Last Friday, May 12, family and friends gathered in the Graduation Courtyard on the CalArts campus to cheer on the graduating class of 2017.

CalArts President Steven D. Lavine, who is stepping down from his post after 29 years of service, and Glenn Edgerton, Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, were the year’s honorees.

The Institute’s Board of Trustees conferred honorary doctorate of arts degrees to CalArts President Steven D. Lavine, who steps down later this month from his post after 29 years, and to dancer-director Glenn Edgerton of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Both were being honored for artistic contributions to their respective fields.

Lavine became CalArts’ third president in 1988, coming to Valencia from The Rockefeller Foundation in New York. Upon his arrival, Lavine worked tirelessly with the Board and supporters to stabilize the Institute’s financial situation. When the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the campus to the point of inoperability, he led a $42 million restoration effort and worked with staff and faculty to identify space for classes throughout Los Angeles and Santa Clarita.

Under his tenure, and through the founding of the CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP), The CalArts/Herb Alpert Awards in the Arts and REDCAT (the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater) in Downtown Los Angeles, CalArts has grown from a local arts college to an international presence in the arts.

Before his current position as Artistic Director at Hubbard Street, Edgerton has had a long and storied career as a performer with several internationally renowned dance companies. He joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1978, performing lead roles in both contemporary and classical pieces under the mentorship of Robert Joffrey. In 1989, Edgerton moved to the Netherlands to dance with the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). After five years of dancing with NDT, he retired officially from performance and became NDT’s artistic director.

In 2009, he joined Hubbard Street, becoming the its third artistic director in nearly four decades. This summer, the company celebrates its 40th anniversary with a dance program that revisits Hubbard Street’s history, including The 40s and Georgia by founding artistic director Lou Conte, The Golden Section by the legendary dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp and an excerpt from Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s One Thousand Pieces.

Click [here] to see more photos from the 2017 CalArts graduation ceremony.