Smithwick Patio

Fine Arts & Communication

Student Awards & Recognition 2024

Congratulations, Students

An Annual Tradition

For more than thirty years, with generous support from Bruce Swenson, former president of the FHDA Board of Trustees, the Fine Arts and Communication Awards have brought together students, faculty, staff, and administrators from the division’s programs to celebrate our shared creativity, courage, and commitment as a learning community.

Instead of being based solely on grades or tests, these awards celebrate the words, wisdom, and actions of students — all of whom have overcome enormous obstacles to achieve success in college and have reached out to assist and inspire others to succeed and thrive as well. The students recognized on this page received this award because their professors carefully selected them for praise and acknowledgment. 

Congratulations! 

Introducing Our 2024 Student Awards

Welcome to the Fine Arts & Communication Division Award Ceremony June 21, 2024

It is the privilege of the Fine Arts & Communication Division to honor the following students listed below.

We invite you to view our slide presentation from our June 21, 2024 ceremony recognizing these students.  Each student receiving an award should feel tremendously proud. The department faculty members are truly inspired by each and every one of the students selected.

2024 awards slide presentation

Watch the Zoom recording

photos from the awards ceremony

Student Recognition by Department

 

Art

  • Miyako Fukuoka
  • Hain Shin
  • Jeffery Thomas

Art History

  • Ellen Kim
  • Madison Wong-Brady

Communication Studies

  • Chloe Jett Mills
  • Ryann Mejia-Gonzalez
  • Ashly Nguyen

Graphic & Interactive Design

  • Naomi Hoffman
  • Ellen Kim
  • Isaac Srabian

Media Studies

  • Mason Carter
  • Yotam Elazar
  • Nikolas Razavi

Music

  • Joubin Afshar
  • Denise Breuer
  • Chloe Jett Mills

Music Technology

  • Ian Davies
  • Nathan Segars

Photography

  • Xochilth Aguila
  • Vivian Hanna
  • Paola Valenzuela, Winner of the John Thacker Scholarship

Theatre Arts

  • Vincent Contini
  • Laura Merrill
  • Alvina Xu

Fine Arts & Communication Special  Division Awards and Scholarships

Thanks to the generosity of donors who are committed to honoring our students, we are proud to announce recipients of the following special scholarships.

Scholarship Criteria: Recipients were nominated by the faculty in the division and selected by a committee of division representatives.

Special Division Awards

Congratulations!

to our two recipients of this year’s
Special Division Awards

Meet Ellen Kim and Ron Herman and Cynthia Brannvall

ELLEN KIM
nominated by

CYNTHIA BRANVALL

Meet Mason Carter, Ron Herman and Kristin Tripp Caldwell

MASON CARTER
nominated by

KRISTIN TRIPP CALDWELL

Annette Pearlstein Scholarship Award ($500)

Congratulations!

to our three recipients of this year’s
Annette Pearlstein Award

Meet Nicole Nguyen, Ron Herman and Robert Hartwell

NICOLE NGUYEN
nominated by

ROBERT HARTWELL

Meet Nyla Byers, Ron Herman, Kate Jordahl and Anju Vriksha

NYLA BYERS
nominated by

KATE JORDAHL and ANJU VRIKSHA

Meet Arthur Garcia, Ron Herman and Leigh Henderson

ARTHUR GARCIA

nominated by

LEIGH HENDERSON

About the Scholarship

This award is for a current student who has shown promise in any area of Fine Arts in honor of Annette Pearlstein, a lover of all things cultural in life.

John Thacker Scholarship Award ($500)

Congratulations!


to our recipient of this year’s
John Thacker Award

Meet Paola Valenzuela, Ron herman and Kate Jordahl

PAOLA VALENZUELA
nominated by

KATE JORDAHL

About the Scholarship

In memory of John Thacker, a Foothill student, this award is for a current student who has taken at least one photography class in the present academic year, demonstrates a genuine love for photography and has developed his/her own expressive style. 
  
John Thacker graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from Cornell University and received a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Brown University. A lifelong learner, John came to Foothill and received an Associate degree in Digital Imaging in 2011. He had a passion for photography and loved hiking and going to national parks where he captured many amazing photos. John passed in late 2018 and will be remembered for his calm wisdom, sense of humor and commitment to family as well as his contributions to the Foothill College Photography Community.

Past Award Celebrations

Building 1700 Entrance

Questions?
We're Here to Help!

Sheherazade Arasnia, Fine Arts & Communication Division

650.949.7262


arasniasheherazade@fhda.edu


Bldg. 1700, Room 1701

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