.A. Architectural Studies, won first place for the Avery Review Essay Prize, Issue 46 for her article titled “Language of Efficiency.”
Fred Schriever ‘88, M.Arch II, has been named the 2020 BUILD Magazine BIM & 3D Computer Modelling Expert of the Year.
Brian Yung ‘19, B.A. Design Media Arts, has been nominated for two Webby Awards for his personal project, “Can I Binge?”
Christina Hernandez ‘05, M.Arch II, was honored as one of design:retail magazine's “40 under 40,” which recognizes the retail design industry's top young professionals and up-and-coming future leaders.
Kevin Williamson '14, B.A. and M.F.A. Dance, a recently tenured professor of dance at Scripps College, received the 2021 Mary W. Johnson Faculty Achievement Award.
James Simeo ’90, M.Arch, a principal at CO Architects in Los Angeles, was recently elevated to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows.
Lauren Lee McCarthy '11, M.F.A. Media Arts, received a United States Artists 2021 fellowship.
rafa esparza '11, B.F.A. Art, received a United States Artists 2021 fellowship.
Sharon Hayes '03, M.F.A. Art, received a United States Artists 2021 fellowship.
Positions
Steven Wong '96, B.A. Art, has been appointed as Director of the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College.
Tom Butt ‘73, M.Arch II, has been Mayor of Richmond, California since 2015. His second term began in January 2020.
Projects
Maeven McGovern ‘10, B.A. World Arts and Cultures, founded “We Are Here,” an arts program based at YR Media (formerly Youth Radio). “The success and stability of this programming was a direct result of my WAC focus at UCLA,” writes McGovern.
Christina Hernandez ‘05, M.Arch II, is currently head of Global Design for Taco Bell, which has just opened their Times Square Cantina Flagship store in New York City.
Jessica Borchardt ‘20, B.A. Design Media Arts, has started her own YouTube channel, “JessTooHip,” where she uses color grading, animation, and aesthetics to make videos of herself cooking, making art, and telling stories from her life.
Publications
Mary Uyematsu Kao ‘72, B.A. Art, published “Rockin' the Boat: Flashbacks of the 1970s Asian Movement” (UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2020). The book contains over 400 photographs covering Japanese American protests in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood, immigrant demonstrations in New York’s Chinatown neighborhood, the second Manzanar Pilgrimage, and anti-war demonstrations.
Janna Ireland, '13 M.F.A. Art, published "Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer's View" (Angel City Press, 2020).
Jae Hwan Lim ‘20, M.F.A. Art, has released "Documenting Socially-Engaging Organizers," an interview publication featuring activists, artists, and artist-activists based in Seoul, South Korea.
Susan Nwankpa Gillespie ‘09, M.Arch I, founded the architecture firm Nwankpa Design, which has received its first publication in Dwell magazine.
Sarah Wilbur '16, M.F.A. and PhD Dance, will publish her first book, "Funding Bodies: Five Decades of Dance Making at the National Endowment for the Arts" (Wesleyan University Press, 2021).
Jennifer M. Volland '06, M.A. Architecture, co-edited "Edith Heath: Philosophies" (Berkeley Design Books and Information Office, 2021).
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