December 14, 2023
ArtCenter College of Design Celebrates Fall 2023 Graduating Class
Conservation Design Pioneer Mariana Prieto to Deliver Commencement Address
On Saturday, December 16, ArtCenter College of Design will celebrate 200 graduates at a ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Approximately 5,000 people are expected to attend various Graduation activities taking place throughout the week. ArtCenter President Karen Hofmann will preside over the ceremony and confer the degrees. In addition to hearing from the Student Leadership Award winner and class Valedictorian, families and friends in the audience will be treated to an inspirational address presented by conservation design leader and alumnus Mariana Prieto (BS 2012).
“I’m happy to celebrate our incredibly talented students at this fall graduation,” said Karen Hofmann, president and chief executive officer at ArtCenter College of Design. “Mariana Prieto is a true creative leader, committed to making the world a better place and I expect our graduates will find her journey inspiring.”
Mariana Prieto was recently appointed as the Conservation Design Director at Conservation International. For the last decade, Prieto has been a leader in social and environmental innovation. She has led teams in partnership with WildAid, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alight, General Electric, Who Gives a Crap, Lyda Hill Foundation, and IDEO.org among many others. She was previously the founder of Design for Wildlife, a collective that works with wildlife conservation organizations to achieve large scale, economically sustainable solutions for wildlife related challenges. Prieto is an adjunct professor at ArtCenter and was named TED Resident in 2018 and 2019 for her work in wildlife conservation and won the Emerging Scholar Award by Common Ground in 2020. She was honored with the Young Innovator Award from ArtCenter in 2021.
Joshua (Jisok) You, an Illustration major from South Korea, will receive the Student Leadership Award (SLA) during the graduation ceremony. The SLA is presented each term and fulfills ArtCenter’s vision of educating artists and designers who are not only leaders within their professional fields, but leaders in their communities. Based on recommendations from faculty, staff and students, this award recognizes a student who has provided leadership through participation in ArtCenter’s campus life, community outreach, student organizations and department initiatives.
The Fall 2023 Valedictorian is Jeffrey Takumi Sugishita, a Fine Art major from Altadena, California.
Following the graduation ceremony on Saturday afternoon, Grad Show opens both virtually and in person at the Pasadena Convention Center’s Exhibit Halls A and B, providing friends, family and people from across Greater Los Angeles a chance to view the extraordinary work of ArtCenter’s newly minted grads. Graduating students have opportunities to connect with potential employers by way of a virtual career fair platform and in person at Grad Show recruitment events. Nike, Google and DreamWorks are among the many companies with representatives in attendance to meet emerging talent.
December 16 | 10 a.m. through 12 p.m.
Fall 2023 Graduation Ceremony
Pasadena Civic Auditorium
300 E. Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101
Ticketed event for friends, family, faculty and staff to celebrate the commencement of our graduating class.
December 16 | Noon through 5 p.m.
ArtCenter Grad Show
Pasadena Convention Center | Exhibit Halls A + B
300 E. Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101
FREE and open to the public, friends and families.
No RSVP required.
To view all Fall 2023 Graduation Activities, view this event page.
To view the College’s virtual Grad Show representing the achievements of the Class of 2023, please visit gradshow.artcenter.edu/fall-2023.
About ArtCenter: Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers 11 undergraduate and 10 graduate degrees in a variety of industrial design disciplines as well as in a range of visual and applied arts. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College serves members of the Greater Los Angeles region through a highly regarded series of year-round extension programs for all ages and levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and its social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status in recognition of its commitment to social impact design through Designmatters. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.
Contact:
Teri Bond
Acting Co-VP, Marketing and Communications
ArtCenter College of Design
teri.bond@artcenter.edu
626 396-2385
