Sending off the Class '23!

The whole PCA community celebrated the creativity, efforts and achievements of our Bachelor’s and Master’s students as they received their diplomas from the hands of their Department Chairs.

Gathered at Club de l’Etoile, a movie theatre by the Champs-Elysées, the graduating students and families were greeted by student commencent speakers Joie Cousin (BFA in Film Art) and Ariel Ronayne (BFA in Communication Design) as well as Kirby Mealer (MFA in Transdisciplinary New Media) who shared with their graduating class a summary of their experience at PCA, as well as thoughts for the future. In Kirby’s words:

When I first came to Paris, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I moved here impulsively after being accepted to this school, and I do not regret my decision. I remember arriving in Paris knowing no one, having no expectations and just knew I wanted to get a master’s degree. Little did I know then of the family that I would create through PCA.

The speakers were unanimous in encouraging the audience to ask themselves questions, and to push themselves to pursue their dreams despite their fears. They all agreed that in life after school there might not always be right or wrong answers. In the words of Ariel Ronayne:

To live a creative life, we must choose curiosity rather than fear.

They reinforced the idea that artists, designers and filmmakers have the power to challenge the status-quo, as Joie Cousin articulated:

I truly believe that artists, creatives, our minds, have the power and the ability to shape the world in which we live.

The students speakers also agreed from first-hand experience that the support of their peers, their family away from home, had been key to a great time in Paris, and to their current success.

Hard questions were asked by Undergraduate commencement speaker Eric Baudelaire, artist and filmmaker, including what the art and design world is going to be in the AI era.

He concluded that the answers lay in part in the hands of the recently graduated artists, designers, and filmmakers who, armed with the knowledge and experience acquired at Paris College of Art, will be shaping the future.