On Monday, May 29, the Lewis Center for the Arts celebrates graduates of the Class of 2023 who earned certificates and degrees through the Programs in Creative Writing, Dance, Theater, Music Theater, and Visual Arts.
A Note from the Lewis Center for the Arts Chair Judith Hamera
Welcome to the Berlind Theatre in the McCarter Theatre Center, where we gather with family, friends, and members of the Lewis Center for the Arts community to celebrate a milestone in the lives of our student artists. Every Class Day is the culmination of both the usual demands of an undergraduate career at Princeton – the challenges, achievements, resilience, and resourcefulness – and those unique to each specific class. Our LCA Class of ’23 has shown us what it means to think deeply about, and creatively negotiate, art making in radically different contexts: from a global pandemic to its long, waning aftermath. You’ve pressed us to become a more genuinely welcoming place, and you’ve surprised us, challenged us, and partnered with us in so many wonderful ways. On behalf of the LCA faculty and staff, hearty congratulations to you. We can’t wait to see what you’ll do next!
Certificate Program Graduates
Creative Writing
Priyanka Aiyer, Abigail Y. Anthony, Beatrix Bondor, Ngan Chiem, Allen Delgado, Noa Greenspan, Yunxia Hallowell, Chaya Holch, Mel Hornyak, Sheherzad Jamal, Cassandra James, Danielle Jenkins, Conner Kim, Sophie Lockwood, Alexis Maze, Luca Morante, Nimrah Naseer, Megan Pan, Magdalena Poost, Mina Quesen, Grey Raber, Oyinkansola Sangoyomi, Meera Sastry, Ashira Shirali, and Hana Widerman.
Dance
Naomi Benenson, Becca Berman, Leah Emanuel, Jonathan Golden, Kyle Ikuma, Gianni Pacheco, Anastasia Poverin, Amanda Gabrielle Roxas-Chua Qua, Heather Samberg, Lucy Ann Sirrs, Camryn Stafford, and Emma Wang.
Theater
Eliyana Abraham, Julien Alam, Anna Allport, Kaelani Burja, Sarah Grinalds, Katie Hameetman, Mel Hornyak, Cassandra James, Jenni Lawson, Gaea Lawton, Elliot Lee, Reed Leventis, Alexis Maze, Regan McCall, Aliha Mughal, Asher Muldoon, Emily Murray, Megan Pan, Rosemary Paulson, Magdalena Poost, Angelica Qin, and Kate Short.
Music Theater
Eliyana Abraham, Kaelani Burja, Julia Elman, Cassandra James, Jenni Lawson, Gaea Lawton, Elliot Lee, Halle Mitchell, Asher Muldoon, Kate Short, and Matthew Weatherhead.
Visual Arts
Certificate Students:
Priyanka Aiyer, Maggie Chamberlain, Allen Delgado, Annabel Dupont, Eliana Camille Derby Gagnon, Angeline Marsh, Rachel Qing Pang, Ari Faith Riggins, Eloise Cameron Schrier, Yoko Urano, Tan Vu, and Wendi Yan.
Practice of Art (PA) Students:
Lola Constantino, Tai Serene Jeffers, Lane Marsh, Nemo CAPN, and Adewunmi Titilayo Obafemi Sodimu.
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, is awarded to Elliot Lee and Lane Marsh.
The Toni Morrison Prize that 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.” Cassandra James and Camryn Stafford are recipients of this year’s award.
The Lewis Center for the Arts Action Based Community Engagement Award is awarded to the student or students whose contributions to the Lewis Center embody a commitment to “interrogating that which is accepted or understood in an attempt to break into the territory of the unknown or under-explored.” Angelica Qin and Amanda Gabrielle Roxas-Chua Qua are the recipients of this year’s award.
Creative Writing Prizes
Theodore H. Holmes ’51 and Bernice Holmes Poetry Prize — Priyanka Aiyer
Theodore Weiss Award — Sheherzad Jamal
Samuel Shellabarger Memorial Prize in Creative Writing — Noa Greenspan
Joyce Carol Oates Award — Ngan Chiem and Mel Hornyak
Outstanding Work by a Senior — Shelby Kinch and Ashira Shirali
James Richardson Award — Hana Widerman
Edmund Keeley Literary Translation Award — Megan Pan
Read a description of each creative writing award
Dance Prizes
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — Naomi Benenson, Leah Emanuel, Jonathan Golden, and Gianni Pacheco
Outstanding Senior Creative Thesis Award — Becca Berman and Camryn Stafford
Sustained Community Achievement Award — Lucy Ann Sirrs and Emma Wang
Read a description of each dance award
Theater & Music Theater Prizes
Creative and Community Leadership Award — Kaelani Burja and Magdalena Poost
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — Mel Hornyak and Elliot Lee
Outstanding Contribution to Theater — Julien Alam
Outstanding Contribution to Music Theater — Halle Mitchell
Tim Vasen Award for Talent and Citizenship — Reed Leventis
Most Exciting Newcomer Award — Sarah Grinalds and Emily Murray
Senior Prize — Eliyana Abraham, Julien Alam, Anna Allport, Kaelani Burja, Julia Elman, Sarah Grinalds, Katie Hameetman, Mel Hornyak, Cassandra James, Jenni Lawson, Gaea Lawton, Elliot Lee, Reed Leventis, Alexis Maze, Regan McCall, Halle Mitchell, Aliha Mughal, Asher Muldoon, Emily Murray, Megan Pan, Rosemary Paulson, Magdalena Poost, Angelica Qin, Kate Short, and Matthew Weatherhead
Read a description of each theater award
Visual Arts Prizes
Lucas Award in Visual Arts — Lola Constantino, Tai Serene Jeffers, Lane Marsh, Nemo CAPN, Rachel Qing Pang, Ari Faith Riggins, Eloise Cameron Schrier, Adewunmi Titilayo Obafemi Sodimu, Yoko Urano, and Wendi Yan
Jim Seawright Award in Visual Arts — Annabel Dupont
Read a description of each visual arts award
Land Acknowledgement
The Lewis Center for the Arts is working to create a living land acknowledgement, one that is embodied in its consideration of—and engagement with—the past, present, and future. As we continue this work, we acknowledge that this building sits on land considered part of the ancient homelands of the Lenni-Lenape peoples and that this campus was built on this land with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples. We acknowledge that learning about history and making this statement isn’t enough. Equally important is our ongoing work to understand past harms; build awareness in present relationships and actions; and bring imagination, creative problem-solving, and community-building to the future of our programs. We are taking actions towards these goals within our curriculum, pedagogy, and programming. We invite you to learn more about the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Princeton Atelier: Paul Muldoon
Director of the Program in Creative Writing: Yiyun Li
Director of the Program in Dance: Susan Marshall
Associate Director of Dance: Rebecca Lazier
Director of the Program in Theater: Jane Cox
Director of the Program in Music Theater, Director of Fellowships: Stacy Wolf
Producing Artistic Director of Theater and Music Theater Season: Elena Araoz
Director of the Program in Visual Arts: Jeff Whetstone
Associate Director of Visual Arts: Pam Lins
View a full list of Lewis Center for the Arts faculty »
View a full list of LCA staff members »
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a full list of LCA Supporters »