During a historic virtual ceremony on Monday afternoon, June 1st, the Lewis Center for the Arts will celebrate graduates of the Class of 2020 who earned certificates through the Programs in Creative Writing, Dance, Theater, Music Theater, and Visual Arts. Special guest speaker Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, will address the graduates.
“This year in particular, Class Day is a celebration of the ways that art brings people together—and the ways it brings each of us into closer contact with our own quiet thoughts, our own hopes and preoccupations. If ever the world has needed bright, young, creative people helping us to look at the world and ourselves with more courage and compassion, it is now.”
—Tracy K. Smith, Chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts
2019-20 Video Highlights
The Lewis Center for the Arts salutes the Class of 2020 and the academic year like no other. Enjoy a look back at 2019-20 — a year for the history books.
Certificate Program Graduates
Creative Writing
Serena Alagappan, David V. Babikian, Sarah K. Barnette, Liana T. Cohen, Robert Cody Cortes, Yousef M. Elzalabany, Arianah F. Hanke, Nathaniel Hickok, Matthew T. Igoe, E Jeremijenko-Conley, Somi S. Jun, Eunice Lee, Scooter Liapin, Allegra E. Martschenko, Liza Milov, Abigail B. Minard, Rasheeda Saka, Destiny Salter, Peter C. Schmidt, Grace C. R. Searle, Alexandra M. Spensley, Emilie G. Szemraj, Khanh K. Vu, Heather D. Waters, Jacob D. Wheeler, Alice Xu, Cooper Young, Kevin J. Zou.
Dance
Sarah Anne Betancourt, Sofia Bisogno, Peyton Cunningham, Marshall Dylan Schaffer, Jorina Kardhashi, Aleksandra Kostic, Abigail Kostolansky, Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst, Serena Lu, Cooper Young.
Theater
Tessa Rose Bernstein Albertson, Jonathan Lee Alicea, Hannah Jayne Chomiczewski, Milan Renée Eldridge, Jaclyn L. Hovsmith, E Jeremijenko-Conley, Nicholas Judt, Jenny Kim, Carol Lee, Kateryn Lina McReynolds, Alexandra Palocz, Richard Peng, Marshall Dylan Schaffer, Hannah Marlena Semmelhack, Allison Marie Spann, Abigail Teagan Spare, Katja Anita Stroke-Adolphe, Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst, Chamari Marquis White-Mink, Jianing Zhao.
Music Theater
Rose Carolyn Arbittier, Hannah Jayne Chomiczewski, Milan Renée Eldridge, Reed Sawyer Hutchinson, Jenny Kim, Jonathan Andrew Makepeace, Kateryn Lina McReynolds, Richard Peng, Billie Anna Runions, Calvin James Rusley, Allison Marie Spann, Abigail Teagan Spare, Carl Sun.
Visual Arts
Certificate Students
Sebastian Benzecry, Julian Axel Castellon, Christina Maria de Soto, Nazenin Elçi, Tom Hoopes, Janette Tong Lu, Estibaliz Matulewicz, Roland Mounier, June Ho Park, Gabriella Pollner, Irene Ross, Katherine Evelyn Schneer, Yunzi Shi, Elizabeth Wallace, Charity Young.
Practice of Art (PA) Students:
Milan Renée Eldridge, Abigail Hack, Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst, Ivy Xue.
Student Awards
A number of seniors receive awards for outstanding achievement in each Program and top academic prizes are awarded by the Lewis Center Program Directors for overall achievement in the arts.
Top Academic Prizes
The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, presented annually to one or more graduating seniors who have demonstrated excellence or the highest standard of proficiency, in performance or execution or in the field of composition in the following general areas: music, theater, dance, painting, sculpture or photography, will be awarded to E Jeremijenko-Conley and Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst.
The Toni Morrison Prize honors the late Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize Laureate and Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, will be given to one or more graduating seniors whose individual or collaborative artistic practice has pushed the boundaries and enlarged the scope of our understanding of issues of race. This prize honors work in any form that, in the spirit of Morrison’s, is “characterized by visionary force and poetic import.” Jenny Kim and Destiny Salter are recipients of this year’s award.
Creative Writing Prizes
Theodore Weiss Award — Somi S. Jun
Theodore H. Holmes ’51 and Bernice Holmes Poetry Prize — Grace C. R. Searle
Samuel Shellabarger Memorial Prize in Creative Writing — Alexandra M. Spensley
Joyce Carol Oates Award — Jacob D. Wheeler
Edmund Keeley Literary Translation Award — Eunice Lee
Outstanding Work by a Senior — Serena Alagappan, David V. Babikian, Robert Cody Cortes, Sergio M. De Iudicibus, Nathaniel Hickok, Pria M. Louka, Audrey A. Spensley, Cooper Young
Dance Prizes
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — Sofia Bisogno
Ze’eva Cohen Senior Award — Jasmin Capellan, Gabriela Oseguera Serra
Outstanding Senior Creative Thesis Award — Sarah Anne Betancourt, Sofia Bisogno, Peyton Cunningham, Marshall Dylan Schaffer, Jorina Kardhashi, Aleksandra Kostic, Abigail Kostolansky, Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst, Serena Lu, Cooper Young
Theater and Music Theater Prizes
Award for Creative and Community Leadership in Theater and Music Theater — Jenny Kim
Award for a Senior Show that Most Expanded our Sense of Community — Rose Carolyn Arbittier
Award for Collaborative Spirit in the Senior Theater Season — Hannah Marlena Semmelhack
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — The Proposing Team of Macbeth: Tessa Rose Bernstein Albertson, Milan Renée Eldridge, and Abigail Teagan Spare
Music Theater Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Music Theater Season — Richard Peng
Tim Vasen Award — Chamari Marquis White-Mink
Outstanding Work by a Senior Award — Tessa Rose Bernstein Albertson, Jonathan Lee Alicea, Rose Carolyn Arbittier, Hannah Jayne Chomiczewski, Milan Renée Eldridge, Jaclyn L. Hovsmith, Reed Sawyer Hutchinson, E Jeremijenko-Conley, Nicholas Judt, Jenny Kim, Carol Lee, Jonathan Andrew Makepeace, Kateryn Lina McReynolds, Alexandra Palocz, Richard Peng, Billie Anna Runions, Calvin James Rusley, Marshall Dylan Schaffer, Hannah Marlena Semmelhack, Allison Marie Spann, Abigail Teagan Spare, Katja Anita Stroke-Adolphe, Carl Sun, Tsjum Jhor Kai van der Horst, Chamari Marquis White-Mink, Jianing Zhao
Visual Arts Prizes
Lucas Award in Visual Arts — Sebastian Benzecry, Julian Axel Castellon, Nazenin Elçi, Milan Renée Eldridge, Abigail Hack, June Ho Park, Gabriella Pollner, Yunzi Shi, Elizabeth Wallace, Ivy Xue
Jim Seawright Award in Visual Arts — Janette Tong Lu
