Calling alums and faculty of all eras:

You Are Invited

to the possibly first ever CalArts Graphic Design Reunion!

 

 Where?

CalArts!

When?

May 7

What time?

11am–10pm*

* A ginormous group picture will take place at 3:30pm.

We will follow all COVID-19 safety requirements in effect at CalArts on May 7.
Don’t worry—we’ll send a final reminder the week before the reunion.

 

See you all soon!

 

We are planning a grand gathering to celebrate our community, tell tall tales, reminisce with old friends, rivals, and faculty, and complain about things we should really be over by now but clearly are not.

 

 

Schedule

A look at what will happen on May 7.

11am – Early Risers Welcome

  • If you are so inclined, get started early with coffee, fruit & donuts. You know, like class sign ups of yore?

  • Get a calm look at the End of the Year Show before everyone else shows up.

  • Wander the hallways by yourself and reminisce.

12pm – Alums meet current students

  • For alums: Your chance to meet with a current student—talk about their work and share stories about the real world out there.

  • For current students: Your chance to meet alums and ask for advice.

  • Alums and students will be paired up randomly.

1pm – Lunch

  • The official Reunion kickoff. With food.

2pm & 2:45pm – Tours

  • Choose two of the following tours, which will each happen twice:

    • End of the Year Show Tour

    • Poster Archive Tour

    • Institute Tour

3:30pm – Group Photo and Champagne Toast

  • We’ll gather for our ginormous group photo to prove this happened.

  • We’ll cheer with a bubbly alcoholic beverage.

4:15pm – Making Things and Exchanging Stories

  • CACA

    • Communal collaging with the CalArts Collage Association, led by current student Jada Merritt

  • 5-minute Presentations in F200

    • Very short presentations about a topic of passion.

    • The current lineup of presenters:

      • Barbara Glauber

      • Piper Weaver

      • Ave Pildas

      • Colombene Jenner

      • Eileen Hsu

      • Daniella Marx

      • Dameon Waggoner

      • Elizabeth Buchta

  • The Open Bar opens its doors.

6:30pm – Dinner & Party

  • There’ll be food. There’ll be drinks. There’ll be music.

  • DJing by current students Sundhya Anthony (BFA2) and Haruka Cheung (BFA2)

All Day

  • We’ll be selling Reunion related merch!

 

Who’s coming?

278 Confirmed Guests

A look at who’s coming*

  • Anonymous

  • Spencer Abrams ’18

  • Taimin Ahn ’21

  • Elizabeth Alexander ’12

  • Maya Alvarado ’25

  • Sally Alvarado ’13

  • Edwin Alvarenga ’14, faculty

  • Dov Annuse ’23

  • Caryn Aono faculty

  • Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton ’07

  • Lisa Armstrong ’18, faculty

  • Kary Arimoto-Mercer former faculty

  • Brian Bailey ’79 (art)

  • Kathy Bates ’18

  • Kemper Bates ’96

  • Michelle Bac ’24

  • Julianna Bach ’18

  • Chi-Chi Bello ’05

  • Juliette Bellocq ’00

  • Alisa Benfey ’05

  • Bijan Berahimi ’13

  • Peter Bergeron ’01

  • Tom Bland faculty

  • Maja Blazejewska ’06

  • Trey Brothers ’19

  • Lorin Brown ’10, faculty

  • Elizabeth Buchta ’05

  • Chris Burnett ’13

  • Shiqi Cao ’23

  • Kathryn Catmur ’14

  • Conny Cavazos ’20

  • Laura Chaland ’22

  • Noa Chang ’22

  • David Chathas ’15

  • Erin Caihui Chen ’23

  • Sharleen Chen ’17

  • Haruka Cheung ’24

  • Soyun Cho ’14

  • Shivangi Chopra ’25

  • Sarah Chow ’24

  • Joshua Concepcion ’24

  • Lucy Cook ’10

  • Colleen Corcoran ’08

  • Mackenzie Costa ’23

  • Tracie Costantino provost

  • Robin Cottle ’90

  • Mitchel Cox ’13

  • Jessica D'Elena-Tweed ’07

  • Devin Dailey ’09

  • David Devine ’96

  • Sophie Dobrigkeit ’00

  • Jim Drobka ’86

  • Hyunbae Earm ’22

  • Beth Elliott ’96, former faculty

  • David Enomoto ’98

  • Anthony D'Eredita ’22

  • Ed Fella faculty emeritus

  • Lu Feng ’17

  • Jessica Fleischmann ’01

  • Colin Frazer faculty

  • Tracy Fu ’23

  • Stephanie Lane Gage ’24

  • Manuel Garcia ’09

  • Timothy Garrett ’08

  • Jens Gehlhaar ’03, former faculty

  • Bryan Gelderbloom ’20

  • Barbara Glauber ’90

  • Natalie Gooden ’22

  • Colombene Jenner Gorton ’97

  • Paulina Gruzdev ’23

  • Micah Hahn ’99

  • Katie Hanburger ’06

  • Nadia Haile ’20

  • David Harlan ’95

  • Mary Kim Harmon ’12

  • Hazel He ’22

  • Carrie Hirsch ’96

  • Ryan Horn-Clegg ’23

  • Brian Hsieh ’23

  • Eileen Hsu ’11

  • Christina Huang ’19

  • Oltree Hui ’24

  • Brooke Irish ’14, former faculty

  • Avery Jagre ’20

  • Makena Janssen ’22

  • Roman Jaster ’07, faculty

  • Mandy Qinglin Jin ’23

  • Sam Jones ’20

  • Andrew Jonez ’01

  • Yunji Jun ’17

  • Stanley Jung ’24

  • Peter Kaplan ’03

  • David Karwan ’12

  • Jessica Kao ’15

  • Mr. Keedy faculty

  • Gina Keeler ’03

  • Stephen Kessler ’96

  • John Kieselhorst ’00, former faculty

  • Dora Kim ’24

  • Jimin Kim ’16

  • Joon Kim ’04

  • Minsu Kim ’24

  • Nadia Korepanova ’17

  • Tom Kracauer ’13, former faculty

  • Bradley Krebs ’18

  • Andrew Kutchera ’01

  • Victoria Lam ’04

  • Pedro Lavin ’13

  • Jason Lee ’11

  • Jessica Lee ’16

  • Nikki Lee ’13

  • Emily Lew ’22

  • Sijia Li ’17

  • Anqi Liang ’24

  • Joyce Lightbody (faculty)

  • Andelee Lin ’12

  • Joshua Lin ’23

  • Xuanyi Lin ’19

  • Zhen Lu ’23

  • Amanda Lui ’14

  • Kevin Lyons ’96

  • Armando Martinez-Celis ’13, former faculty

  • Daniela Marx ’01

  • Scott Massey ’12

  • Riddhi Mathuria ’24

  • Emma Mazzuca ’22

  • Geoff McFetridge ’95

  • Jen McKnight ’03

  • Dyna Mendoza ’96

  • Christina Monterrosa ’25

  • Gian Montes ’20

  • Isaiah Montoya ’14

  • Erick Mora ’22

  • Olivia Morad ’04

  • Emily Morishita ’04

  • Eline Mul ’15

  • Jack Mulholland ’16

  • Silas Munro ’08, faculty

  • Vivian Naranjo ’19

  • Candice Navi ’21

  • Kali Nikitas ’90

  • Yinchen Niu ’18

  • Pierre Nguyen ’13

  • Lisa Nugent ’89

  • Lyle Ostling ’21

  • Diego Padilla ’08

  • JP Gil de Paiva ’02

  • Synderela Peng ’01

  • Jessica Peng ’20

  • Tuan Phan ’01

  • Augusto Piccio IV ’12

  • Ave Pildas former faculty

  • Joe Potts ’09

  • Joseph Prichard ’08

  • Austin Prouty ’22

  • Ravi Rajan president

  • Eron Rauch faculty

  • Elena Reyna Hernandez ’23

  • Jennifer Schanen Rider ’10

  • Zachary Roberson ’11

  • Ella Rosenblatt ’24

  • Grace Rosenman ’20

  • Brian Roettinger ’04, former faculty

  • Bruce Sachs ’03

  • Louise Sandhaus ’94, faculty

  • Juliana Sankaran-Felix ’97

  • Nate Schulman ’09 (critical studies)

  • Kristin Schultz ’18

  • Yura Seo ’21

  • Richard Shanks ’95

  • Phil Shaw ’12

  • Wenxian Shi ’23

  • Clarence Sim ’24

  • Sarah Shoemake ’14

  • Dmitri Siegel former faculty

  • Rebekah Burch Shamsa ’02

  • Mina Shoaib ’17

  • Hayden Smith ’15

  • Stuart Smith ’02, faculty

  • Jin Son ’06

  • Becky Song ’12

  • Jenny Song ’15

  • Shelley Stepp ’94, faculty

  • Nick Steinhardt ’09

  • Jesse Lee Stout ’11, former faculty

  • Chandler Sutton ’21

  • Gail Swanlund ’92, faculty

  • Yi Tang ’24

  • Erasmo Tapia ’18

  • Alene Tashjian ’22

  • Scott Taylor former faculty

  • Megan Texido ’23

  • Kari Trail ’25

  • Tiffanie Tran ’12

  • Laura Tu ’05

  • Brad Tucker ’02, former faculty

  • Gandhar Vamburkar ’23

  • Dameon Waggoner ’18

  • Hongzhou Wan ’23

  • Marshall Wang ’21

  • Xiaoqing Wang ’06

  • Piper Hughes Weaver ’11

  • Andrea Williams ’12

  • Aren Williams ’21

  • Ryan Williams ’03

  • Kennis Wong ’16

  • Benjamin Woodlock ’13, former faculty

  • Michael Worthington ’95, faculty

  • Peixi Wu ’24

  • Andrea Yasko ’18

  • Alyson Yee ’18

  • Lily Yeh ’22

  • David Yoo ’20

  • Sean Yoon ’09

  • Louise-Audrey Zenezini ’23

  • Luyao Zhang ’23

  • Yingyi Zhu ’21

  • Jeff Zwerner ’92

* Not a complete list. Some people are shy.

 

Tickets

Tickets for the reunion are no longer available. But we’re excited to see everyone attending on May 7!

Funding for the reunion was made possible through ticket sales, the Graphic Design program’s Coursera revenue, and support from the Art School.

For the ticket price, our guests will receive an awesome party, lunch and dinner, SWAG take-aways, and an OPEN BAR.


Note: Early-bird pricing lasted through April 9 and Last-Minute Special pricing through May 1.

Current Student

$10

Recent Alum

Graduation years 2021–2017

$25

Not-So-Recent Alum

Graduation years 2016 and earlier

$45

Last-Minute Special

All tickets

$85

Pay What You Can

We don’t want money to be a reason that you can’t join in the celebration. You’ll have the ability to pay what you can, no questions asked.

All guests: $45. One guest per alum.

 

 FAQs

 

What about Carpooling on May 7?

We created a Carpooling Google Sheet that allows you to offer and solicit rides to and from the Reunion. We'll let you all take it from here.

What? When? Where?

A grand graphic design program reunion for all alums of the Graphic Design program. On May 7th, 2022 on the CalArts campus in Valencia, California.

Who?

Everyone who has studied graphic design at CalArts. Ever.

Also, all faculty who have taught at CalArts over the years are invited!

Why?

Celebrate our community, reminisce with old friends and foes, connect with faculty and current students, have a great time.

What time?

The event starts at 11am and will go into the night.

That seems like a long time…

Well, we haven’t seen each other for a while, so we might as well make it count. That said, you don’t have to be there the entire time. Just make sure you don’t miss the ginormous group picture at 3:30pm. A more finely grained schedule will be available closer to the event.

So is this some kind of design conference?

No, it’s a PARTY. While talk about design and work and career is (obviously) not forbidden, we want to focus on reconnecting and reminiscing and having fun.

Then what will we do?

We have a lot of activities planned throughout the day. Tours of the campus and the design studios. A peek at the Poster Archive. Making things (CACA?!). Viewing the End of the Year Show. Meeting current students. Eating. Drinking. Chatting. Dancing?

Why are the tickets so expensive?

We’re planning a grand party with delicious food (lunch and dinner), an open bar, take-away gifts, and surprises. Nice things cost money. But we don’t want anyone to stay away because they can’t afford it. You’ll have the ability to pay what you can, no questions asked. (Early-bird pricing lasted through April 9.)

Why are the tickets so cheap?

We’re lucky that the majority of our event budget is covered by money raised from the Graphic Design Program Coursera classes. The School of Arts also pitched in. Tickets for current students and more recent alums are less. You’re welcome! (Early-bird pricing lasted through April 9.)

Will this be an annual event?

Likely not. Assume this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of us to come together. So be there!

Who is behind this?

While this event is encouraged (and partly funded) by the Graphic Design Program, the plans are spearheaded by Armando Martinez-Celis and Roman Jaster. Current BFA4s Natalie Gooden and Noa Chang are responsible for the graphic identity.

Michael Worthington deserves credit for behind-the-scenes cheerleading and support. Thanks to all the faculty and alums who created Coursera Classes: Yasmin Khan, Anther Kiley, Roman Jaster, Randy Nakamura, Louise Sandhaus, Gail Swanlund, Lorraine Wild, and Michael Worthington. Coursera revenue is an important part of our event budget

What about COVID?

Luckily, the infection numbers are looking good. We are planning to have much of the event outside. We will follow all COVID guidelines that will be in effect on May 7, 2022. That might mean wearing masks inside and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test. We will have more specific info as we get closer to the event.

Will there be food and drinks?

Yes! We’re serving lunch and dinner. Also, did someone say Open Bar? (You bet!)

Can I bring the whole family?

Leave the kids at home so you can focus on talking to adults. Bring your significant others if they are excited to hear all the CalArts stories all day. But most importantly, bring yourself!

Will there be a virtual component?

We understand that not everyone will make it to California. But after two years of COVID, we are ready to celebrate in person. However, parts of the event will be live-streamed on Instagram. So check out @calartsdesignreunion.

How can I help plan the event?

If you would like to volunteer to be more closely involved in the planning of the event, please email Armando (mtzcelis@gmail.com) and Roman (roman@romanjaster.com).

Soon, we will also provide more information about what to bring, what to prepare, and how to participate.

Who designed the event identity?

The wonderful about-to-graduate current students, Natalie Gooden ’22 and Noa Chang ’22.

“Possibly First Ever”?

We didn’t fact check this, but we think so?