Past Commencements

2022

May 19, 2022, Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA

MassArt celebrated its Commencement on Thursday, May 19, 2022, joined by classes of 2020 and 2021 at the Leader Bank Pavilion, an open-air, tented amphitheater on the South Boston Waterfront. Kim Janey, former Acting Mayor of Boston and lifelong public servant, offered remarks to graduates and accepted an honorary doctor of fine arts degree. The ceremony also featured the awarding of honorary doctor of fine arts degrees to Jared Bowen, Executive Editor and Host of Open Studio on public television station GBH, and to Steve Locke, contemporary multimedia artist and MassArt alumnus. 

• Watch 2022 Commencement (ceremony begins at 33:27 mark)
• 2022 Commencement Program
• 2022 Academic Awards Program
• Press Release

Download social media graphics to celebrate the Class of 2022!

• Instagram Posts
• Social Profile
• Facebook Headers

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2021

May 22, 2021, Virtual Celebration

Honorary Degree Recipient
Theaster Gates
Artist and social innovator

Remarks

Acting President Kymberly Pinder, PhD, Katie Riel, MLIS President, Faculty and Librarian Association, Nicole Yi-Ning Liu, MDes ‘21 Representative, Graduate Students, Katiana Rodroguez, BFA ‘21 Representative, Undergraduate Students

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program

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2020

May 29, 2020, Virtual Celebration

Remarks

President David Nelson, alumna and Trustee Elisa Hamilton '07 BFA Painting, Lee Luker '07 BFA Animation/Production team member of Golden Globe awardee "Missing Link," Justine Silva '12 BFA Illustration, Winner of NBC's Making It Season 2, Dean Lucinda Bliss, Provost Kymberly Pinder, and crowdsourced content from faculty and students

Downloads

• View the 2020 Commencement Video
• View Remarks by Lyla June, 
  Indigenous environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, community organizer and musician of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages from Taos, NM
• Commencement Program​​
• Academic Awards Program

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2019 

May 24, 2019, Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion 

Honorary Degree Recipient
Elizabeth Lowrey
Principal and Director of Interior Architecture at Elkus Manfredi Architects

Listen or download Ms. Lowrey's speech: 

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program
• View Photos from the Day

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2018

May 25, 2018, Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion 

Honorary Degree Recipient
Wangechi Mutu
Contemporary Visual Artist

Listen or download Ms. Mutu's speech

Excellence in Art Education Award
MIT List Visual Arts Center

Downloads

• Academic Awards Program
• View Photos from the Day 

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2017

May 26, 2017, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion

Honorary Degree Recipient
Diane Paulus
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University

Excellence in Art Education Award
William W. Henderson, Ed.D
Boston Public Schools 

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program
• View Photos from the Day

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2016 

Honorary Degree Recipients

• Charles Blow
  Journalist, Author
   
• Philip Freelon
  Architect

Excellence in Art Education Award
Joanne McKenna '81 BFA 

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program
• View Photos from the Day

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2015

Honorary Degree Recipients

• Samuel Bak
  Painter, Memoirist
   
• Anita Kunz
  Painter, Illustrator 

Excellence in Art Education Award
David Perkins
Professor of Education, Emeritus, Learning and Teaching Program, Technology, Innovation, and Education Program, Harvard University

President's Leadership Award
Elizabeth Kelner Pozen
Painter, Philanthropist

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program 
• View Photos from the Day

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2014

Honorary Degree Recipients 

• Rika Burnham
  Museum Educator, Lecturer; Head of Education, Frick Collection in New York, Columbia University
   
• Melvin Edwards
  Sculptor

Excellence in Art Education Award
Myran Parker Bass
Executive Director for the Arts, Boston Public Schools

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Awards Program
• View Photos from the Day

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2013

Honorary Degree Recipients 

• Lewis Hyde
  Scholar and Author
   
• Zandra Rhodes
  Fashion Designer

Excellence in Art Education Award
Education Department
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

Godine Award 
Thomas & Angela Menino
Mayor & First Lady of the City of Boston

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Award Program

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2012 

Honorary Degree Recipients 

• Matthew Carter
  Type Designer
   
• Frank Wilson
  Neurologist

Excellence in Art Education Award
Stella Aguirre McGregor
Urbano Project

Godine Award
Anne Hawley
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Downloads

• Commencement Program
• Academic Award Program

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2011 

Honorary Degree Recipient
Gran Fury
Artists

Excellence in Art Education Award
Honee Hess & Gillian Bonazoli, MAEA
Art All State

Godine Award 
Michael & Kitty Dukakis
Former Governor of Massachusetts & Wife 

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2010

Honorary Degree Recipient 
Lowery Stokes Sims
Art Historian

Excellence in Art Education Award
Rosanne Trolan
Lexington 

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2009

Honorary Degree Recipients

• Monument Men
  Historians/Scholars
   
• Joseph Abboud
  Fashion Designer

Excellence in Art Education Award
Kathleen Marsh, Beth Balliro, Barrington Edwards, Katie Osediacz, Guy Telemaque 
Boston Arts Academy Visual Arts Team

Godine Award
Linda Nathan
Boston Arts Academy