Columbia University School of the Arts Class Notes 2024-2025

Writing alum Dr. K.T. Korngold ’89 earned an Ed.D. in Montessori Studies from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for her dissertation, “Agency Piccolo in the Montessori Infant Environment: A Confirming Qualitative Case Study of the Presence of Infant Agency.”

Writing alum Elizabeth Harlan ’87 new novel Becoming Carly Klein was published by Spark Press in September 2024.

Writing alum Laura Smyth ’89 published her new poetry collection, Fox Dreams.

Not Just Any Flower, the short film by Film alum Terry Gruber ’89, was featured on the Planet Classroom YouTube channel and reviewed on CMRubinWorld.

Theatre alum Christian Parker ’98 served as dramaturg for the Bucks County Playhouse production of the new musical Hard Road to Heaven. 

The Fantasies of Future Things, a novel by Writing alum Doug Jones ’98, will be published in April 2025.

Looking for Andy Griffith, a book of creative nonfiction by Writing alum Evan Smith ’99, won the Southeastern Library Association Award for nonfiction.

Spy thriller meets participatory performance art in TRACES, a site-specific work created by Theatre alum Ivan Talijancic '98 in collaboration with playwright Rachel Jendrzejewski and featuring Theatre alum Erika Latta '97 in a leading role, presented by the Walker Art Center.

Writing alum Jeanne Marie Beaumont ’90 published her fifth book of poetry, Lessons with Scissors, with Tiger Bark Press.

Visual Arts alum Joan Linder ’96 opened Fulfillment, a solo exhibition, at Cristin Tierney Gallery in NYC on June 21 and remained on view through August 2, 2024. 

La Gloria, a feature film directed by Film alum J.T. Walker ’99 and co-written with Film alum Christopher Carl Young ’98, premiered at the Austin Film Festival.

Writing alum Mary Jo Bang ’98 co-translated A Kiss for the Absolute: Selected Poems of Shuzo Takiguchi, the first book of poems by the great Japanese surrealist to be published in English, with Yuki Tanaka.

The documentary Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse!, for which Film alum Philip Dolin ’95 served as director, producer, and cinematographer, and Film alum Molly Bernstein ’96 served as director, producer, and editor, premiered at DOCNYC in November 2024 and won the Grand Jury Prize in its competition category. The film will open at Film Forum in New York on February 21, 2025 and will be broadcast on PBS American Masters in April 2025.

Theatre alum Rachel Murdy ’97 was a participant of a cabaret performance workshop at 92nd Street Y, as featured in The New York Times.

FRANK DARK, a book of poetry by Writing alum Stephen Massimilla ’96, was published by Barrow Street Press and won the 2023 American Book Festival Best Book Award and the North American Book Award. His co-edited anthology, STRONGER THAN FEAR: Poems of Empowerment, Compassion, and Social Justice, won the International Book Award, The ABF Best Book Award, and the IPPY Living Now Award.

Theatre alum Andrew Garman ’00 is a cast member in Jordan Harrison's The Antiquities, which opened at Playwrights Horizons on February 4 and will continue to show through February 23.

The Creative Lives Film Series was presented by Grace Bello and Film alum Bill Gerrard ’12 in memory of Writing alum David Burr Gerrard ’07.

Writing alum Bryan VanDyke ’00 published his debut novel, In Our Likeness, in September 2024.

Theatre alum Gisela Cardenas ’04 directed Mozart's Così fan tutte for Saratoga Opera from June to July 2024.

Writing alum Holly Brickley ’05 published her new novel, Deep Cuts, in February 2025.

Theatre alum Isaac Hirotsu Woofter ’06 was the writer, director, and producer of BOUND, a thrilling crime-drama that brings awareness to the worldwide mental health crises.

Visual Arts alum Jaqueline Cedar’s ’09 work was presented at MAKERs and MOVERs in Greenwich, CT. 

Theatre alum Kim Weild ’07 began a residency with The Apothetae at The Public Theater in NYC to work on the project, “Upon Your Imaginary Forces.”

Theatre alum Kyle Haden ’02 received an award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play from the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association for his role in Barrington Stage Company’s Primary Trust  by Eboni Booth. He also directed The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberly at City Theatre Company and played a role in the animated short film Where the Deer Sleep.

The Trojans, a musical written by Theatre alum Leegrid Stevens ’09, played at The Cell Theatre from March 19 to April 19.

Theatre alum Nadia Foskolou ’08 published her essay, "Central Park as if it were the first time," in the Greek newspaper TA NEA.

Visual Arts alum Natalie Beall ’09 is a featured artist at the Round Peg, Square Hole exhibit showing at Ortega y Gasset Projects until December 15, 2024.

The non-profit organization Moravian Beauty presents the exhibition, Noah Breuer: Návrat (Return), the solo exhibition of Visual Arts alum Noah Breuer ’07, from September 28, 2024 to March 16, 2025 at Havlíček's Villa in Breclav, Czech Republic.

Writing alum Nova Ren Suma ’02 published Wake the Wild Creatures, a young adult novel about a girl who plots her way back to her hidden mountaintop home after her mother’s arrest for murder, on May 6.

Film alum Rainn Wilson ’09 published his debut novel, a comic dystopia titled Situation Nowhere, on March 25.

Writing alum Dr. Ravi Shankar ’00 taught an online workshop at Poets House.

The Bear Wrestler, a novel by Writing alum Robert Ostrom ’08, was published by Saturnalia Books on March 15, 2025.

Writing alum Snowden Wright’s ’09 third novel, The Queen City Detective Agency, was published by HarperCollins on August 13, 2024.

What We Do Is Secret, a novel by Writing alum Thorn Hillsbery ’09, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Fiction and was optioned for a feature-length film.

Four Walks in Central Park, an immersive book-poem by Writing alum Aaron Poochigian ’16, will be released in September 2025.

Doc, the television series starring Theatre alum Anya Banerjee ’20, has been renewed for a 22-episode season 2.

Writing alum Carla Stockton ’16 published her book, Too Much of Nothing, on October 29, 2024.

Writing alum Chris Vola ’10 published The Cocktail Atlas, which takes readers around the world through the lens of a cocktail glass, exploring the links between people, place, and taste.

Theatre alum Clarence Coo ’10 was the co-winner of the Horton Foote Prize, conferred by the Dramatists Guild.

Visual Arts alums Cristina Camacho ’15 and Chitra Ganesh ’02 were included in the 10 best booths at Frieze New York.

Theatre alum Danny Rocco ’12 demonstrated the software Script Writing Score Engine, or SWSENG, at the Atlantic Theater Company in October. Artists can use SWSENG to write and rehearse plays and live events with expanded scope and narrowed nuance at the same time.

April, a film directed by Film alum Dea Kulumbegashvili '18 and produced by Film alum Ilan Amouyal '17, won the Special Jury Prize at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. 

Theater alum Emily Cosimar ’16 was named Executive Artistic Director of Oklahoma City Rep.

“Serranos,” the O. Henry Prize-winning short story by Writing alum Francisco González ’19, was anthologized in The Best Short Stories 2024.

Writing alum Jane Marchant’s ’18 short story The Moth was published in Kweli Journal in June 2024.

The production Salomania from Citizen Arts featured Theatre alum Jess Applebaum ’12 as dramaturg and Theatre alums Michael Mullen ’13 and David Skeist ’06 as cast members.

Film alum Jessica Baclesse ’14 edited and Film alum Andrew Hauser ’12 managed production on Rez Ball, a film about a high school basketball team set on the Navajo Nation. It premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was produced by Lebron James and distributed by Netflix.

JML NYC 02-23, a book of photography by Visual Arts alum Joseph Michael Lopez ’11, was published in September and featured in an article by The Guardian.

The group exhibition Tone Check: The Skins of Contemporary Korean Painting featured work by Visual Arts alum Judy Chung ’18 at Eli Klein until January 16, 2025.

Visual Arts alum Kambui Olujimi ’13 has been chosen to create a large-scale glass mosaic floor medallion which will be publicly featured at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s new Terminal 6. 

Theater alum Kate Flanagan ’12 starred in Penetentia, a legal crime thriller that finished a successful festival run last fall and was released on Apple and Amazon on June 18. 

Writing alum Katrine Øgaard Jensen ’17 was named the new executive director of the American Literary Translators Association.

Writing alum Kayla Maiuri ’16 published a short story, “The Eldest,” in BOMB Magazine and “Ghost Story” in Joyland Magazine.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented by Red Bull Theater and Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, featured Theatre alums Kea Trevett ’16 as director and Alice Renier ’16 and Saby Ramirez ’22 as cast members in a public performance at Peter Jay Sharp Theater on April 11.

Theatre alum Kea Trevett ’16 was awarded an NYFA grant for her film adaptation of As You Like It, featuring Theatre alum Brynne McManimie ’16, Theatre alum Peter Romano ’15, Theatre alum Alice Renier ’16, and Theatre alum Aaron Morton ’16.

Ask A Punk, a short film by Film alum Kevin Contento ’18, will be having its World Premiere at the Miami Film Festival in April. The film was made in Chicago in conjunction with Full Spectrum Feature and their initiative called Community Storytellers.

Visual Arts alum Kiyan Williams ’19 received a fellowship from the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program in the Interdisciplinary category.

Writing alum Kyle Paoletta ’16 published American Oasis, a book of nonfiction on the American Southwest.

The Distractions, a novel of speculative fiction by Writing alum Liza Monroy ’10, was published in January.

Theatre alum Marc Atkinson Borrull ’16 directed The Beacon by Nancy Harris, which received its North American premiere at the Irish Rep off-Broadway and starred Kate Mulgrew.

Film alum Mehrnoush Alia ’13 received a fellowship from the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program for Video/Film.

Writing alum Melissa Larsen ’19 published her second novel, The Lost House, which has been named an Amazon Editors' Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and an LGBTQ Reads Most Anticipated Adult Fiction of 2025.

Theater alum Nako Ama Adodoadji ’18 founded an immersive entertainment company called Wild Crux Productions in Atlanta, GA. 

Writing alum Rose Waldman ’14 published a new translation of Sons and Daughters by Chaim Grade with Penguin Random House, which was reviewed in The New York Times.

Writing alum Samantha Childs ’14 won a Christopher Award for her children’s book, Henri and the Magnificent Snort, illustrated by Hannah Farr.

Writing alum Tanya Paperny ’11 received a grant from the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She also exhibited a poem in EXHIBITING FAILURE.

Visual Arts alum Victoria-Idongesit Udondian ’16 received an Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grant for her project, ‘Okrika’ Reclaimed!.

Visual Arts alum Vikram Divecha ’19 published the monograph Short Circuits, following a survey exhibition at Jameel Arts Centre in 2024.

Film alum Aisha Amin ’24 received a fellowship from the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program for Video/Film.

Works of Mercy, a short film written and directed by Film alum Alex Yarber ’22 and produced by Film alums Jake Huebner ’22 and Tarek Aryani ’22, won Best Student Film at the New Hampshire Film Festival.

BLEEDING, a feature film written and directed by Film alum Andrew Bell ’21 and produced by Film alums Nicholas Payne Santos ’19, Bofan Zhang ’21, and Kenny Green ’20, had its North American premiere at Dances with Films: NY on December 6.

Visual Arts alum Anna Ting Moller '23 was featured in a three-person show, Dirty & Disorderly: Contemporary Artists on Disgust, at Mass MOCA.

When the Geese Flew, a film written and directed by Film alum Arthur Gawain Elias Gay ’24, was accepted into the Directors’ Fortnight. It featured Film alums Rali Chaouni ’24 as co-writer, Laura Ganotis ’23 as producer, and Michael Cong ’24 as DOP.

To Fade Away, directed and co-written by Film alum Camille Hamadé ’24, co-written by Film alum Chad B. Hamilton ’24, and co-produced by Film alum Kinder Labatt ’22, premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival on March 29. It will also screen at the Sunscreen Film Festival on April 25.

Blue Sun Palace, a film written and directed by Film alum Constance Tsang ’20 and produced by Film alum Tony Yang ’20, began its run at Lincoln Center on May 2nd. The film was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick and sold out theaters at Metrograph.

Theater alum Ellis Abigail Stump’s ’23 playwriting thesis White Bitches in Delhi was workshopped and presented at Williamstown Theatre Festival on August 10, 2024.

Tiha, written, directed, and produced by Film alum Eva Vidan ’24 and co-produced by Film alum Morgan Smith ’24, screened in competition at the 36th Trieste Film Festival on January 23, 2025.

Film alum Hwi-Eun Ban ’24 was a consultant on the Final Report by The United Nations High-Level Advisory Body on AI.

Visual Arts alum Jeremy Z. Qin ’22 was featured on the Dazed 100 Asia list of 2024.

Music from the 24-hour composition Elastic Horizons by Sound Arts alum Julian Day ’21 featured in the hallucinogenic new documentary John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office by directors Michael Almereyda and Courtney Stephens, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art on March 4.

Film alum Kaelo Iyizoba ’23 was selected for the Sundance Cultural Impact Fellowship Selection.

Visual Arts alum Kai Oh ’24 showcased her work in her first solo exhibition, Will You Marry Me?, at Subtitled NYC starting February 15.

Visual Arts alum Laurena Finéus ’24 was awarded The William and Meredith Saunderson Prize for Emerging Artists.

Classmates, written and directed by Film alum Major Dorfman ’22, produced by Film alum Grace Merriman ’21, and co-produced by Film alums Justin Gonçalves ’21 and Will Pinke ’22 premiered online as a Vimeo Staff Pick and is also viewable on Short of the Week and Directors’ Library.

Theatre alum Michael Karadsheh '22 performed in We Live in Cairo at the New York Theater Workshop from October 9–November 24, 2024.

Film alum Melina Maraki ’23 is a writer on a TV adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel Summer of 1985, which was greenlit as the first international show by US production studio Media Res.

Film alum Nimisha Misra ’24 won a Filmfare Award and an SWA Award for her work on her Netflix series Kaala Paani (Dark Waters).

Bury Me When I'm Dead, written and directed by Film alum Patrick Clement ’20, produced by Film alum Nic Santos ’19, and edited by Film alum Brusi Olason ’20, has been acquired by Vertical Entertainment for U.S. Distribution. Originally titled Study in Blue, the screenplay was a CUFF 2020 Faculty Select winner and is slated for a Fall 2025 release.

Visual Arts alum Paul Rho’s ’23 new solo exhibition Ebbs and Flows opened on July 12, 2024 at Rockella Space in Ridgewood, Queens. 

Film alum Peter Forbes ’21 was selected to join the Universal Studios Animation Writing Workshop.

Theatre alums Sabrina Victor '24 and Aaron Joseph Anderson '24 starred in the premiere of the James ljames play Good Bones at The Public Theater, which showed from September 19–October 27, 2024.

Theatre alum Sam Gibbs ’24 directed a site-specific performance of The Comedy of Errors for Stairwell Theater at the Pier 40 Picnic House in Hudson River Park from May 1 to May 11.

Theatre alum Sam Grabiner ’21 received the Olivier Award in Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre for his play, Boys on the Verge of Tears.

Meridian, an exhibit at Below Grand on the Lower East Side that showed from October 4 to November 17, 2024, featured work from Visual Arts alums Sasha Fishman ’24, Bat-Ami Rivlin ’19, and Alison Nguyen ’23.

Film alum Soumya Vats ’22 published the piece “‘You too will marry…’: Inclusion and Exclusion at the Uneasy Wedding in A Suitable Boy” in an open-access edited volume.

Film alum Tony Yang ’20 produced a feature film, Lucky Lu, that was selected for Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes this year. He was also a co-producer for Rosemead, which was announced to premiere at Tribeca Festival and featured Film alums Alex Peace Power ’17 as a line producer and Samantha Lori Glass ’23 as an office PA.

Visual Arts alum Yuri Yuan ’21 was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Art & Style.