Columbia College Chicago’s 25 Favorite Photos of 2025
Julie Lucas ’96 returned to her alma mater as the college’s staff photographer in 2022. Since then, she has documented all aspects of campus life, capturing the creativity, energy, and community that define the Columbia experience.
Through her lens, Lucas highlights the vibrancy of Columbia’s students, the vitality of its campus, and the extraordinary city the college calls home. Her work brings these moments to the wider community through Columbia’s social media, website, and print publications.
Of the many photos Lucas took throughout 2025, these are some favorites.
Photo Opportunities Abound
Chicago’s world-renowned Grant Park is just steps away from Columbia’s campus, offering student photographers as well as Lucas a multitude of opportunities to snap its beautiful gardens, statues, and fountains, the Chicago skyline, and so much more.
One Mural 135 Years in the Making
As Columbia College Chicago celebrated its 135th anniversary in 2025, the college unveiled a new mural by Illustration alum Mac McGuire ’24. The vibrant mural depicts the evolution of Columbia, beginning with its female founders Mary Blood and Ida Reily to the diverse student population and modern cityscape of the present day.
Finishing Touches
The dance program at Columbia embraces a variety of dance techniques and styles. And behind each dance performance, there are hours and hours of practice and preparation that culminate in awe-inspiring events.
Learning: Always in Motion
At Columbia, learning doesn’t pause when dancers step onto the stage. They constantly listen, adjust, and refine, not only during rehearsals but during performances as well.
Showcasing Columbia Talent
Black Souls Welcome is a talent showcase made by and for Columbia's Black students. This exhibition series highlights artists, like the one seen in this portrait, in varying mediums and backgrounds to portray the facets of Black life.
Power Performances
Audiences consistently enjoy the powerful performances of Columbia’s theatrical productions. “You on the Moors Now” told the tale of four literary heroines turned everything you learned about love from the pages of “Pride and Prejudice,” “Wuthering Heights,” “Jane Eyre,” and “Little Women” upside down.
Students Just Want to Have Fun
Yes, college can be fun. Each year, Columbia students prove that by throwing the “Blood Ball,” a dance-party whose name is a homage to Columbia co-founder Mary Blood.
Bringing Down the House
Columbia prides itself in connecting students to creatives working in the industry, many of whom are alums. As part of its Artist-in-Residence program, nationally and internationally recognized professional musicians, like GRAMMY-winning alum Jonathan McReynolds ’11 shown here, come to Columbia to lead workshops, master classes, and performances with students.
Caught on Camera
Film and Television students practice their craft on the soundstages of Columbia’s Media Production and on location throughout Chicago, with many alums reporting that the working relationships and friendships they form as students often follow them into their professional lives.
Setting the Stage
Theatre students at Columbia work on a range of plays, musicals, and one-acts both on stage and behind it. Here, they begin to build sets that will transform a Columbia stage into New York City’s East Village in the late 1980s for the play “Rent.”
Theatre Magic
In 2025, Columbia staged the musical “Rent,” a story of young artists navigating poverty, love, loss, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City.
Fast Fashion Takes on New Meaning
As part of their hands-on education, Columbia students often collaborate with companies on unique projects that support the company’s mission and brand. In 2025, thanks to a partnership with NASCAR Street Race Chicago, fashion students designed race-themed clothes and accessories.
Life Moves Pretty Fast
In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Columbia faculty encourage students to take those words to heart, sometimes quite literally as was the case on a field trip inspired by the Chicago exploits of Ferris and his friends that included the Art Institute of Chicago.
Columbia Lights Up Arts in the Dark
Living in Chicago presents students a wide range of opportunities to engage in cultural events, such as the Arts in the Dark Parade, which celebrates Halloween as an “artist’s holiday.” Students prepared for the parade and their performances in Grant Park, offering spectacular views of Chicago.
Dancing in the Dark
Dance opportunities abound in a city like Chicago. The lights of downtown Chicago shine brightly on this student as they prepared to participate in the 11th annual Arts in the Dark Parade.
A Wickedly Good Drag Show
The Student Programming Board plans many incredible events for students throughout the year. Recently they amped up Wicked Week, a campus-wide series of Halloween-themed events in October, with a Drag Show that delivered.
The Hands Have It
Columbia students have a unique opportunity to learn from comedy’s best in a semester-long experience at The Second City, the nation’s center of comedy and satire, where students study performance, comedy writing, and improv. The semester culminates in a performance on the same stage where Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert practiced their crafts.
Funny Business
Columbia College Chicago students who work to develop their comedic voices at The Second City often find inspiration in the everyday. Captured on an escalator just steps from the iconic improv theater, the photo reflects their humor in the most ordinary of moments.
Grease Is the Word
In 2025, Columbia staged a production of the 1950’s-inspired musical “Grease,” showcasing acting and singing talents but also the artistry of lighting.
A Hauntingly Good Time
CTAS (Created to Achieve Success), a Columbia student organization, raises money and collects course materials to support students in need. To raise funds, CTAS hosted a Haunted House in October.
Lights, Camera, Action
At Columbia, students gain the skills to work both in front of and behind the camera, honing their skills at the college’s Media Production Center and encouraged to submit their work to film festivals.
Partners in Fashion
Students collaborated with bridalwear designer Sarah Varca in their Concept to Consumer class to create pieces consistent with Varca’s aesthetic — irreverent designs for the modern bride that promote confidence, individualism, and body positivity.
Students Make Headlines
At the award-winning “The Columbia Chronicle,” students call the shots as they acquire reporting, storytelling, and production skills that often translate into jobs in the world of journalism.
Star Power
Legendary director, writer, producer and actor Robert Townsend, a Chicago native, stopped by Columbia College Chicago to teach a masterclass as part of his pop-up film festival in December. The event packed students and film lovers. He shared his experiences and expertise to students and film buffs alike.
A Beautiful Beginning
This year was marked by excitement about fresh starts and promising futures. New Columbia President Shantay N. Bolton, PhD, enjoyed her first convocation at Columbia, taking to the stage to welcome students and participate in a selfie, something you’ll find her doing often on campus.