Video of the UCLA Arts Commencement ceremony coming soon

Congratulations, UCLA Class of 2022! I am honored to join your family, friends, and the entire University of California community in celebrating you and this joyful culmination of your UC education. We are in awe of you and your accomplishments, and we recognize all the work you put in to make it to this moment. 

I hope you will always take great pride in what you have achieved at the University of California, and in being a part of the UC family for life. This great university will always be a part of you, and UC will always be indelibly better for your time here as students. 

In her lecture upon receiving the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska wrote, “Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous ‘I don’t know.’” As you prepare for the next chapter in your life, may you go out into the world equipped with intellectual confidence and the tools of learning. May you take with you the seeds of curiosity and wonder that you tended here. And may you create an inspired future and a better, more equitable planet for all of us. 

Your graduation is a milestone reflecting your resilience, your strength, and limitless hope. The world faces unprecedented challenges: war, racial injustice, climate change – to name a few. You are the leaders who will help heal what is wounded and right what is wrong. As you embark on this journey, know that you are ready. We’re behind you as you go forth into the great unknown, claiming your places in the world. 

Congratulations, Bruins. And Fiat lux – let there be light! 

Graduation is the culmination of many years of determination and hard work. I hope you are proud of all that you have accomplished, and that your time at UCLA has broadened your horizons, deepened your relationships, strengthened your skills and helped you grow.  

I also encourage you to take time to honor those who have helped you on your journey and who have been rooting for you from the start: your family members, friends and mentors.

The world today needs your creativity, brilliance and passion. This pandemic has taught us important lessons about vulnerability and inequality, but also about service, empathy and community. You are well-equipped to contribute to the creation of a more prepared, more resilient and more just society. UCLA values of integrity, compassion, curiosity, open-mindedness and excellence will serve you well as you at this moment and beyond.

The UCLA community you have been a part of — and the broader alumni community you are now joining — will be with you always. I hope they give you strength and inspiration in the days ahead.

Congratulations once again. We can’t wait to see where you’ll go from here.

On days like today, I am awed and humbled by the fact that we are encountering the promise of the future.

Collectively, you represent the future of your forms. As architects, artists, designers, choreographers, code-writers, curators, educators, ethnographers, critical thinkers, arts activists (and categories we have yet to conceive) you will create that future—futures, that we cannot even begin to imagine—for a world so in need of your creativity, your optimism, and your conviction that your work, your art,  can make a difference. 

On behalf of the entire faculty and staff of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, a hearty congratulations to the class of 2022!

It has taken extraordinary creativity, commitment, and resolve to reach this threshold to the future. Your fortitude and resilience, especially through these past two and a half years, has been inspiring. On this important day, a milestone in your lives, let us reflect on your hard work and dedication, and let us honor those who supported you along the way: family, friends, and teachers who have helped make the journey to commencement possible.

I hope as you forge that future, you will stay connected to UCLA Arts—sharing news of your journey with us.

We can’t wait to see the futures you create.

Dean, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture

Native American Indigenous artist and UCLA alumna Mercedes Dorame will deliver the keynote address at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s 2022 commencement on Saturday, June 11th at 4 p.m.

Dorame, a multimedia artist whose work encompasses photography, sculptural installations, and sound art, is a member of the Tongva people. Her heritage connects her deeply to the landscape of California, and her practice explores what it means to be a Native inhabitant of contemporary Tovaangar (present-day Los Angeles).

Dorame received her undergraduate degree from UCLA in American literature and culture, and an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. She was included in the Hammer Museum’s Made in LA 2018 biennial exhibition and the Fowler Museum’s The Map and the Territory: 100 Years of Collecting at UCLA exhibition in 2021. This past fall, she taught Advanced Photography to undergraduate students in the school’s Department of Art.

“UCLA has been an important part of my growth as an artist, and I’m excited about this opportunity to share some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way with graduating students,” Dorame said.

“Mercedes’ work speaks powerfully to the historical injustices tied to the land that we live and work on. Her participation in our commencement ceremony is an important acknowledgement of the debt that we owe to her ancestors, the native inhabitants of this land,” said Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. “Our community has demonstrated a commitment to speaking out for equity and justice, and Mercedes’ practice resonates profoundly with that commitment.”

Dorame’s work is in the permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, LACMA, The Huntington, Kadist, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Triton Museum, The Allen Memorial Art Museum, The de Saisset Museum, The Montblanc Foundation Collection, and The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum.

She is the recipient of grants and fellowships from: Creative Capital, the Montblanc Art Commission, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Loop Artist Residency, the James Phelan Award for California born visual artists, En Foco’s New Works Photography Fellowship Awards program, Galería de la Raza, for her solo exhibition there, the Harpo Foundation for a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and from the Photography Department at the San Francisco Art Institute for her MFA Studies. 

She is currently visiting faculty at CalArts and was recently honored by UCLA as part of the centennial initiative “UCLA: Our Stories Our Impact.” She has shown her work internationally. Her writing has been featured in News From Native California and 580 Split and her artwork has been highlighted by PBS Newshour, Artforum, KCET Artbound, The New York Times, Art in America, Hyperallergic, KQED, Artsy, ARTnews, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle, among others.

Thank you for stepping forward into the world! Thank you for being here together for these last four years as we've all offered so much to each other and received such deep levels of friendship and imagination and joy and possibility. Go forth with all the love, all the wisdom, all the kindness, all the intelligence, all the caring. Congratulations!

This class has been through experiences like no other in UCLA's history. The grace and talent you've demonstrated is a testament to your courage and determination. Congratulations!

Professor Todd Lynch, Architectural Licensing Advisor

Congratulations to the amazing AUD Class of 2022, and much luck as you go out into the world! Be in touch if you ever have questions or challenges about architectural licensure!

Congratulations Class of 2022!

Video of the UCLA Arts Commencement ceremony coming soon

A Message from Michael V. Drake

A Message from Gene Block

A Message from Brett Steele

Our Keynote Speaker

Mercedes Dorame

Congratulations to the Class of 2022

Congratulations Class of 2022!

Video of the UCLA Arts Commencement ceremony coming soon

A Message from Michael V. Drake

A Message from Gene Block

A Message from Brett Steele

Our Keynote Speaker

Mercedes Dorame

Congratulations to the Class of 2022

Stay in touch