Sam Fox School celebrates graduating class of 2026

Cradlebaugh shared his perspective on the importance of humanity and lived experience in creative work and artmaking, especially amid a world focused on efficiency and automation. “Our humanity is not a weakness — it is our greatest strength,” he said. “Because the world doesn’t just need more images and videos. It needs meaning. It needs work that makes people feel something or helps people feel understood … Wherever we go next, whatever we make, I hope we continue to create with intention, with curiosity, and with a sense of who we are. Because in the end, that’s what people connect with.”

Laguerre, a Sam Fox Ambassador, focused on the experience of growth and community during her time in graduate school. She began with a metaphor: a fish who, though well taken care of, only grew when finally placed in a bigger tank. The story helped her choose to step out of her comfort zone and come to WashU. Her time here was marked by a strong sense of community, by countless memories with students, faculty, and staff. “I feel extremely honored to have made this journey by your side, one that I could not walk on my own,” she said. “Let’s remind each other to never accept spaces — physical or otherwise — that limit who we are meant to become … May we continue to grow, may we create space for others to grow, and may we carry that graceful strength we built together here wherever we go.”

Degrees were conferred at the university-wide commencement ceremony on Francis Olympic Field on Friday, May 15. Sam Fox School graduate Sejal Popat, MFA-IVC ’26, delivered the graduate student address, encouraging her peers to stay curious and embrace life’s ambiguities as opportunities for something unexpected to emerge. Anabeth and John Weil, longstanding patrons of the arts and benefactors of WashU’s Weil Hall, were awarded honorary Doctorates of Fine Arts presented by Vicki Match Suna, WashU trustee and Sam Fox School National Council chair.

Prior to the ceremony, students received awards and funding for future work. Among the most prestigious awards in the College of Art are the Jeffrey Frank Wacks Scholarship and the new Jeffrey Frank Wacks MFA Award awarded to Maya Iskoz and Shivani Shenoy, respectively; the John T. Milliken Foreign Travel Award — including a monetary award and a residency at the school’s Cité internationale des arts studio in Paris — awarded to Grace Kahler, Temi Ijisesan, Violet White, and Yixiao Zhang; and the Caroline Risque Janis Prize in Sculpture, awarded to Effie Lillig. In the College of Architecture, the Frederick Widmann Prize was awarded to Marco Donohue and Lydia Roberts and Cheyenne Granahan received the AIA Medal of Excellence. The Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal was awarded to Laguerre.

A recording of the Sam Fox School’s 2026 Recognition Ceremony will be available on the school’s YouTube channel in the coming days. A recording of the 2026 University Commencement is available on WashU’s YouTube Channel.