School of the Arts 60th Anniversary Alumni Weekend
We are the School of the Arts
October 3–4, 2025
Join us for a weekend celebrating the School of the Arts’ 60th anniversary—a chance to reconnect with classmates and faculty, forge new connections, and reflect on our role as artists in a changing world.
Over two days, we’ll come together not only for social gatherings, but for conversations and activities that demand we examine our practice—personally, politically, and in relation to the systems we inhabit. Highlights include a moderated discussion with lawyers on free speech, a multidisciplinary panel on making art in a time of crisis, and a politically engaged Write-In that encourages us to create new work in dialogue with our collective histories and injustices we can’t ignore.
The weekend also features the exhibition Joan Jonas: Moving Off the Land II (Excerpts) by Joan Jonas ’65; free headshots; limited-edition prints; and alumni career panels on life after the MFA. We will be in conversation with some of culture’s preeminent thinkers (Lisa Cholodenko '97, Dean Sarah Cole, Hugh Hayden '18, and Professors María José Contreras Lorenzini and Gary Shteyngart) who can help us chart a way forward in this challenging moment. The weekend will also feature film screenings; readings; displays of literary and scholarly books; receptions and networking opportunities; tours of Morningside and Manhattanville facilities; and much more. See the full schedule below.
Tickets
$40 Regular
Schedule
Friday, October 3
6:15 PM: Check-in Opens
Pick up your nametag and gift bag for the weekend.
6:30 PM: Opening Reception and Welcoming Remarks by Dean Sarah Cole
Kick off the weekend with drinks and hors d'oeuvres with your fellow alumni, and visit the exhibition Joan Jonas: Moving Off the Land II (Excerpts) by Joan Jonas '65.
Location: Lenfest Center for the Arts, Manhattanville campus, 615 West 129th Street. Map/Directions.
Saturday, October 4
10–11:15 AM: Keynote Panel: Art in a Time of Crisis
What are some of the challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities of creating art during moments of social and political upheaval? Leading artists and thinkers weigh in.
Lisa Cholodenko '97, Film
María José Contreras Lorenzini, Theatre
Hugh Hayden '18, Visual Arts
Professor Gary Shteyngart, Writing
Moderated by Dean Sarah Cole
Location: Miller Theatre, Morningside Heights campus, 2960 Broadway (at 116th Street)
11:30 AM–12:30 PM: Choose Your Activities in Dodge Hall
Please choose from the following options:
Option #1
Get a free headshot taken by the School of the Arts photographer. First-come, first-served.
Location: Room 603, Dodge Hall
Option #2
Tour the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies
Location: Suite 310, Dodge Hall
Option #3
Visit the exhibition Sign O the Times or Buck-in-Ham-Palace? curated by Adjunct Assistant Professor william cordova in the LeRoy Neiman Gallery.
Location: Suite 310, Dodge Hall
Option #4
Participate in a “Write-In” led by Mina Seçkin '18.
Location: Room 413, Dodge Hall
About the Write-In
An artist does not exist in a political vacuum. With a series of writing prompts that mine both the personal and the political, this write-in will focus on generating new creative work while grappling with our own relationship as individual artists and alums to Columbia amidst ongoing injustices both on campus and abroad. We will write together, in silence, and occasionally, to the accompaniment of spoken word and music. You can write towards as many or as little of the prompts as you wish; you can use this space to free-write instead. Our task is to connect with our intent and praxis in our artmaking.
Option #5
Join the professional development workshop “Asking for a Friend: Finding Resources By Building Relationships” by FORGE Co-Founders Chie Mortia and Greg Schicker-Taubman '13.
Location: Room 605, Dodge Hall
About the Workshop
It can feel like a struggle for artists, makers, and their organizations to find resources, whether that's time, money, material, workspace, or professional assistance. But when it comes to getting what you need, what matters most isn't the stuff you're asking for, but how you ask. Come practice what FORGE calls Collaborative Asking and learn how to nurture a community that's always ready to support your work.
1–2:30 PM: Lunchtime Conversation about Free Speech
Leading voices in law and the arts discuss contemporary issues around censorship and expression. Due to space constraints, seating at this conversation is first come, first served.
Alex Abdo, Knight First Amendment Institute
Fabio Bertoni (JRN '95 ) (LAW '97), General Counsel of the New Yorker
Carolyn J. Casselman '03 (LAW '03), Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Moderated by Kate Flanagan '12
Location: The Lantern, Lenfest Center for the Arts, Manhattanville campus
2:45–4 PM: Choose Your Activities in the Lenfest Center for the Arts
Please choose from the following options:
Option #1: Life After the MFA: The Unexpected Writing Path
Alumni working in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and literary translation will share the diverse career paths they’ve pursued since graduation, including work as television writers, cookbook authors, literary agents, leaders of literary institutions, and in academia.
Rivka Galchen '06
Katrine Øgaard Jensen '17
Sanaë Lemoine '15
Nathan Xavier Osorio '16
Moderated by Associate Professor Deborah Paredez, Chair of the MFA Writing Program
Location: The Lantern
Option #2: Visual Arts and Sound Art Alumni Present…
Presentations across media and disciplines, featuring:
Esteban Cabeza de Baca '14
Noah Fischer '04
Heidi Howard '14
Tali Keren '16
Geronimo Mercado '17
Moderated by Associate Professor of Professional Practice Miya Masoaka, Chair of the MFA Visual Arts and Sound Art Program
Location: The Katharina Otto-Bernstein Screening Room
Option #3: Meet the Faculty of the MFA Theatre, Film, and MA in Film and Media Studies Programs
Reconnect with your professors, meet our new faculty, and network with other alumni of the School of the Arts.
Location: The Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Manhattanville campus, 601 West 125th Street
4–5 PM: Break
Visit the Wallach Art Gallery in the Lenfest Center for the Arts to view Homage: Queer Lineages on Video, featuring Rirkrit Tiravanija, Professor of Professional Practice of Visual Arts, and Dineo Seshee Bopape '10 in the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery on the 6th Floor of the Lenfest Center for the Arts.
5–6:15 PM: Choose Your Activities in the Lenfest Center for the Arts
Please choose from following three options:
Option #1: The MFA Film Program Through the Years
Revisit a selection of student films by MFA Film alumni, including:
The Lunch Date (1989), by Adam Davidson '91 (12 minutes)
The Hill (2004), by Deborah Chow '03 (12 minutes)
Léthé (2016), by Déa Kulumbegashvili '18 (15 minutes)
Swingin' in the Painters' Room (1988), by Greg Mottola '91 (11 minutes)
Darling (2019), by Saim Sadiq '19 (16 minutes)
Introduced by Jack Lechner, Chair of the MFA Film Program
Location: The Katharina Otto-Bernstein Screening Room
Option #2: The Unexpected (Theatrical) Path
This panel will explore the many surprising directions that life after the MFA in Theatre can take, and where, even in the most unconventional careers, creative and artistic training can show up and bear fruit.
Timothy Braun '02 (Playwriting)
Shayok Misha Chowdhury '16 (Directing)
Kate Dial '15 (Stage Management)
Christina Macchiarola '13 (CC '10) (Theatre Management & Producing)
Chris Maddox '03 (Acting)
Cha Ramos '21 (CC'12) (Dramaturgy)
Moderated by Christian Parker '98, Head of the Dramaturgy Concentration
Location: The Lantern
Option #3: Meet the Faculty of the MFA Visual Arts and Sound Art and Writing Programs
Reconnect with your professors, meet our new faculty, and network with other alumni of the School of the Arts.
Location: The Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Manhattanville campus, 601 West 125th Street
6:30 PM: Cheers to 60 Years!
Raise a glass to the School of the Arts in this farewell toast led by Dean Sarah Cole.
Location: The Lee C. Bollinger Forum, Manhattanville campus, 601 West 125th Street