Each summer, the College of Fine Arts collects updates from our alumni. This year, we were thrilled to receive exciting news from Art & Art History, Dance, Film & Media Arts, Music, and Theatre graduates.
Read on to celebrate the local and international success of our alumni and be sure to follow @uofucfaalumni on social media for regular updates (and to send in yours)!
Department of Art & Art History
- Mason Fetzer (Art BFA ‘06) returned to the Utah Arts Festival for the 12th year of his “100 Artists/ONE Image” project, in which attendees paint a single square that are later pieced together to create a 20-foot tall community puzzle mural unveiled at the festival.
- Kathleen Royster (Art BFA '90, Art MFA '95) produces modern handmade dinnerware at her business, Kathleen Royster Studio & Gallery in Helper, UT. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Renwick Gallery of the Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the Peabody Essex Museum.
- Pablo Cruz-Ayala (Art HBFA '24) received Springville Museum of Art’s first Teaching Artist Fellowship for Youth (TAFY), which includes a curated exhibition, community engagement and programming, and access to studio space at the Museum. Cruz-Ayala also taught a workshop combining art and unseen labor at Finch Lane Gallery, which was hosted by 801 Salon as part of the “Nepantla: Border Arte” exhibit with support by Salt Lake Arts Council and sponsorship by Artes de Mexico en Utah. Separately, he unveiled a new art installation for “Hidden Waters,” with The Blocks Arts District and Seven Canyons Trust.
School of Dance
- Sammi Harmon (Ballet BFA ‘13) is a Physical Therapist & Dancer who resides in Denver. She just performed the title role of Carmen with Ballet Ariel and is preparing to take on a new show with Reverie Dance Company.
- Rebecca Rohrer (Ballet BFA ‘94) is the Director of Youth Programming for Queen City Ballet in Helena, MT where she has worked under Artistic Director Campbell Midgely for 22 years. In prior years, Rohrer performed with Fort Worth Ballet and taught in various studios in Canada and Utah.
- Ari Hassett (Modern Dance BFA ‘18, Biomedical Engineering BS ‘18) is a Staff Engineer at Stryker Neurovascular by day and a performer with Stephen Brown Dance (SB Dance) by night. Hassett will appear in SB Dance’s Curbside Theater in Salt Lake City from 8/14–10/14. This year’s outdoor show will have 2 acts: “Box of Dolls” and “When Love Calls,” and will continue to be free and open to the public. Hassett is joined by cast members who are fellow CFA alumni: Florian Alberge (Modern Dance MFA ‘17), Kate Losser (Modern Dance BFA ‘18), Nora Price (Linguistics ‘14), Bashaun Williams (Ballet BFA ‘11).
- Jalen Williams (Ballet BFA ‘19) finished his second season with Dayton Ballet and is performing and teaching this summer as a part of Dayton Dance Initiative.
- Juliana Wright (Ballet BFA ‘21) is working with Disneyland Paris in their Parade Department as a Character/Parade Dancer and now in Stage Production in “Mickey and the Magician.” The new Broadway-style show sees Wright dancing in excerpts from “Beauty and the Beast” ("Be Our Guest"), “The Lion King,” and Aladdin (“Friend Like Me”).
- Rae Luebbert (Modern Dance BFA '18, Spanish BA '18) was commissioned by Dance Place, a non-profit organization and dance center in Washington D.C., to perform her show, “a long side: a queer double portrait” for the “New Releases Choreographers Showcase.” Luebbert’s presentation contained five years of research that culminated in a display of queer visual art, dance, music, and projection.
- Vixy Rader (Modern Dance BFA ‘16) is currently performing and teaching with The Banana Pancakes Dance Collective in Highland, Utah. In the fall, Rader will perform with The Allure Creative in American Fork, Utah, for which she currently serves as their Director of Choreography. Additionally, Rader teaches adult ballet and modern dance classes at Jolie Arts Dance in Lehi, Utah.
- The School of Dance hosted the 27th Annual CORPS de Ballet International Conference on the U campus, with many alumni contributing to the conference - including board member Tyler Schnese (Ballet MFA '23); peer-reviewed presenters Colleen Barnes (Ballet MFA '17), Emma Capen (Ballet MFA '25), Julia Gleich (Ballet MFA '94, DAA ’14), Rebekah Joann Guerra (Ballet MFA '24), Jamie Johnson (Ballet BFA '03, English BA ’03), Thea van Warmerdam Patterson (Ballet MFA '23), and Justine Sheedy-Kramer (Dance); guest panelists/performers Karina Biancone (Ballet BFA ’17), Michaela Gerard (Ballet BFA ’16, Psychology BS ‘16), Sierra Govett (Ballet BFA ‘18, Environmental Studies BS ‘18), Sarah Rinderknecht (Ballet BFA ’23, Accounting BS '23, Entrepreneurship Minor '23), Stacie Brown Riskin (Ballet BFA ’14), Carly Schaub (Modern MFA ’15), Ashley Jian Thomson (Ballet BFA ‘18, Communications BS ‘18); conference planning committee member Yvonne Racz (English BA ’89).
Department of Film & Media Arts
- Cayden Turnbow (Film and Media Arts BA '23) is a Marketing and Digital Content Coordinator at Salt Lake City Arts Council. Turnbow is also involved in the independent production of two projects: “Anastasis” — a sci-fi family drama that won 2nd Place in the 2024 Utah Film Center Pitch Competition and “An Arrangement of Skin” — a Hispanic family drama that premiered at the 2025 Camp Film Festival.
School of Music
- Michael J. Mills (BM ‘10) just completed his DMA in choral conducting at Texas Tech University and will be Assistant Professor of Music/Music Education at Troy University starting Fall 2025.
- Autumn Wood (BM ‘23) was recently hired as Orchestra Director at Oquirrh Hills Middle School and continues to grow her private violin and viola studio.
- Sam Plumb (MM ‘25) will be studying at Teatro Nuovo this summer where he will be polishing his Italian language skills and immersing himself in the Bel Canto repertoire as part of the opera festival in NYC and NJ.
Department of Theatre
- CFA alumni and faculty are taking the stage in “The Secret Lives of the Real Wives in the Salt Lake Hive” including co-writers Olivia Custodio (MM '14) and Penelope Caywood (Artistic Director of Youth Theatre at the U); actors/singers Hannah Keating (MTP '22, Health, Society, and Policy BS '22), Adriana Lemke (ATP '25), Tahra Veasley (SM '20), Kaden Conrad (MTP '27), Rachel Johnson (ATP '26), Laurel Morgan (ATP '25), Mikki Reeve (MTP '18), Bryce Romleski (MTP '24), Harrison Tim (ATP '26), Tori Kenton (MTP BFA ‘24) and Assistant Professor Robert Scott Smith!
- Footpath Theatre Co. and Salt Lake Acting Company's Making Space for Artists Program presents "Western Minerals and their Origins," July 5-6 and 10-13. Footpath Theatre Co. is founded by alumni Jessica Graham (BFA '21), Connor Johnson (BFA '21), and Harrison Lind (BFA '20), and the show is co-created & directed by U Theatre's Alexandra Harbold with marketing by alumna Sophie White (BFA '23).
- Brandt Garber (ATP BFA ‘18) recently filmed a commercial for Ring: Security Cameras and is a copy editor at The Lab Press, an improv player at The Crow, and a filmmaker in Los Angeles, CA.
- Jayden Dudley (SM BFA ‘24) is Company Manager/Assistant Stage Manager for “The Mother Play” at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA
- Sara Clark (PADP BFA ‘24) is Lead Sound and Light Technician at University of Utah’s Department of Theatre. Clark is also Resident Lighting Designer for Backstage Performing Arts (“The Addams Family: School Edition,” “The Drowsy Chaperone Jr.,” “Frozen Kids) and freelances around the Salt Lake Valley (“La Bohème” (U Opera), “Godspell” (On Pitch Performing Arts), “Fragments” (The Grand Theatre).
- Nicholas Dunn (ATP BFA ‘07) is Owner, Manager, Director, Editor at Overcranked Pictures and Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Utah’s Department of Theatre, having previously taught for Utah State University, Westminster University, and Salt Lake Community College. His career highlights include acting in theatre, film and commercial projects for Magnolia Pictures, Hallmark, Verizon, Microsoft, the Utah Jazz, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, HBO, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and SLAC. Most recently, Dunn sold his screenplay “Thanks Dad” to 1550 Films/Reinhart Pictures in Los Angeles and is currently writing/appearing in a new play at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival this summer. @theghostofmarlowe
- Alexandra Kalaher (MTP BFA ‘16) is local Theatre Director at Copperview Recreation Center and Drama Director at Arches Academy, which sees her producing two musicals a year with children ages 7-16. Kalaher also just finished music directing the Utah premiere of “Tootsie: The Musical” at Ogden’s Ziegfeld Theatre and Park City’s Egyptian Theatre.
- Josephine Wilson (ATP BFA ‘04) is the Chair of the Acting Division at American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). Career highlights include nine years as Chair of the Acting for Film Department at the New York Film Academy where she guided the creation of a new BFA program, nine years as education artist/actor at Shakespeare and Company, nearly three years as a teacher at Lincoln Center Theatre where she taught and developed Shakespeare curriculum for schools. Wilson is a member of The Humanist Project, a theatre company that devises new pieces rooted in the classics, and Shakespeare on the Fly, a theatre company that employs Shakespeare's original practices. She recently played Beatrice in "Much Ado About Nothing" and several roles in a five-person "Macbeth."
- Steve Unwin is Head of Strategy at Something Massive, a full service creative and media agency that serves high profile cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, New York, and Chicago. Prior to his current position, Unwin worked as a company member at Shakespeare and Company, then lived in NYC before settling in Seattle, where he resides today. “I can confidently say that I use my training absolutely every single day, and my experience in the arts has been indispensable both in the creative and client-facing parts of my career. I've been pitching, presenting, explaining, selling, and convincing stakeholders at major brands like Budweiser, Sour Patch Kids, General Electric, and IMAX on a near-daily basis for well over a decade now, and I know my success largely boils down to the fundamentals I learned during my time in the ATP.”
- Brianna Lyman (MTP BFA ‘18) is co-founder/director at Tooele Valley Theatre. In the first 5 years of operation, TVT has been nominated for many awards and was named Best New Theatre Company in its first year.
Interdisciplinary collaborations:
- School of Dance and Department of Art & Art History alumni appeared in “Feathered Tides,” a site-responsive dance and performance work directed by Mitsu Salmon and presented at the Miller Bird Refuge in Salt Lake City. Choreography + Performance: Kellie St. Pierre (Modern MFA '23), Ai Fujii Nelson (Dance BFA ‘98), Florian Alberge (Modern MFA '16, Screendance Certification), Rae Luebbert (Modern BFA '18, Spanish BA '18, Business Minor '18), Roxanne Gray (Modern MFA '25); Costumes: Virginia Broyles (Modern MFA '24); Project Manager: Chloe Henderson (Art History BA '24, Anthropology BA '24)
- Roxanne Gray (Dance MFA '25) directs the 3rd annual “Playground Dance Project” in Salt Lake City – a choreographic flash incubator that provides five choreographers and twenty dancers the opportunity to create new works in under a week. Choreographers include Kaya Wolsey (Ballet BFA ‘13) and Cooper Sullivan (Modern ‘26); dancers include Heather Morley (Modern BFA ‘25), Makiya Green (Modern BFA ‘25, World Languages and Cultures ‘25), Madeline Hale (Modern BFA ‘20), Olivia Schmaltz (Modern BFA ‘25), Kylie Lloyd (Modern BFA ‘25).