Product Design Junior Em Cadenas Calvo Receives Inaugural Matthew Rolston Scholarship
Rolston, an artist and Otis faculty member, co-founded the Matthew Rolston Scholarship Fund for Product and Fashion Design to recognize the impact Otis College has had on his own career.
Otis College of Art and Design recently established the Matthew Rolston Scholarship Fund for Product and Fashion Design. Student Em Cadenas Calvo (’26 Product Design) is the inaugural recipient of a scholarship under the auspices of the fund. The College launched the fund with Rolston, an acclaimed photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and artist, to support the education of students in the Product Design and Fashion Design programs, with a particular emphasis on communication and creative direction practices. Rolston, also a junior lecturer at the College, plans to participate actively in the scholarship program as a mentor. He wanted to create the scholarship to recognize the significant impact that Otis College has had in his own artistic development, having studied drawing and painting here.
“My interest in education and mentoring has grown from my establishment of scholarships, both at ArtCenter and now at Otis, two Los Angeles institutions that were critical to my own development. I believe we’re all part of a continuum, and now it’s my turn and privilege to give to the next generation, not just with financial support, but with my time and knowledge as well.”
Calvo’s work blends her interest in fashion with a mission to create designs that resonate on a deeper, more personal level. She explores themes of women’s bodies, safety, and societal expectations, using design as a tool for reflection and empowerment. Her discreet safety bracelet and “Cynched” chair—inspired by Michaela Stark’s body-positive fashion—are two examples of how Calvo challenges conventions and elevates the conversation around body positivity and female empowerment using the language of both fashion and product design. She has consistently maintained a high GPA and also serves as a Resident Assistant on campus, offering guidance and support to Foundation students.
“Being financially independent is both empowering and has also become my greatest challenge,” Calvo says. “The Matthew Rolston Scholarship would diminish the financial burdens I face, allowing me to allocate the money and energy to provide any resources I need to fuel my creative development.” With this support, Calvo adds that she can dedicate herself more to her creative journey, lessening the weight of financial stress so that she can continue pushing the boundaries of design.
In addition to his time at Otis College, Rolston also studied drawing and painting at Chouinard Art Institute and the San Francisco Art Institute, as well as illustration, photography, imaging, and film at ArtCenter College of Design, where he received an honorary doctorate in 2006. He has been an adjunct professor and curricular advisor in ArtCenter’s film programs since 2015 and teaches courses in communications that he designed for interdisciplinary study.
Expanding his arts education activities at Otis, Rolston now teaches a new class, “Vessel of Dreams: The Packaging of Perfumery,” created in collaboration with Assistant Chair of Product Design Jonathan Fidler. The class explores object design and development with a specific eye towards the narrative possibilities of luxury fragrance packaging.
While he was still a student at ArtCenter, Rolston was discovered by American artist Andy Warhol, who commissioned Rolston to take a portrait of filmmaker Steven Spielberg for Interview, the seminal Hollywood-themed magazine Warhol co-founded in 1969. Over the past 30 years, Rolston’s photographs have been published in Vogue, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, and on over 100 covers of Rolling Stone.
In the 1980s Rolston was a member of an influential group of photographers that included Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Annie Leibovitz, and Steven Meisel. His work from this era is distinguished by a glamorous lighting style, surrealistic tableaus, and detail-rich sets. He eventually segued into filmmaking, directing award-winning music videos for artists including Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, and Miley Cyrus, as well as extensive print and television campaigns for such internationally recognized brands as Campari, L’Oréal, Esteé Lauder, Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Burberry.
His photographs have been exhibited at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, the Whitney Museum of American Art and FIT Gallery in New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England, to name just a few. They also are held in the permanent collections of The J. Paul Getty Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., among others. His fine art photography is represented by Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles and Camera Work Photogalerie in Berlin; he also is represented for commercial still photography work by FOURELEVEN Agency, New York.
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