On Monday, May 25, the Lewis Center for the Arts celebrates graduates of the Class of 2026 who earned minors 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 2026 Lewis Center for the Arts Class Day, celebrating our graduating seniors’ work during their time with us. And what work it was: ambitious, courageous, generous, moving, and original, in and across multiple mediums! Along with the work itself, we celebrate the ways you made it. You collaborated and critiqued, thought, wrote, built, and moved, argued, struggled, and kept going individually and together. You did hard things, beautiful things, and important things. I hope your pride in both what you made and how you made it stays with you. I hope it reminds you of what art can do in turbulent times, and of what you can do with the vision and energy you’ve so amply demonstrated over your time at Princeton. On behalf of the entire LCA, most enthusiastic congratulations and thank you. We can’t wait to hear what you’ll do next.
Graduates Receiving a Minor
Creative Writing
- Ina Aram
- Pia Bhatia
- Wyatt Browne
- Mariana Castillo
- Athena Sophia Chu
- Melanie Garcia
- Avery Gendler
- Harry Gorman
- Teodor Grosu
- Tacy Guest
- Destine Harrison-Williams
- Kelly Kim
- Amy Liu
- Roya Reese
- Helena Richardson
- Sofiia Shapovalova
- Alden Stafford
- George Tidmore
- Emma Tsoglin
- Jessica Wang
- Avery Danae Williams
- Catherine Xie
- Kayla Xu
Dance
- Mary Burdick
- Ella Colby
- Honor Johnson
- Olivia Kasule
- Victoria Koretsky
- Ava Caroline Kronman
- Pippa LaMacchia
- Madalyn Mejia
- Sally Menaker
- Tasman Moskowitz
- Helena Richardson
- Maya Sessions
- Braeh Simon
Theater & Music Theater
- Nadine Allache
- Ashley Baudelaire
- Radon Belarmino
- Kimberlynn Bjurstrom
- Vivian Bui
- Myrah Charles
- Sahaf Chowdhury
- Matthew Cooperberg
- Rachel Edelstein
- Vera Fei
- Destine Harrison-Williams
- Cynthia Jacobson
- Olivia Kasule
- Victoria Koretsky
- Ava Kronman
- Angela Kwon
- Jonathan Leadingham
- Zach Lee
- Orion Lopez-Ramirez
- Elena Milliken
- Alexander Picoult
- Jeanna Raphael
- Tiffany Rawlston
- Annalise Schuck
- Kristen Tan
- Grace Wang
- Emily Yang
- Moses Yang
Visual Arts
Minors:
- Nsebong Adah
- Alvaro Machado Basso
- Kellen Ducey
- Zavier Foster
- Zehma Herring
- Simone Kirkevold
- Yiling Li
- Mary Ma
- Joe McCauley
- Charlotte Pfenning
- Deniz Sezgin
- Boya Shi
- Michelle Tang
- Josephine Tsai
- Aysu Turkay
- Dane Utley
- Jadi Wang
- Hans-Frederick Watanabe
- László Wenk
- Tyler Wilson
- Trace Zhang
Practice of Art Majors:
- Sahaf Chowdhury
- Madison Davis
- Julianna Martin
- Tessa Mudd
- Joey Nartker
- Summer Pierson
Senior 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
Presented by Judith Hamera, Chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts and Professor of Dance
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 Elena Milliken and Sally Menaker.
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.” Nsebong (Nse) Adah and Melanie Garcia 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.” Ava Caroline Kronman and Charlotte Pfenning are the recipients of this year’s award.
Creative Writing Prizes
Patricia Smith, Professor of Creative Writing
Theodore H. Holmes ’51 and Bernice Holmes Poetry Prize — George Tidmore
Samuel Shellabarger Memorial Prize in Creative Writing — Alden Stafford
Joyce Carol Oates Award — Sofiia Shapovalova
Outstanding Work by a Senior — Pia Bhatia, Ridge A Jaco, Helena Richardson
James Richardson Award — Kelly Kim
Edmund Keeley Literary Translation Award — Talia Czuchlewski
Theodore Weiss Award — Emma Tsoglin
Read a description of each Creative Writing award
Dance Prizes
Susan Marshall, Professor and Director of the Program in Dance
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — Ella Colby
Ze’eva Cohen Senior Award — Honor Johnson
Outstanding Senior Independent Project — Olivia Kasule, Madalyn Mejia, Maya Sessions, Braeh Simon
Sustained Community Achievement Award — Pippa LaMacchia, Helena Richardson
Read a description of each Dance award
Theater & Music Theater Prizes
Jane Cox, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Francis LeMoyne Page Class of 1922 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Creative Arts — Destine Harrison-Williams, Alexander Picoult
Innovation in Theater Making Award — Ashley Baudelaire
Outstanding Contribution to Theater — Myrah Charles
Creative and Community Leadership Award — Orion Lopez-Ramirez
Outstanding Work by a Senior in Theater (Senior Prize) — Vivian Bui, Grace Wang
Outstanding Contribution to Music Theater — Rachel Edelstein, Radon Belarmino
Tim Vasen Award for Talent and Citizenship — Emily Yang
Outstanding New Play that Most Contributes to Cultural History — Nadine Allache
Read a description of each Theater & Music Theater award
Visual Arts Prizes
Pam Lins, Senior Lecturer and Interim Director of the Program in Visual Arts
Jim Seawright Award in Visual Arts — Madison Davis
Lucas Award in Visual Arts — Sahaf Chowdhury, Kellen Ducey, Zavier Foster, Zehma Herring, Simone Kirkevold, Yiling Li, Mary Ma, Julianna Martin, Joe McCauley, Tessa Mudd, Joey Nartker, Summer Pierson, Deniz Sezgin, Boya Shi, Michelle Tang, Josephine Tsai, Aysu Turkay, Dane Utley, Jadi Wang, Hans-Frederick Watanabe, Lazlo Wenk, Tyler Wilson, Trace Zhang
Read a description of each Visual Arts award
Land Acknowledgement
The Princeton University campus stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. 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: Tina Campt
Director of the Program in Creative Writing: Ilya Kaminsky
Director of the Program in Dance: Susan Marshall
Interim Associate Director of Dance: Tina Fehlandt
Director of the Program in Theater & Music Theater: Jane Cox
Associate Director of the Program in Theater & Music Theater: Tess James
Director of Fellowships: Stacy Wolf
Interim Director of the Program in Visual Arts: Pam Lins
Associate Director of Visual Arts: Colleen Asper
View a list of Lewis Center for the Arts faculty
View a 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 list of LCA Supporters
Class Day Program Digital Book
View the program as a digital flipbook using the buttons below, or download a PDF copy.