Clark will be researching and documenting the creative practices of Trinidadian and Tobagonian artists who play a critical role in the evolution of the Carnival tradition. With his photography, Clark hopes to bring visibility to their stories and contributions to preserving cultural identities during the globalization and commercialization of the tradition. His research will highlight aspects of Afro-Caribbean identity and expression that are often underrepresented or misrepresented. 

As a student at ��ݮ��Ƶ College, Clark focused his photography on providing positive representations of Black identity in the United States. Through the , his upcoming photography project will contribute to providing authentic representations of Afro-Caribbean culture in global contemporary art as well as encourage mutual understanding of the diversity of Black expression and identity in Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. 

Clark said, “A lot of my work has centered around providing Black expression and experience that exists more locally in the United States. I am excited to highlight more stories that contribute to cross-cultural understanding and make images that have an international impact with my Fulbright project and research in Trinidad and Tobago. It is such an honor to be able to represent the Photography and Imaging department at ��ݮ��Ƶ College as the first alumni from that major to receive the Fulbright Award. My instruction at the College prepared me to take on this project, and I look forward to being a role model for more students and alumni to come.”

Liberal Arts faculty and Fulbright Program Advisor Genevieve Hill-Thomas, Ph.D. said of Clark’s award and plans, “Jesse’s project is well aligned with the goal of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to build mutual understanding and advance knowledge across communities. By working with Trinidadian and Tobagonian artists as well as scholars at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Jesse has the potential to substantially contribute to the study and celebration of Carnival and its related arts. It’s very exciting!”

More than 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Students—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals from all backgrounds—pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English in schools abroad each year. They are recognized alongside more than 800 faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals who teach or conduct research in affiliation with institutes abroad annually through the . Fulbrighters form ongoing research collaborations and lay the groundwork for future partnerships between institutions. ��ݮ��Ƶ College has been recognized as a Top-Producing Fulbright Institution.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. 

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Held for the first time at Robarts Arena off of Fruitville Road, 376 ��ݮ��Ƶ graduates and their families and friends will gather to celebrate the momentous occasion. ��ݮ��Ƶ College holds one ceremony per year, and all of the institution’s 13 unique, creative majors are represented. 

The talented art and design graduates will go out into the professional world equipped to become leaders in their creative fields. Many already have jobs lined up at top creative companies, including Carter’s, CNN, Laundry (based in London, U.K.), and Universal Creative.

This year’s Commencement Speaker is Michael Bonner, disruptive innovator and entrepreneur. 

Bonner is a renowned leader and performance booster who is a trailblazer in leadership development and organizational culture. He is a dynamic keynote speaker as seen on The Ellen Show, NBC Nightly News, and Time for Kids, and a recent recipient of Atlanta’s 40 under 40 awards. He is the CEO of Bonnerville, a business that promotes the value of self-care, and a highly respected team member at the famed Ron Clark Academy.

Bonner empowers leaders to build genuine relationships and establish a positive organizational culture, vision, and team development. His seminars challenge listeners to reflect, strategize, and execute in order to increase their efficiency in the workplace and personal areas. He empowers listeners to build genuine relationships with their teams and colleagues because “You cannot demand a withdrawal from someone you have never invested in.”

Bonner’s transformative approach leaves C-suite and nonprofit leaders, educators, and administrators confident and prepared to become world-changing citizens who garner significant impact.

The 2024 ceremony will take place at 3:30 pm and will be live-streamed. To watch, visit . For more information on Commencement, visit . 

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The exhibition will be on view at the museum from May 8-June 8, 2024, with a reception and awards ceremony on May 10. The show will also be accompanied by a catalog.

The exhibition will include Illustration majors Stephanie Bravo, Brian Hoffman, Stephanie Hunton, Paige Kidkul, Gray Lovette, Ricardo Perez, Aleena Raja, Nico Roper, Elena May binti Saini Jeffery, Xioanny Santiago Ortiz, scholarship winner Damian Villegas, Xiaoliang Wang, Maddy Williams-Solberg, and Ursala Yang. Villegas won the prize for the Win, Lose, and Draw category.  

The Society of Illustrators was founded in 1901 and included as its members at various times N.C. Wyeth, Rube Goldberg, and Norman Rockwell. The Museum of Illustration opened in 1981 and offers year-round exhibitions, including rotating works from their 2,500-piece collection.

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The Film Production crew at the school produced a short documentary about Gómez and his experiences at the residency. In his short time there, he had a major positive impact on the school. The Head of Fine Art Declan Bartlett said, “Melvin has brought so much life experience to the School and shared his passion, skills, and artistic insights with the students. He has encouraged them to believe in their ideas and communication regardless of their current skill set and to courageously explore colour and form, light and tone, content and meaning. He has been inspirational to the Fine Art team and the whole School community, given his back story of resilience, perseverance, and passion for life.”   

While studying in the Fine Arts department at ��ݮ��Ƶ College of Art and Design, Gómez was a Davis Scholar and was chosen for the Trustee Scholar Award 2021-2022. In his first year at ��ݮ��Ƶ, he pitched a proposal for the Davis Projects of Peace, an initiative created by Kathryn W. Davis, mother of Shelby Davis who established the Davis Scholarship Program. 

For her 100th birthday, the maternal Davis celebrated by committing $1 million to one hundred Projects for Peace. Gómez’s proposal was selected, and he became part of a small group of students who traveled to his home country, El Salvador, where they established youth art programs at two schools, one in an urban region and another in a rural area. Their project was called Sculpting for Peace and included pottery studios, clay workshops, and a painting workshop. 

The group wanted to bring art to a region devastated by post-civil war violence, and particularly, gang violence, in hopes that art could give students a voice, a platform, and a sense of community, and would deter them from seeking those things in a gang. Gómez is especially connected to the cause, as he was a victim of gang violence. He was shot five times during an incident that left three friends dead and Gómez in a wheelchair. 

That initial project has since transformed into a school in Huizucar, El Salvador, that opened its doors in 2017. The Brushstroke of Hope is a non-profit art school for impoverished youth that offers free art education and materials. The school is funded in part by sales of Gómez’s art work and from community contributions. 

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The exhibition attracted the attention of local teacher John Murtagh, a retired detective from the New York Police Department, who now runs the Booker Law Academy and teaches criminal justice. Murtagh heard about the workshop and the Forensic Facial Approximations exhibition on the news and thought it would be a great opportunity to show his students a unique and real-world investigation approach. 

Regular community partner to the College, Booker’s Visual and Performing Arts-Visual Arts program joined the visiting group, led by instructors Steve Strenk and Cathy Janssen. For the visual arts group, the trip highlighted an overlooked application of the skills they are establishing in their studies.

Groups of six and seven spilled into the Special Collections reading room in the Alfred R. Goldstein Library to view the collection of sculptures—clay busts depicting cold case victims from Fort Myers and the Bronx, New York. The sculptures were made during a weeklong workshop hosted at the College and taught by Joe Mullins, a forensic imaging specialist. Over the course of the week, Mullins guided a group of students, alumni, faculty, and staff to transform 3D-printed replicas of skulls provided by the medical examiner’s office into a collection of depictive busts, bringing those victims back to life. 

Workshop attendees and ��ݮ��Ƶ College faculty Christina Hess, Dustin Juengel, and Alex Snyder, as well as ��ݮ��Ƶ College student workshop participants Noah Shadowens ’25, Illustration, Autumn McHoul ’24, Illustration, and Jules Pesce-DeFarrari ’25, Illustration, visited with the group and shared their experiences making the busts, anatomy lessons they learned, and the stories of the people whose busts they sculpted.  

The students had many questions for the bust artists, from questions about the making process to the next steps in solving the mystery of the victims’ identities. The busts have had a busy life since their creation. After photographing the busts, Mullins sent those images to the medical examiner and Sheriff offices that provided the original skull scans. They will post and push out to the media as well. It takes only one person to say, ‘I know that person.’

Education Program Coordinator Diane Zorn, who organized the workshop and the visit said, “It was fantastic to see the students respond to the sculpted busts and the process information. They actively engaged with the artists, asking questions about the process, and learning about how the muscle structure under the skin layer informs the shape of the face. Many were curious about how it felt to work on a piece of someone unknown. Their curiosity was inspiring. Many are now interested in taking life drawing classes to better understand anatomy.”   

The forensic sculptures will be featured on CNN, where they will have a chance to reach a larger audience, and hopefully, get identified. 

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SAM TAC is led by Dr. Brooks Tracey, artist and educator, and the Museum’s Community Catalyst for Learning and Engagement Connie Cuadrado. All of the students on the Council were local; Bean attending Booker High School; Orduno, Florida Virtual School and Suncoast Technical College; Hurt, Manatee School for the Arts, and Maecker, Booker High School.��

“We’re delighted that these students have decided to continue studying the arts, and to do so while staying right here in Sarasota,” said Virginia Shearer, executive director of the Sarasota Art Museum. “It’s a privilege to be a part of their cultural education, but of course they make valuable contributions to our organization and our community, too. Really, the Teen Arts Council is about forging long-term relationships with the next generation of arts leaders.”

Begun in 2022, the is a year-long paid internship program for creative high school students focusing on contemporary art, museum management, arts program development, and community engagement. TAC members receive behind-the-scenes immersion in Sarasota Art Museum operations and assist in planning public ��ݮ��Ƶ, among other opportunities.

The Kutya Major Foundation provides funds for TAC and supports its students with great potential who are interested in furthering their artistic education by offering scholarships to ��ݮ��Ƶ’s PreCollege program. The TAC is the brainchild of Flora Major, president of the Kutya Major Foundation and one of the founders who spearheaded the $22.5 million fundraising effort supporting the creation of the Sarasota Art Museum, a division of ��ݮ��Ƶ College.

Both Maecker and Hurt will receive financial support from the foundation in order to attend ��ݮ��Ƶ’s four-week summer PreCollege program, which includes classes and workshops as well as Student and Resident Life activities. First-time students who successfully complete the program receive three college credits.

Learn more about .

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Students had the opportunity to meet faculty and their future classmates. Representatives from student clubs welcomed the incoming students with information, swag, and props from their clubs. The social media Street Team operated a photo booth in front of the green wall in the Larry R. Thompson Academic Center for students to have instant portraits taken as they waited to tour the Campus. 

The mood was fun as guests ate popsicles, listened to the live band, and had custom rings engraved at an engraved jewelry pop-up. President of ��ݮ��Ƶ College Dr. Larry R. Thompson gave a welcoming talk during lunch at Cunniffe Commons. 

We asked a few of our incoming students why they chose ��ݮ��Ƶ College:

Incoming Motion Design major Sophie shared her reason, “��ݮ��Ƶ has been my dream school since I was 12 years old.”

“I feel the ��ݮ��Ƶ College of Art and Design is a place where I can grow as an artist. I hope to continue my journey as an artist, connecting, learning, and understanding with different people, interests, and exciting ideas,” shared incoming Game Art major Lucas. 

Incoming Computer Animation student Giancarlo said, “I believe ��ݮ��Ƶ will inspire me to become the best version of myself I can be.”

Game Art major Natasha said, “I have wanted to work in art and animation ever since I was little. When I saw examples of work from people who graduated from here, it inspired me to try harder to do the same and go here as well.”

Film major Bastien shared, “When I visited the campus, I fell in love with the environment, and the people who toured me around were awesome. The Film program also seemed to be really awesome—and the equipment was outstanding. I knew I was home when I went there. They also will provide me with the best opportunity after I get out of college and I just know this is the right choice.”

“I attended PreCollege in 2023, and it showed me how amazing and helpful ��ݮ��Ƶ professors and programs are. It makes me feel way better about my future in a creative field,” incoming Illustration major Ava shared.  

Visual Studies major Lily said, “I have chosen to attend because this is an opportunity to attend one of the best art schools in the world and enhance and shape my skills.”

Find more information on the annual event on our website. For more information on applying contact our admissions office at admissions@ringling.edu.

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He also detailed his own personal setbacks—and the resilience in overcoming them—when his family moved from Nairobi to the U.S. in the middle of his junior year at a Kenyan college. He spent the next three years saving money for tuition and then periodically flew to Kenya to finish his studies one semester at a time. Still, he was forced to return to the U.S. with just one course credit shy of his degree. 

“So, in Fall 2019, I enrolled as a first-year motion design student at ��ݮ��Ƶ College of Art and Design,” he says in the interview. “Despite all the difficult hurdles I faced as a non-traditional student, I gained some of my best memories and most treasured connections during this period.”

currently works as a motion designer with Life.Church. He told CanvasRebel that his dreams include the creation of an art and design learning center that draws on concepts of Intelligent Design.��

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