Whether documenting protests for TIME, reporting from the red carpet at the Kennedy Center, or winning prestigious Fulbright awards, this spring our students, faculty and alumni have jumped into new and exciting opportunities in the art world. From publicly recognized large-scale sustainability projects to brand new inventions like the Balance Chair, the Corcoran community continues to channel their creative practices to forge a brighter future. This year, our students, faculty, and alumni were widely celebrated for their creativity and skill, and given the chance to further their artistic pursuits.
Read more about our student accomplishments in 2024, and then be sure to check out our faculty, staff and alumni kudos as well.
Student Accomplishments
Asha Abdul-Mujeeb on Preserving the HBCU experience
Asha Abdul-Mujeeb (Museum Studies M.A. ’25) was the face of an article by Reckon, which tells the story of how the student found her passion for researching historically Black institutions and preserving the current HBCU experience, and how she is currently doing so. Read the full article here.
Madeleine Brown Featured for MLK Day of Service
Madeleine Brown (Graphic Design B.F.A. ’24) was featured in GW Today about her experiences as an ongoing volunteer in the MLK Day of Service. Read more.
Photojournalism Students Cover Campus Protests for TIME and Other Major Publications
Four Corcoran undergraduate students’ works were featured in a TIME magazine article about campus protests around the Israel/Gaza conflict. Students Daniel Heuer (B.A. ’27), Kaiden Yu (Photojournalism B.F.A. ’27), Sage Russell (Photojournalism B.F.A. ’25), and Tom Rath (B.A. ’26) had their photographs highlighted. Tom was interviewed for the story, which featured work produced for the GW Hatchet. View their works here.
James Schaap’s (New Media Photojournalism M.A. ’25) photograph was featured in TIME’s cover. He was interviewed by the magazine, as well as highlighted in another article alongside other Corcoran students. Read the story behind his photograph here.
Lily Speredelozzi (Photojournalism B.F.A. ’25) had her photographs from the GW student encampment published by The Guardian in their article about student protests across the country. View her work here.
During the end of the school year, Jordan Tovin (B.F.A. Photojournalism, ’26) was on assignment for The Washington Post, covering the student protests at GW. Eleven of his photographs were used in the newspaper’s articles surrounding the student encampment at U-Yard. View his work here.
Corey Howell and Diego del Sola win a $15,000 Prize for Sustainability Project
Two Interaction Design students, Corey Howell (MA ’24) and Diego del Sola (BFA ’23) won $15,000 in prizes at GW's New Venture competition. Their entry, "Thonk Lab," is a company creating sustainable keycaps and keyboards. They were among 21 competing finalist teams out of an original 500 participants and 192 teams.
Theatre Students Candidates for Awards, Fellowships and Attend Festivals
Students Charlotte Kim (Theatre B.A. ’25) and Caley Plank (Theatre B.A. ’23) were candidates for the 2024 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. Lydia Melka (Theatre B.A. ’24) was a candidate for Musical Theatre Intensive, ASPIRE Arts Leadership Fellowship, & National Playwriting Program. Along with Cammie Hussey (Theatre B.A. ’24) and Lady'Jordan Matthews-Mason (Theatre B.A. ’25), they attended the KCACT Region 2 Festival at Pittsburgh in January 2024.
Katelyn Kovach and Maya Levine On the Red Carpet
Katelyn Kovach (Theatre B.A. ’25) and Maya Levine (Theatre B.A. ’23) served as social media correspondents during the star-studded 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. Read more in “From TikTok Contest to Backstage with Michael Bublé”.
Lydia Embry Reviewed in The Washington Post
Lydia Embry’s (Photojournalism B.F.A. ’24) work was in Mark Jenkins’ April 5th review in The Washington Post. According to the article, Lydia’s “Molded and Morphed,” which is currently up at Studio Gallery, was mentioned as a standout, and was said to “illustrate the essential link between destruction and creation.” Read the full article here
Lydia Embry’s “Modeled and Morphed”
Maureen Rafter On Barack Obama and Brice Springsteen’s Connection
American studies and music major Maureen Rafter (Music B.A. ’24) studied the ties that bind former president Barack Obama and musician Bruce Springsteen. In her Luther Rice Undergraduate Fellowship project, “Rock the Vote: Barack Obama’s Sonic Identity in Rock Campaign Music,” Rafter concluded that the Obama-Springsteen team is among the most unique cultural partnerships in U.S. presidential history. Read more here.
Allison Robbert’s Photography Wins “Best in Show”
Congratulations to Allison Robbert (Photojournalism B.F.A. '26) who won "Student Best in Show" at the Women Photojournalists of Washington’s 17th Annual Photography and Multimedia Exhibition. Her winning entry, shown here, captures a moment that "President Joe Biden pauses to think following a question from the press regarding his son, Hunter Biden, at the White House on November 9, 2024." In June, Allison received a scholarship from the National Press Photographers Foundation (NPPF).
Danielle Towers Receives Distinguished Scholar Award
Danielle Towers (Photojournalism B.F.A., ’24) was one of only ten GW students to receive the Distinguished Scholar Award at GW. Towers is active in the GW Chapter of National Press Photographers where she documents the student exhibitions. Towers’ photographs have been exhibited at Photoville in Brooklyn and Touchstone in Washington, D.C., and her photos have been published in Bloomberg Businessweek and other publications. She has conducted field work in Greenbelt, Maryland, where she documents the present community and its history and has exhibited her photographs at the VisArts Center in Maryland.