
MAM Alum Alissa Klaus on Art, Community, and Career Fulfillment
May 08, 2023How centering professional growth on arts institutions led one Columbia College Chicago MAM alum to a rewarding career in museums.
Columbia College Chicago alumni help shape the culture of our time. They perform on stage and screen. They start their own businesses. They dance, exhibit, design, produce, animate, compose, manage, write, and direct with the best. Here are a few of their stories.
How centering professional growth on arts institutions led one Columbia College Chicago MAM alum to a rewarding career in museums.
Persistence pays off for Game Design Alum who now works at Wizards of the Coast.
Alum and Designer Rebecca Martin BFA ‘19 now works in New York City on brands seen at Walmarts and Targets across the country.
How supporting the arts became a calling and a passion for one #Columalum.
Columbia College Chicago Alum D’Zhari Bolden ’17 describes her experiences working with two of music’s biggest superstars and her passion for making music that makes people feel good.
Creating the space she needed to thrive led Columbia College Chicago Alum Brianna Heath on the adventure of a lifetime.
Columbia College Chicago Computer Animation alum plays pivotal role in developing new pinball game that uses animation, storytelling, and a creative design to engage players and collectors.
As an accessibility operations specialist at SXSW, Deaf Studies alum helps everyone make the most of the 10-day event.
How creative exploration and a passion for finding the truth led to the success of the film Safe Place.
How a purpose-driven approach has transformed McKeehen’s happiness and her future.
How staying true to a love of events led to incredible success and her own production company.
How intention and community led to a life of advocacy and change-making.
Columbia College Chicago alums working in fashion, advertising, PR, and marketing communication share their experiences and insights with current students
The road to leading publicity for ‘Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever’
Alum Paige Barnes ’21 recalls how her experiences at Columbia paved the way to her current roles as morning anchor and reporter at WSBT in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan
Check out our list of 2022 Columbia-alum streaming projects
Shaquita Reed shares her journey as a mixed media artist, fashion designer, teacher, and graduate student
How a Master of Arts Management in the Music Business set the stage for a successful multidimensional career
How the multi-platinum artist carved his own path
Having toured with numerous artists, including Harry Styles and Tony Allen, Alum Parris Fleming ‘14 knows how to play the trumpet and much more. He recently shared his lessons learned with Columbia students.
Columbia alum Joseph Sikora ’98 on acting, performance reviews, and fostering safe spaces to create
Audiologist-turned-educator/podcaster Steve Taddei ‘13 credits his experiences at Columbia for launching his career and his calling.
Alum Luke Miller ’05, director of photography for "Grace and Frankie," works his way through and up LA’s film and television industry.
Recent graduate James Jiang lands job in game industry after earning a degree in Computer Animation.
Alum Kendall Polidori ’21 reflects on discovering her career while at Columbia.
Hawkins, Vice President of Development and Scripted Programming for BET Networks and BET Studios, recently visited campus to talk with students about her career in film and what she's been up to since her time at Columbia.
Columbia highlights the artistry of its alums in a marketing campaign that features an alum’s illustration work, commissioned by the college, and an alum’s public art installation.
"One Woman Hamlet", co-directed by Cinema and Television Arts alums Kseni Avonavi, MFA ’19, and Ayesha Abouelazm MFA ’17, will be screened at the 2022 NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival, February 10-20, 2022.
Day discusses his new poetry collection about the day-to-day experiences of a Black adolescent male transitioning into maturity, and how his time at Columbia helped him publish this work.
As her skills and experiences evolved while a student at Columbia, Loupakos became interested in working in sound for film. After taking Audio for Visual Media I with Michael Coyle, Loupakos knew that she wanted to explore sound design and recording.
'Though the Odds Be Great or Small' is about Notre Dame's 1957 Comeback Season and the Year That Changed College Football.
After graduating in 2013, Krouch dove into the world of filmmaking. She now works as the Independent Film Coordinator for the City of Chicago, where she gets to pay forward the mentorship and support that she received early on in her career.
Johnson has been working successfully as a freelance audio engineer since 2015, taking many of the skills he learned at Columbia with him along the way.
Pax Helgesen ’15 has carved out a successful career in sound design. Now, he's here to pay it forward.
Sama Alshaibi talks about how her experiences at Columbia helped shape her career and the projects she has been most passionate about
Rohrbeck was able to tie his Biology minor to his Cinema and Television Arts major while at Columbia.
The first time Teena was on campus, in 1984, she knew that she would return – and encourage her future children to do so too.
Audio Arts and Acoustics Alum Jessica Borowski had to fight for what she wanted. Here's how she landed her dream job in a competitive field.
For Tomas Videla, music was always a part of his life, but he never imagined that he’d be scoring the soundtrack for the upcoming HBO documentary about Tiger Woods.
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused Illinoisans to quarantine, Ryan Trembath ’07 used the opportunity to follow a lifelong dream – to write a book.
Fashion alum Oula Yassine discusses how her time at Columbia helped her develop her unique style and advance her career.
Hughes has recently been awarded the 2020 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship and the 2020 92Y Discovery Poetry Prize
Columbia Dance alumna Kierah King hasn’t missed a beat
Christian Cook's ’19 first novel has been published by Leeds Press Corp.
Philip Dembinski ’08 on his love of photography and his favorite shoots
The Beauty of Your Face has been named a Most Anticipated Book of 2020 by Marie Claire, Bustle, Real Simple, and Literary Hub.
Atmosphere Press will publish the novel within the next year
Hoffmann's first novel, “Other People’s Children” will be published in 2021.
Sometimes the detour you take leads on an alternate route to happiness and fulfillment
Columbia College Chicago alum Delvin McCray reflects on how he moved into the world of fashion, the roads to Project Runway and Paris Fashion Week
Solome Skaff MFA '04 wrote LifeCare, a personal guide that helps people process through the difficulties of life.
Since completing Columbia's Arts Management (MAM) program, Bradley has continued to grow her business, found success in various roles at Disney, and now has advice for students with the same determination.