Commencement 2024

We commemorate the commencement class of 2024 with ceremonies on Saturday, May 11. After years of creative and academic dedication, these students are ready to take steps forward on to new challenges and into their professional practices. Our programming celebrates their momentous scholarly achievements with events and festivities.

The Bachelor’s Degree Candidates' Ceremony features the conferring of CCA’s Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts on Deborah Willis and visual artist and CCA alum Hank Willis Thomas (MFA Photography and MA Visual Criticism 2003). This dynamic mother-and-son duo are both talented artists and creatives in their own right. An extraordinary photographer and scholar, Deborah Willis is a University Professor and Chair of Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts and Director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University. Hank Willis Thomas is a profound conceptual artist, working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. His work has been exhibited locally here in the San Francisco Bay Area and all over the globe.

Undergraduate student speaker Daniela Cruz (BFA Individualized Studies and BA Writing & Literature 2024) captures the spirit of our community at CCA. She eloquently declares, “We are Chimeras. Our diversity is our face, resilience is our flag, and art is our universal language, the language that we can all understand and speak. Although I am proud of my past and the place of my roots, I am also proud of my present and the tree I have grown at CCA.”

President David C. Howse honors extraordinary accomplishments

In his commencement speech, CCA President Howse congratulates the 2024 graduating class and celebrates this significant milestone.

“Today is not only a culmination of years of hard work and dedication; it is also a moment of reflection and anticipation. As graduates of CCA, you have an important role and responsibility as artists and makers in the world.”

Annie Gullingsrud (BFA Fashion Design 2012) will deliver the Distinguished Alumni Address at the 2024 Master’s Degree Candidates' Ceremony. Annie is committed to revolutionizing the fashion industry towards environmental stewardship and global change. She has been instrumental in her roles as COO and CSO at women-led startups, where she has focused on leveraging technology to accelerate sustainable transformation in fashion. She has collaborated with industry leaders such as H&M, Target, Walmart, Stella McCartney, Cradle to Cradle, and Net-A-Porter. She authored the book Fashion Fibers: Designing for Sustainability, which features illustrations by Amy Williams and a foreword by CCA professor and former chair of Fashion Design Lynda Grose. This collaboration underscores the book’s roots in academic and practical expertise, highlighting the interconnectedness of sustainability, design, and education. Annie is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Trashie, a pioneering rewards and recycling platform.

Graduate student speaker Julia Srey Ratchana Um (MBA Design Strategy 2024) encapsulates the essence of our artistic mission with profound insight. She declares, “As artists, our charge is to imagine all of the possible futures, to identify the preferred futures, and to use our craft to make them tangible for those who cannot or will not imagine. Our ability to ideate is a wellspring of expansive possibilities; our respective crafts are tools we can use to put into words and images those futures that do not yet exist.”

President David C. Howse expresses collegewide pride

In his commencement speech, CCA President Howse applauds the graduate students’ persistence and focus to realize their goals.

“We at CCA are immensely proud of you. We believe in you. Always remember to believe in yourself, even when the road ahead seems daunting. Trust in the process, connect with others authentically, and unleash your inner creativity. The world eagerly awaits your unique contributions, so go forth boldly and let your light shine bright.”

To denote outstanding student contributions to the 2024 Showcase, the deans of CCA’s four academic divisions selected students whose submissions deserve special recognition. Every student work chosen for a Deans’ Spotlight demonstrates excellence in theory and practice.