Issue 12
Winter/Spring
Devo Cutler (Film/Video BFA 75) recently produced the short film He/She/Us through Ovate Studios in Ojai, CA as part of a mentorship program. She also published an article in Ojai Quarterly exploring how the city often stands in cinematically for Italy. In addition to working on a forthcoming book about widowhood, Cutler is performing in…
After screenings across the US, Richard Green’s (Theater BFA 78) new documentary, I Know Catherine, The Log Lady, was released in August 2025. The film tells the inspiring story of actress Catherine Coulson’s determination to fight terminal cancer and stay alive long enough to film her final scenes for her close friend David Lynch in…
Artist-scholar L. Martina Young (Dance BFA 78) offers a timely response to poet and Humanities scholar Joan Retallack’s question, “How can one frame a poetics of the swerve, a constructive preoccupation with what are unpredictable forms of change?” Young explores the concept of the ”‘arabesque” by drawing on its origins in Persian aesthetics, somatic ways…
Byron Tomingas (Music MFA 71) composed the soundtrack for Headwaters, a documentary by Charles Craighead. His other recent work includes original compositions and videos such as Jenny Leigh (about the Shoshone girl behind a famous lake), Hammer Heart (from Headwaters), Mist in the Mountains, and Costa Rica Coco, collaborative improvisations with Talia Atkins, music for…
Allan Trautman (Theater MFA 78) continues to perform with The Jim Henson Company’s long-running live puppet improv show, Puppet Up—Uncensored. He is a founding member of the more than 20-year-old production. They last performed at the Center Theatre Group’s Los Angeles venue The Kirk Douglas Theatre. Follow, Message, Collaborate Instagram: @allantrautmanWebsite: allantrautman.com…
In April 2025, 12 world premiere string quartets from John King’s (Music BFA 76) ongoing Free Palestine series—which now encompasses over 155 works—were presented at Roulette in New York City, performed by the Flux Quartet. In June 2025, the Venice-based Quartetto Obliquo performed three of these compositions during their 12-city tour of Italy. In October…
Robert Landau’s (Design BFA 76) new book, Art Deco Los Angeles, was recently published by Angel City Press, accompanied by a traveling exhibition of his photographs circulated by Photographic Traveling Exhibitions (PTE). His previous book, Rock N Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip, also from Angel City Press, is soon entering its third edition and…
John Mabry (Design 75) was mentored during his first year at CalArts in Valencia by the German artist Stephan von Huene, whose work focused on animatronics and sculptural forms. While at school, Marby’s multidisciplinary work spanned performance events, inflatable sculptures, board game design, graphic design, and photography. After graduating from CalArts, Mabry expanded his artistic…
Barry Schrader (Music MFA 71), electronic music pioneer and Professor Emeritus at CalArts, recently released Ambient : Aether, his first album of new music in more than a decade. The four-movement work explores atmospheric themes through electronic composition and is available as a limited-edition CD and digital download on Bandcamp. Schrader is also known for…
Abstract artist Susanna Rosso Wolf (Music 75) presented her work at the Dana Gallery in Missoula, Montana. Follow, Message, Collaborate Email: Susierossowolf@gmail.com Instagram: @susierossowolfWebsite: susierossowolf.com…
Over the past five to six years, Ramsey Avery (Theater MFA 87) completed the overall design of Avengers Campus and the Web-Slingers attraction at the Disneyland Resort, before serving as Production Designer on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power—a role that earned him the Art Directors Guild Award for Best Production Design….
Fifteen years ago, Steven Bilow (Music BFA 82) photographed a Pink Martini concert in Portland, OR. This year, the band performed at his synagogue, where he had the joy of gifting prints from that earlier show to Cantor Ida Rae Cahana and singers China Forbes and Storm Large. (He’s the “lucky little old man” pictured…
Rea Tajiri (Art BFA 80, MFA 82) was awarded the USA Artist Fellowship in January 2025 and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in May 2025. Follow, Message, Collaborate Instagram: @jilsika, @wisdomgonewildfilm…
The Universe Breathes Us is an exhibition by Relational (Shirley Tse [former faculty] and Dana Berman Duff [Art MFA 81]) with Doug Ferrand, Alan Berman Duff, C3LA (Choral Collective Los Angeles), and a Reykjavik choir led by Thomas Stankiewicz. The exhibition, at Kling and Bang Art Space in Reykjavik, Iceland, runs Aug. 16 to Sept….
Cesar Mateus (Music MFA 85) performed at The Loretta Anne Zarlenga Memorial Concert in Granada Hills on July 20, alongside Adam Hernandez (Music BFA 25), Rory Glassford (Music BFA 25), Karo Galadjian, and Gilbert Torres. Follow, Message, Collaborate Email: Email: vortextemp@aol.comInstagram: @cesar._mateus…
A solo show of Juri Koll’s (Art BFA 84) paintings opens in Mexico City on Oct. 23. It’s curated by Max Presneill, director of the Torrance Art Museum. Koll founded the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art in 2011 and is the director of the institute’s Fine Arts Film Festival, now in its 13th year. Follow,…
Ronald Blake (Music MFA 99) has toured internationally as a trumpet player with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Green Day, and Poncho Sanchez. His recording credits include work with Ziggy Marley, Elton John, Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga, and The Rolling Stones. He has performed live on major broadcasts such as Saturday Night Live and The Academy…
Amy Gerber’s (Film/Video MFA 92) film Hope of Escape (2024) was nominated this year for an Emmy Award, at the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Follow, Message, Collaborate Email: amygerber@flatcoatfilms.com Instagram: @hopeofescapemovie Website: hopeofescapemovie.com…
Zoey Goetsch (Art MFA 99) graduated from Caltech’s Cybersecurity Bootcamp in 2025. She is the creator of the CyberHeroZ YouTube channel, featuring cybersecurity-themed projects showcased at Caltech and Simplilearn/Fullstack Academy, including The QR Code Social Engineering Exploit (The Pizza Deal) AKA Quishing (2025). She also co-created The Heartbleed Exploit (2023). As a multidisciplinary artist, Goetsch wrote,…
Daniel Mirer (Art MFA 92) presents Indifferent West at Elliott Gallery in Amsterdam, on view from Sept. 27, 2025, to Jan. 17, 2026. The exhibition is a visual investigation into the mythology, commercialization, and environmental disruption of the Western landscape, featuring vivid photographs spanning more than 30 years. Mirer’s forthcoming book of the same title,…
Eva Aguila’s (Theater BFA 05) solo exhibition, Vino De Sangre, is currently on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum in Monterey Park, CA. through Sept. 13, 2025. Follow, Message, CollaborateInstagram: @evaguila Website: evaaguila.com…
Michael Afsa (Art BFA 08) is pleased to announce his first museum exhibition, Suburban Paradise, on view at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Scottsdale, AZ, from June 14 to Sept. 14, 2025. Through minimalist sculpture and photography, the exhibition distills the visual language of the Southwest into its most elemental forms. Follow,…
In March 2025, Kathryn Pisaro (Music 06) chaired a session on Global Cold War Aesthetics and Initiatives at the Society of American Music National Conference in Tacoma, Washington, which featured a paper by CalArts alum Luke Martin. In June, she performed two world premieres at the International Double Reed Society Conference at Butler University in…
Aaron Drake (Music MFA 07) has had a busy few months, marked by several exciting milestones. On May 22, a national remix competition concluded for his score to the Roku original Renee Montgomery: A Radical Act, in partnership with EarSketch and Georgia Tech. His documentary Coach, directed by the Nash Brothers and produced by Seth…
Gene Vassilaros (Theater BFA 00) has recently worked as Voice Director on several animated series and projects, including Caped Crusader, My Adventures with Superman, and Destiny 2. He also served as Casting and Voice Director on Devil May Cry, Barbie: A Touch of Magic, and the upcoming Horton series….
Eddie Lopez (Theater BFA 07) is performing in Into the Woods at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of its 90th anniversary season. The production runs through Oct. 11, 2025. Follow, Message, Collaborate Instagram: @Eleddielo…
Joseph Pedi’s (Film/Video MFA 12) horror short film Blue Flowers debuts Oct. 16 at the 2025 Sitges Film Festival in Sitges, Spain. The film stars stars Zachary Ray Sherman and Emilie Soghomonian as a couple who come across a mysterious flower that has euphoric, healing properties. But after they consume its narcotic nectar, a dark…
Phil Chang (Art MFA 05) received a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2025 in Photography. He is an artist and educator based in Los Angeles. His work includes experimental uses of traditional photographic tools and materials, engaging with an expanded form of photography. Chang pushes the photographic process to its threshold by deliberately “misusing” materials and defying…
After a decade of research and writing, Diana Arterian’s (Critical Studies MFA 11) poetry collection, Agrippina the Younger, was published by Northwestern University Press in June. Following 15 years of work, her co-translation of the late Afghan poet Nadia Anjuman—Smoke Drifts, completed with Marina Omar—will be published by World Poetry Books this fall. Arterian began…
Michael Aurelio (Theater BFA 13) starred as Giovanni in the world premiere of Giovanni’s Room at Quintessence Theatre in Philadelphia in July 2025. This production marked the first-ever stage adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel approved by the Baldwin Estate. Follow, Message, CollaborateEmail: michaelaurelioactor@gmail.comInstagram: @aurelioacts…
Dan DiPiero (Music MFA 13, Critical Studies MA 14) is joining Boston University as an Assistant Professor of Music in the Department of Musicology & Ethnomusicology. His upcoming book, Big Feelings: Queer and Feminist Indie Rock After Riot Grrrl, will be published in October by the University of Michigan Press. The first academic monograph to…
Painter Calla Donofrio (Art BFA 13) and her joint show with sculptor Kento Saisho ran from April 10 to May 5 at Cheremoya Gallery in Los Angeles. Densely worked and historically referential, Donofrio’s paintings establish a register of singed sanctity. While drawing from a lineage that coordinates de Ribera’s ecstatic violence, Murillo’s tenebrism, Pasolini’s devotional…
Angela Stempel (Film/Video MFA 17) is excited to announce the release of her first animated musical special as a director, Lulu Is a Rhinoceros, now streaming on Apple TV+. This 45-minute kids and family special is based on the children’s book by Jason and Alison Flom and brings Lulu’s story to life with vibrant animation,…
Over the past few years, Jesse VanDenKooy (Music BFA 15, Critical Studies MFA 17) has merged his love for music, creativity, production, and technology (shout out to MTIID). He has been leading software development as Technology Solutions Architect for Redrock Entertainment, a powerhouse in the creative production and talent management space producing events like Riot…
Lisa Rose (Film/Video MFA 09) debuted her new mixed media show, Characters in Need of a Story, on Oct. 25 at the Albany Community Center Foyer Gallery in Albany, California. “I give the viewer characters; the viewer creates stories,” Rose said in the program notes. “My interest lies in the dialogue between image and imagination—where…
Shawnee Badger (Theater BFA 25) can be found playing Caithleen in a production of Bloomsday by Steven Dietz at NAMBA Arts in Ventura, CA, through Sept. 14, 2025. Follow, Message, CollaborateEmail: shawneebadger@yahoo.com Instagram: @shawneebadger Website: shawneebadger.com…
Brent Charles (Theater BFA 22 ) appeared as Berowne in William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and multiple roles in Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus as part of the 22nd season of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival. Follow, Message, CollaborateEmail: bcharles@calarts.edu Instagram: @brentblanc…
Colored in the Lines, a solo show by Taylor Thomas (Art MFA 25) ran from July 5 to 26 at Taylor Fine Art in Culver City. Using the colors found in the television color bar and abstracted pixelation, Colored in the Lines offered an interpolative take on Black identity and the Black Family through the…
Bo Li (Theater MFA 20) has been appointed to the music production faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomingdale. Follow, Message, Collaborate Instagram: @bolisoundWebsite: bolisound.com/…
Dominic Martinez (Music BFA 25) performed with his fusion/R&B band, The Bagels at The Mint in Los Angeles on Aug. 6. Follow, Message, Collaborate Instagram: @dominicmartinezofficial…
Ishika Muchhal (Acting BFA 23) will premiere her first stand-up special, Please Don’t F*ck the Funny Out of Me, at Caveat in New York City on Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. ET. The performance will also be livestreamed and available on demand for one week. Presented as a thesis defense, the show uses data and…
Fía Benitez (Art MFA 21) is featured in The Journey is the Destination: Recording Los Angeles at the California State University, Northridge Art Galleries, on view through Nov. 6, 2025. Curated by Holly Jerger, the exhibition presents seven Los Angeles–based artists who explore the cultural histories of the city’s overlooked neighborhoods and communities. Benitez debuts…
The Dig Deep Dash 5K Run/Walk, benefiting the Dig Deep Theater—a 501(c)(3) founded by Shawnee Badger (Theater BFA 25)—will be held at 8 am on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at West Creek Park (24247 Village Circle Dr.) in Valencia, Calif. Proceeds will support upcoming staged productions and readings of classic and contemporary works. In the…
Peter Hager (Music MFA 25)’s comic opera Marathon plays for two nights — Oct. 17 and 18 — at the Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica. Also on the program is the performance piece Sending // Receiving, that features the talents of CalArts alumni Nelle Anderson (Music MFA 24), Jaz Jendersee (VoiceArts BFA 24), Mikaela…
Street Poets Inc hosted SP PRESENTS: SEASON OF HARVEST, their monthly poetry feature and open mic event, on Nov. 19 in Los Angeles. This gathering featured a reading by Yazmenne Archer (Critical Studies MFA 23) Follow, Message, Collaborate Email: yazmenne@streetpoetsinc.com Instagram: @yaz.archerWebsite: yazmennearcher.squarespace.com…
Gabi Galloway (Theater BFA 21) has been appointed as the next Executive Director of the Auburn Symphony in Washington. She currently serves as the organization’s Individual Giving Director and will transition into the expanded role as the Symphony prepares for a major milestone: the 2026–27 season, which will mark the orchestra’s 30th anniversary. The Auburn…
