# List of California College of the Arts people

This is a list of notable people from the California College of the Arts; which was formerly known as School of the California Guild of Arts and Crafts (1907–1908), California School of Arts and Crafts (1908–1935), and California College of Arts and Crafts (1936–2002).

## Notable alumni
### Academia

* Sonia Landy Sheridan (MFA 1961), professor emeritus at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
* Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (BFA 1981, painting), educator at UC Davis

### Artists
#### Ceramics

* Robert Arneson (MFA 1958)
* Viola Frey (BFA 1956) ceramics
* Manuel Neri (attended in the 1950s) ceramics
* Peter Voulkos (MFA in the 1950s) ceramics

#### Film

* Ako Castuera (BFA 2000, illustration), storyboard art on Adventure Time
* Hong Sang-soo (BFA, attended in the 1980s), South Korean film director and screenwriter
* Audrey Marrs (MA 2008, curatorial practice), Oscar-winning filmmaker, and co-founder of Ladyfest
* Wayne Wang (attended in the mid 1970s), film director

#### Painting

* Natalia Anciso (MFA 2011, painting), Chicana–Tejana contemporary artist and educator
* Robert Bechtle (BFA 1954, interdisciplinary design; MFA 1958, painting), photorealist painter, printmaker, and educator
* Clifford Beck (BFA 1968), Navajo American painter, illustrator, photographer and educator
* Henrietta Berk (attended 1955–1959), painter
* David Bierk (attended c. 1970), American–Canadian realist painter
* Bernice Bing (BFA, attended in 1958), Chinese American lesbian artist and painter
* Val Britton (MFA 2006), painter, printmaker, collagist, known for works on paper and installation art
* Squeak Carnwath (MFA 1977), painter and educator
* Geoffrey Chadsey (MFA 1996, photography), painter and drawer
* Jules de Balincourt (BFA 1998), painter
* Albert Dolmans (BFA), Dutch painter
* Warren Leopold (attended c. 1939), architect, painter and craftsman
* Jake Longstreth (MFA 2005), painter, musician, and internet radio personality
* Louis Macouillard (BFA 1934), watercolorist, and illustrator
* Richard McLean (BFA 1958, painting), photorealist painter
* George Miyasaki (BFA 1957, BAEd 1957, MFA 1958), Japanese–American abstract expressionist painter, educator
* Robert S. Neuman (MFA 1951, painting) abstract painter, printmaker, educator
* Toyin Ojih Odutola (MFA 2012), Nigerian-born American contemporary visual artist
* Nathan Oliveira (BFA 1951, MFA 1952), painter, printmaker, sculptor, professor
* Suzanne Scheuer (BFA, attended in 1910s), painter, muralist
* M. Louise Stanley (BFA 1967, MFA 1969), figurative painter
* Don Stivers (attended in the 1940s) military painter, commercial illustrator
* Hank Willis Thomas (MFA 2004, photo; MA, visual criticism), conceptual artist with themes related to identity, and history
* James Torlakson (BFA 1973), photorealist oil painter, printmaker, professor
* Lee Weiss (attended 1946–1947) watercolorist

#### Photography

* Penny Dhaemers (BFA), photographer and first female chair of the UC Berkeley Department of Design
* Beatrice Helg (BFA photo), Swiss photographer
* Todd Hido (MFA 1996, photo), photographer, educator
* Jim Ricks (BFA 2002, photo), conceptual artist, curator
* Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (BFA 1981, painting and photo), Seminole-Muscogee-Navajo photographer, museum director, curator, and professor

#### Printmaking

* Jesus Barraza (MFA 2016, social practice; MA, visual criticism), printmaker and graphic artist
* Liliana Gramberg (attended in 1950), Italian-born American printmaker and painter
* Margo Humphrey (BFA, printmaking), printmaker, illustrator, art teacher
* Roland Petersen (attended 1952 to 1954), Danish-born American painter and printmaker
* James Torlakson (BFA 1973), photorealist oil painter, printmaker, professor

#### Illustration

* Sean Aaberg (attended), comics artist, illustrator, and magazine editor; co-founder of Nonchalance and Oaklandish
* Trinidad Escobar (MFA), author, poet, cartoonist, educator
* Tomie de Paola (MFA 1969, illustration)
* Chelsea Martin (BFA 2008, illustration)
* Mike Mignola (BFA 1982, illustration) comic artist, writer
* Jey Parks (MFA, illustration), also known as Jenny Parks, comics artist, fan artist, and scientific illustrator

#### Mixed media

* Harrell Fletcher (MFA 1994) social practice artist, educator
* Bryan Nash Gill (MFA 1988), sculpture
* Ana María Hernando (BFA 1990), Argentine installation artist, fiber artist
* David Ireland (BFA 1953, industrial design), sculptor, conceptual artist, minimalist architect
* C. Carl Jennings [Wikidata] (attended in the 1930s), blacksmith and metalsmith, founding member of the California Blacksmith Association (CBA)
* Susan O'Malley (MFA 2006, social practice) graphic artist, public art, curator, and author
* Dennis Oppenheim (BFA mid-1960s), conceptual artist, performance artist, earth artist, sculptor and photographer
* Raymond Saunders (MFA 1961), multimedia painter, educator
* Hank Willis Thomas (MFA 2004, photo; MA, visual criticism), conceptual artist with themes related to identity, and history

#### Musicians

* Richard Waters (MFA 1965), painter, inventor of the waterphone musical instrument
* Hsiung-Zee Wong (1972, industrial design), multimedia composer, musician, illustrator, designer

#### Sculpture and glass

* Kate Ali (BFA 2007), sculptor, educator
* Nicole Chesney (attended 1992 to 1994), metalsmith and glass artist; known for large-scale architectural work
* Viola Frey (BFA 1956), sculptor, painter, educator
* Bryan Nash Gill (MFA 1988), wood sculptor, relief printmaker
* Bob Haozous (BFA 1971, sculpture), Chiricahua Apache sculptor
* Dorothy Rieber Joralemon (attended in the 1930s), abstract sculptor, children's portrait artist, and writer
* Jerome Ranft (BFA 1991), character sculptor and voice actor for Pixar Animation Studios
* Adrien Segal (BFA 2007, furniture design), sculptor; known for sculptures designed with data

### Designers

* Erik Adigard (BFA 1987, graphic design), Congolese-born French and American graphic designer, multimedia artist, educator
* Agnes Chavez (BFA 1984), entrepreneur, designer, and educational tools
* Roger C. Field (BFA 1968, industrial design), British inventor of the Foldaxe folding electric guitar
* Tracy Krumm (BFA 1987), textile artist
* Florence Resnikoff (BFA 1967, jewelry), metal and jewelry designer
* Kay Sekimachi (BFA 1949, textile), fiber artist
* Dan Stiles (BFA, attended in 1990s), graphic designer, rock music poster designer
* Michael Vanderbyl (BFA 1968), graphic designer

### Writers

* Kate Colby (MFA, writing), poet and essayist
* Wendy Anderson Halperin (attended 1979 to 1980), children's book author and illustrator
* Joseph del Pesco (MA 2005, curatorial practice), art curator and arts writer; director of Kadist
* Tessa Rumsey (MA 2002, visual and critical studies), poet
* Amy Schwartz (BFA 1976, drawing) children's book author and illustrator
* Maximilian Uriarte (BFA 2013) comic book author, topical on U.S. Marines and military service

## Notable current and past faculty

Listed noted faculty both past and present, in alphabetical order by department and last name.

### Curators and museum studies

* Jens Hoffmann, director of the CCA's Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts 2007–2012
* Renny Pritikin, curator, museum professional, writer, poet, and educator

### Designers

* Yves Béhar, industrial designer, professor, and head of the industrial design department from 2005 to 2012
* Brenda Laurel, video game developer, pioneer of VR, professor and chair of graduate design program 2006–2012
* Christopher Simmons (attended in the 1990s), Canadian-born graphic designer, design leader, and former graphic design professor
* Florence Resnikoff, jewelry designer, professor of jewelry and metal arts from 1973 to 1980
* Lucille Tenazas, graphic designer
* Michael Vanderbyl, former faculty from 1973 to 2014, and dean of design department 1986–2002
* Sandra Vivanco, former professor in the architecture division, and critical ethnic studies program

### Film

* Rob Epstein, film director, producer, writer and editor; co-chair of the film program
* Kota Ezawa, Japanese-German and American abstracted computer animation artist; associate professor of film and fine arts
* Jeanne C. Finley, filmmaker, photographer, and video artist; professor of graduate fine arts
* JoAnn Gillerman, video, new media and performance artist; professor film program
* Lynn Marie Kirby, professor of graduate and undergraduate fine arts, film and interdisciplinary studies

### Painting

* Kim Anno, abstract painter, photographer, and filmmaker; professor since 1996 and as the chair of the painting department
* Helen Breger, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker; drawing instructor 1959–1988
* Richard Diebenkorn, painter and printmaker; professor 1955–1958
* Linda Geary, professor of painting from 2006 to present
* George Albert Harris, painter, muralist, professor of art from 1946 to 1947
* Saburo Hasegawa, Japanese calligrapher, abstract painter, professor from 1955 to 1957
* David Huffman, painter, undergraduate painting and drawing
* Xavier Martínez, painting and drawing from 1908 to 1943
* Alicia McCarthy, painter
* Arthur Okamura, painter, printmaker; professor emeritus, taught painting 1967–1997
* Frederick Olmsted Jr., painter, muralist; taught in the 1940s
* Carole Doyle Peel, painter, professor emerita who taught painting 1968–2014
* Maria Porges, professor of graduate fine arts in the 1990s and 2000s
* Raymond Saunders (MFA 1961), multimedia painter, former professor of painting
* Elizabeth Sher, video artist, and artist books; taught painting and media art 1979–2011
* Mary Snowden, painter, taught in the 1970s, professor emeritus in painting and drawing
* Taravat Talepasand, former adjunct painting professor in the 2010s
* Vaclav Vytlacil, painting professor in the 1930s and 1940s

### Photography

* Tammy Rae Carland, dean of fine arts and professor
* Susan Ciriclio, photographer, professor emeritus of photography 1988–2017
* Jim Goldberg, photographer, professor emeritus of photography 1987–2014
* Todd Hido (MFA 1996, photo), photographer, photography professor
* Larry Sultan, photographer, professor emeritus of photography 1989–2009

### Printmaking

* Nance O'Banion, professor emeritus in printmaking, taught 1974–2016

### Sculpture and glass

* William Victor Bragdon [Wikidata], established Berkeley's first art pottery company California Faience
* Bella Feldman, sculptor
* Linda Fleming, sculptor; large-scale wood and metal works
* Viola Frey (BFA 1956), professor emerita, ceramics teacher 1965–1999
* Marvin Lipofsky, founder of the glass department
* Adrien Segal (BFA 2007, furniture design), known for sculptures designed with data; adjunct professor of furniture design
* Nancy Selvin, sculptor
* Chauncey R. Thomas [Wikidata], established Berkeley's first art pottery company California Faience

### Social practice

* Ted Purves, chair of Social Practice graduate program

### Textiles

* Lia Cook, textile designer, professor of textiles
* Josh Faught, fiber artist, associate professor and chair of the textiles department
* Trude Guermonprez, professor and chair of the crafts department, starting 1954

### Writers

* Opal Palmer Adisa, Jamaican-born American poet, novelist, and performance artist; professor emeritus in writing and diversity studies 1993–2017
* Tom Barbash, writer, critic; professor in the MFA writing program
* Dodie Bellamy, novelist, journalist; professor of creative writing
* Bill Berkson, poet, critic; taught art criticism in 1983
* Jasmin Darznik, Iranian-born American novelist; associate professor of creative writing
* Sarah Webster Fabio, poet, literary critic; taught 1968–1970
* Gloria Frym, poet, fiction writer, essayist; taught graduate writing since 2002
* Robin Gianattassio-Malle, visiting professor, classes that integrate journalism with contemporary art and design
* Kevin Killian, queer poet, author, editor, playwright; taught graduate writing
* Michael McClure, poet, playwright, songwriter, novelist; taught poetry
* Aimee Phan, novelist, of Vietnamese descent; taught writing and literature
* Lisa Robertson, Canadian poet, essayist, translator; taught 2007–2010
* Mitchell Schwarzer, architect; professor emeritus, co-founded the school's masters program in visual criticism (now called visual and critical studies)

## Presidents

* Frederick Meyer (1907–1944)
* Spencer Macky (1944–1954)
* Daniel S. Defenbacher (1954–1957)
* Joseph A. Danysh (acting; 1957–1959)
* Henry X. Ford (1960–c. 1985)
* Neil Hoffman (1985–1994)
* Lorne Michael Buchman (1994–1999)
* Michael S. Roth (2000–2007)
* Stephen Beal (2008–2023)
* David C. Howse (2023–present)