CalArts Alumni

09/03/2026

✨ memories ✨

09/03/2026

Well done!!

Alum Aashray Harishankar (Music MFA 22) made his feature film scoring debut with NAMASLAY, a horror satire directed by Rish and Kanish Arhant-Sudhir.

Harishankar developed more than 80 minutes of music, traveling to India in 2025 to record the score with local musicians.

The score reflects the film's plot through two opposing themes: one rooted in Indian classical music, conveying warmth and self-belief, and a second for the Vital Soul Yoga studio, which begins with satirical, comedic tones before descending into horror as the story unfolds.

Learn more about Harishankar’s work on the film at 24700: https://calarts.pulse.ly/euqsmxyxca

08/26/2026

Fantastic 👏👏

A milestone for alum Dale Franzen (Music MFA 89), producer of the film HADESTOWN: THE MUSICAL, which has made box office history earning more than $20 million in North American theaters to become the highest-grossing live stage capture of all time.

Franzen produced the film alongside Mara Isaacs, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy, and served as lead producer of the award-winning Broadway production.

Learn more about the production and Franzen’s career at 24700: https://calarts.pulse.ly/ajhh28usgh

08/25/2026

55 years ago!!

08/25/2026

Now showing at Helsinki Festival!

Alia Ali (Art MFA 18) debuts IN LIGHT OF… at Kunsthalle Helsinki, produced with the Helsinki Festival, Finland’s largest arts festival.

The exhibition responds to the gallery’s shifting natural light across the seasonal transition. Central to the show is HOMAGE, a new body of sculptural garments made from French velvet originally designed for Moroccan royalty and inspired by Yemeni ceremonial dress. The exhibit also includes an immersive, fully upholstered room exploring batik, alongside photography, wall paintings, and sound installations.

Learn more about Ali’s practice on 24700: https://calarts.pulse.ly/ejsij8j3dw

08/21/2026

Throwbackkkk!

08/19/2026

Come join us!!!

08/19/2026

Hooray, Beatriz!

Congratulations to 2026 Joan Mitchell Fellow Beatriz Cortez (Art MFA 15), who is among 15 US-based artists selected for their rigorous inquiry, astonishing creativity, and deep commitment to their work.

Cortez creates speculative monuments, geographies, and vessels in the form of welded steel sculptures. Through these pieces, Cortez explores memory, movement, and migration in the Americas as a means of envisioning possible futures.

Learn more about Cortez and the Fellowship:
https://joanmitchellfoundation.pulse.ly/412uqazegu

08/13/2026

This collaborative duo brings photographs, video, and art direction to Gregg Araki’s film, I WANT YOUR S*X.

Alum Blake Jacobsen (Art BFA 17) and artist Meghan Sabik brought their collaborative practice to Gregg Araki’s film, I WANT YOUR S*X, licensing more than 25 photographs and two video works.

For more than a decade, the duo has collaborated on multidisciplinary works that examines desire, authorship, gender performance, and the unstable relationship between artist and muse.

They also created new pieces specifically for the film’s fictional art world and worked with the art department on the selection, installation, and presentation of artwork across the sets.

Find the full story at 24700: https://calarts.pulse.ly/qvgta1w9i0
Image: Courtesy of the artists

08/12/2026

Alums performing this weekend!

This week, THE BLACK GLASS comes to Open Fist Theater Company's First Look Festival 2026, featuring CalArts alums Juli Crockett (Theater MFA 01), Shaughn Buchholz (Theater BFA 02), and Tristan Samson (Theater MFA 25) among the cast and creative team.

Described as a "ripping, surreal, roller-coaster ride of a rock opera" capturing the insanity of the current moment, it's a chance for CalArtians in the area to reconnect with the thrill of groundbreaking new theater.

📅 Friday, Aug. 14 and Saturday, Aug. 15
📍 Atwater Village Theatre
🎫 Tickets: https://salesforce-sites.pulse.ly/sxtc0rzt9v