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Toledos and Saar honored at Commencement



05/10/10

On May 9, Otis presented honorary degrees to the fashion duo Isabel and Ruben Toledo, and to artist Alison Saar (MFA, 1981) at its annual Commencement ceremony. BFA and MFA degrees were awarded to 280 graduates. Isabel and Ruben, who have worked with fashion design students as mentors over the last 15 years, described themselves as political refugees from Cuba who believe in the richness of the "giant stew" of culture, and exhorted the grads to bring their individual ingredients to this soup. "As you inspire each other, so you inspire the world," said Otis. Alison Saar spoke of the honorary degree as a "grand libation to rub into my patina," referring to her own growth as an artist in terms of cumulative encounters with family and faculty. Of her work, Saar stated "We look back for lessons, stare at the present, and gaze ahead for a more harmonious and equitable future." View live stream video

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