University of Washington School of Art

Congratulations to all of our 2026 graduates!

Here are some shots from the graduation celebration last Saturday. Thank you to all the parents and friends who joined us to celebrate our students, now alumni.

University of Washington UW College of Arts & Sciences UW Design

Introducing one of three graduating Master of Design (MDes) students, Jeff Jiang ( ).

Jeff Jiang is a footwear designer, originally from China and currently based in Seattle. Positioning footwear as a bridge between industrial design and fashion, Jiang approaches design through a tension between restraint and instinct—balancing rational construction with expressive form. His practice explores the relationship between history, modernity, and future possibilities in footwear design. By drawing from historical references while engaging contemporary tools and materials, he creates experimental forms that challenge conventional boundaries and push toward a more forward- looking design language.

See his thesis project "Step of Time" as part of the 2026 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, on view through June 14th. Join us for the public opening tomorrow, June 5, 6–8pm.

Introducing our next artist from the 2026 MFA + MDes graduates:

Victoria Mackender (MFA 2026) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Seattle, Washington. Working across painting and expanded media, her practice explores grief, memory, and the instability of the self. Grief collapses chronology and exposes the fluidity of the self. The body becomes interdimensional, caught between past and present, inhabiting multiple realities at once. Her paintings return to these frozen states performing excavations that are both personal and mythic.

Get a closer look at their work as part of the 2026 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, on view through June 14th. Join us for the public opening on June 5, 6–8pm.

Image 1: shapeshifting (detail), 2026. Oil on canvas.
Image 2: shapeshifting, 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.
Image 3: We Are Creatures of This World, 2025. Oil on canvas.
Image 4: going under (detail), 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.
Image 5: going under, 2026. Oil on canvas. Photo: Jacob Chung.

Introducing our 2026 MFA + MDes graduates:

Stephanie Alacon (MFA 2026) is an artist based in Seattle, Washington. Largely working in sculpture and installation, they are interested in creating precarious compositions that hold a sense of tension, often pushing materials like glass and ceramics, incrementally to their limits, past their breaking point, and employing rituals of care and repair to breathe new life into these structures. This cyclical way of making mimics a natural rhythm we all experience, and is fertile ground to explore what it means when we/things/systems start to break down, and how care and attention affects transformation and healing.

Get a closer look at their work as part of the 2026 MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, on view through June 14th. Join us for the public opening on June 5, 6–8pm.

Image 1: Pathways, 2025. Glass, metal.
Image 2: Detail of Stephanie’s work in the CMA North Gallery, 2025.
Image 3: Breaking (detail), 2026. Glass. Photo: Jacob Chung.

Two recent podcasts to add to your listening list, featuring our faculty!

Art Assistant Professor Rob Rhee recently joined Shin Yu Pai on the podcast Ten Thousand Things to discuss his creative practice through his exhibition Crossings. In the episode, “A Gourd,” Rhee reflects on his process and recent experimentation creating sculptural works from gourds. Listen to the full episode: https://shows.acast.com/ten-thousand-things-with-shin-yu-pai/episodes/a-gourd

Design Professor Karen Cheng is featured on the Designers on Film podcast, joining host and Design alum Jason Tselentis (MFA 2004), now Head of Design at Winthrop University, for a conversation about Working Girl (1988). Listen to the episode: https://www.designersonfilm.com/podcast/working-girl-1988-with-karen-cheng-more-thoughts

Help us congratulate industrial design major Kat Lew and art major Tom McAlister for being selected as 2026 Bonderman Fellows!�

Each year, the Bonderman Travel Fellowship provides a selected group of UW students a rare opportunity to independently travel the world. Both of their travels will take them to places such as Argentina, Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, China, Morocco, and Japan.�

Congratulations Kat and Tom!��

We recently sat down with MFA student and curatorial assistant at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Chave Pichardo, to talk about their work shaping student programs and events aimed at transforming the gallery into a third space.

Their creative practice, including zine-making, informs their approach as they cultivate community, conversation, and connection through their vision for the space.

Learn more about Chave’s story at https://art.washington.edu/news/2026/04/16/chave-pichardo-spaces-care

At this year's IHA Global Innovation Awards (centered around Product Design within the household sector) ID juniors Charlie Johnson and Matthew Li were awarded 3rd place for their collaborative work on Streamline. This past March, they traveled to Chicago for IHA's trade show where they presented their work to a group of industry professionals, as well as other student winners.

Two exciting events happening this week!

On Thursday at 4:30pm, join a conversation with art faculty members Whitney Lynn, Leila Weefur, and Sangram Majumdar at the UW Club (located just east of the HUB at 4020 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle).

On Friday at 6:30 AM (PST), start your morning with a virtual conversation featuring Sangram Majumdar, Meghaa Parvathy Ballakrishnen, and Ranjana Steinruecke, centered on Majumdar’s exhibition "Bad Actors", currently on view at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai. Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6S2l01ncdKll36z0fERHfGm1DoLImRI60-brJIAXws39KJQ/viewform?pli=1

Snapshots of art students in New York City during spring break. Thanks to the Endowed Program Support FUNd in Art, a small group of art students got the opportunity to spend a week in one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse creative hubs.

PC: victor yañez-lazcano