feature / awards
November 24, 2025
by Mike Winder

ACCOMPLISHED AND INSPIRATIONAL ALUMNI AND FACULTY HONORED AT THE ARTCENTER AWARDS, THE COLLEGE’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS EVENING

Alumni Award Recipients Included Luis Fitch, Rafael López, Bijan Machen, Robert Matsumoto, Thomas Mueller, Nidhi Singh Rathore, Matthew Rolston and Diana Thater.

The College Also Granted Emeriti Status to Several Faculty and Department Chairs

On September 29, ArtCenter College of Design held its annual ArtCenter Awards ceremony, which this year honored eight alumni—four recipients for 2023, four for 2024—whose achievements reflect the power of creative education to shape a better world. At the ceremony, ArtCenter also granted emeriti status to several faculty and department chairs, in recognition of their immense contributions to the College.

“We are living in challenging times and never has the world needed more of what we do here at ArtCenter,” said Karen Hofmann, president of the College, in her opening remarks at the evening celebration held in ArtCenter’s Mullin Transportation Design Center. “We nurture the next generation of artists and designers and creative leaders who imagine new possibilities, solve problems, and explore empathetic and thoughtful solutions to our world’s greatest challenges.”

This year’s awards audience were treated to a screening of eight short films highlighting the personal journeys and career paths of the award recipients. Seven of these short documentaries were directed by filmmaker and alum Rahat Mahajan (MFA 16), director of The Cloud Messenger, who worked between Pasadena, Germany and Thailand to capture the essence of each honoree.

The eighth film was a playful self-portrait created by Matthew Rolston (DHL 06), the recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award, an award which recognizes individuals for a lifetime of exceptional professional and creative accomplishments.

An artist, photographer and director, Rolston is known for his iconic portrait photography of cultural figures of our era, the revival and modern expression of Hollywood glamour, and his detailed approach to art direction and design. While still a student at ArtCenter, Rolston was ‘discovered’ by Andy Warhol for the artist’s celebrity-focused Interview magazine, where he began a successful career in photography.

Since then, Rolston’s work has been published prominently in numerous magazines, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine and more than 100 covers of Rolling Stone. His photographs have been widely exhibited at museums and institutions, including The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. His most recent exhibition, Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits, features portraits Rolston took of mummified individuals in the Capuchin Catacombs at the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Palermo, Sicily, the 16th century crypt sometimes referred to as the ‘museum of death.’

“Matthew has worked and shaped the way we see beauty, glamour and celebrity,” said Paul Martineau, curator of photographs at the Getty Museum, in his introduction of Rolston. “For more than four decades, he photographed Hollywood stars and music icons. When reviewing his archive of portraits, I was reminded of the MGM slogan: ‘More stars than there in heaven.’”

Upon receiving the award, Rolston spoke about his lifetime association with the College. “I grew up one block away from the Third Street Campus,” said Rolston, adding that he took classes at ArtCenter throughout elementary school, middle school and high school. “At age eight, I used to ride my bike over to the campus, ditch it in the bushes, and haunt the halls. I was probably looking for glimpses of naked people in the life drawing classes.”

The 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award went to Los Angeles-based artist Diana Thater (MFA 90), who has pioneered the use of film, video, light and sound, continually challenging the boundaries of time-based media and installation art. A prolific writer, educator and curator, Thater is currently the chair of the Art Department at ArtCenter, where she has taught since 1995.

Thater’s work explores the relationship between the natural and man-made worlds while critically examining the structures of mediated reality. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including literature, animal behavior sciences, mathematics, chess and sociology, her evocative works directly engage their surroundings, producing an intricate relationship between time and space.

Since 1992, Thater has had 92 solo exhibitions, including Diana Thater: The Sympathetic Imagination, a landmark survey at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2015, and has been included in more than 200 group exhibitions. Her work is represented in museum collections worldwide, including The Broad, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, France; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Thater is currently working on a highly anticipated permanent public artwork for the new LACMA building opening to the public in April 2026. Her large-scale video projection work, shot this summer in Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny, will be seen by thousands daily as they drive down Wilshire Boulevard and pass under LACMA.

“When I met Diana as director of Dia Art Foundation and was able to exhibit her work, about a quarter of a century ago, her work rocked my world,” said Michael Govan, CEO and director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in his introduction of Thater. “It made me entirely reconsider what I knew about painting and sculpture and cinema and architecture, and, actually, what it meant to be human.”

In her remarks after receiving the award, Thater thanked many individuals, including her former teacher, Lita Albuquerque—also honored that evening—who was first Thater’s teacher and later her colleague. “You have to understand how important that was for me—I was a student and five years later, I was teaching with my teachers. It was incredible to me that they welcomed me as one of their peers,” said Thater. “That’s something that’s so important to me about ArtCenter—it welcomes its graduates back, it welcomes its alumni back to teach, to work, to inspire future generations.”

The Distinguished Mid-Career Award, which celebrates alumni who have made significant and growing impacts in their professional or creative fields, went to illustrator Rafael López (BFA 85) and designer Thomas Mueller (MFA 95).

Born in Mexico City, López is an award-winning illustrator and muralist. As a founder of the Urban Art Trail, he works with communities around the nation, transforming city streets with murals. He is the illustrator of three New York Times bestsellers, and the winner of numerous awards, including the Tomás Rivera Book Award.

“To ArtCenter, I offer my deepest thanks—you gave me the tools, you gave me the vision, and the confidence to use art as activism, as education, as storytelling,” said López, after receiving the award from Spatial Experience Design Chair David Mocarski. “The faculty here didn’t just teach me how to make something beautiful—they taught me how to make something meaningful.”

Originally from Germany, Mueller is global head of design at Accenture Song, where he builds client relationships and enables innovative team environments. Clients Mueller has worked with range from mega corporations to non-profit organizations.

“We find ourselves living in a time where polarization and division seem to overshadow our shared humanity,” said Mueller, who received the award from Maggie Hendrie, dean of the College’s Division of Media and Technology. “But it’s precisely in these moments that the role of designers and creatives becomes even more vital. We have the power to build bridges, spark dialogue and, most importantly, foster understanding across boundaries.”

The Outstanding Service Award, which recognizes alumni for their significant contributions to ArtCenter or for their impactful humanitarian work, was presented to creative director Robert Matsumoto (BPA 63) and artist Luis Fitch (BFA 90).

Matsumoto developed his conceptual and artistic skills at the legendary advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach in New York City and his short documentary, Voices Long Silent, depicts the Japanese American WWII internment camp experience and was exhibited at the Smithsonian.

“When ArtCenter notified me about this award, I quickly called an ad agency buddy of mine to say how honored and humbled I was. She said, ‘Matsumoto, when have you ever been humble?’” said Matsumoto, drawing a laugh from the audience, while accepting the award from former trustee Kit Hinrichs (BPA 63). “I stand here today because of an extraordinary man, my mentor Bob Kelly, and his wife, Maria, for sponsoring my attending ArtCenter over 60 years ago. I’m very grateful to them for believing in my raw power and for their generosity.”

Fitch is an internationally renowned Mexican artist, mentor and creative entrepreneur, specializing in visual art, who works across gallery and urban art settings. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Mexicans Award by the Institute for Mexicans Abroad.

“I’ve seen how design can celebrate culture, heal wounds and empower people to see themselves in new ways,” said Fitch, after being handed the award from his colleague and former teacher Agustín Garza (BFA 81). “I hope my journey reminds current students and young alumni that their work can go far beyond themselves. It can be a gift to others, a way to honor our heritage, sparking dialogue and shaping more inclusive futures.”

ArtCenter’s Young Innovator Award, which acknowledges recent alumni for their notable professional or creative innovation achievements, went to Nidhi Singh Rathore (MFA 19) and Bijan Machen (MFA 18).

A South Asian designer, researcher, and educator, Rathore explores the application of design methodologies to civic engagement and social innovation. She is an assistant professor of design at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University, where she centers equity and ethics in design practice.

“I’ve come to understand that innovation is fundamentally about centering people,” said Singh Rathore, after accepting the award from Los Angeles City Deputy Mayor Amanda Daflos. “Whether we are solving problems, designing for change, or advocating for human rights, innovation isn’t just about new technology. It’s about bringing people together through design and art.”

A Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist whose work exists at the intersection of abstraction, sound and social impact, Machen is also the founder of the We Uplift The World Foundation, an organization that empowers young creators by immersing them in digital storytelling and creative entrepreneurship.

“ArtCenter is definitely responsible for helping me become who I am today,” said Machen, upon receiving the award from Robbie Nock, the College’s former vice president of alumni and industry engagement. “We learned not just about craft and technique, but we learned about the discipline, the focus, and the commitment it takes to make art at a high level that can truly speak to the world.”

This year’s ArtCenter Awards also marked the first time in the College’s history that it used the occasion of the ceremony to grant emeriti status to several of its distinguished faculty and department chairs. “These are remarkable educators whose teaching and leadership over the course of decades have shaped thousands of students, including many of us here tonight,” said Hofmann.

The distinction serves as a lasting tribute to the recipients’ contributions to ArtCenter as educators, administrators, artists and designers, and affords the bearer lifelong privileges at the College.

The title of chair emeritus/a was granted to Wendy Adest (BFA 87), Laura Cooper and Stewart Reed (BS 69). The title of faculty emeritus/a was granted to Lita Albuquerque, Louis Danziger (48), Gaylord Eckles (BS 70) posthumous, Simon Johnston, Gloria Kondrup (MFA 93), Gary Meyer (BPA 59) posthumous, Ramone Muñoz (BFA 77; MFA 90) and Robert Schureman.

The ArtCenter Awards are bestowed annually by the College, with input from the internal ArtCenter community and a global alumni network of more than 25,000 individuals. Honoring outstanding graduates is an opportunity for the College to publicly recognize the extraordinary talent, impressive service and influential reach of its alumni.

This year’s ceremony took place during the 2025 Alumni Reunion, a weekend-long event which also featured the College’s Design Invitational car show, an Art Market run by current students, workshops, screenings, lectures and much more.

For more on the ArtCenter Awards, including bios of this year’s awardees, as well as a complete list of previous recipients, please visit the event’s page.

The 2025 Alumni Reunion was made possible due to the generosity of sponsors Alyce de Roulet Williamson, FullCircle, Haworth and the Joe and Rebecca Tseng Family.