Cheers to a New Year
Bennington students and alumni shared their professional and personal accomplishments in 2025 and their goals and hopes for 2026.
Photo by Maria Baranova
What was your favorite moment or accomplishment in 2025?
"My favorite accomplishment in 2025 was contributing to the mass mutual aid movement here in Los Angeles as fires decimated two neighborhoods, including one close to me and my family. As a part of Mask Bloc LA, I helped get over 300,000 high quality respirators all over LA County." - Abby Mahler '16
"My 9th book was published and I'm about to record my first song." - Barbara Kent Lawrence '65
"I was a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient." - Gwen Welliver MFA '09
"I gave a talk at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Conference in New Orleans with my comrade and colleague, Csanyi Matusicky, titled 'Ways of Being, Ways of Seeing: Reexamining Expertise Across Knowledge Systems.'" - Carlos X. Torres de Janon '14
"Finally earning my MA in Book Conservation after many years of hemming and hawing!" - Lizzie Curran '10
"Taking my 13-month-old granddaughter to the Atlanta Aquarium to see the fish and otters." - Melissa Darrow '77
"Presenting my work on Trauma Informed Acupuncture Care at the American Society of Acupuncturists’ annual meeting in April, 2025." - Jessica Peck-Lindsey '96
"I published my first book-length translation: This Darkness Will Never End, a short story collection by Hungarian-born Italian writer Edith Bruck." - Jeanne Bonner MFA '16
"Becoming a librarian!" - Madeline “Mady” Feehan '25
"I finished editing a documentary called Love Me Bait Me, about LGBTQIA media representation in Hollywood." - Erika Lygren '16
"I had a solo exhibition with accompanying 85-page catalog at the Arts Club Chicago. I also participated in an artist conversation with Bennington alum Jeremiah Matthew Davis '05 who is the Director and Chief Executive Officer at San Jose Museum. I was a 2025 Harpo Foundation recipient and am the recipient of a 2026 Pollock-Krasner Grant." - Cosmo Whyte '05
"This is difficult to highlight because there is plenty! 1. My costume design class was amazing. With no experience sewing or even design, this class led by faculty members Tilly Grimes and Richard McPike led me through a whole project in just seven weeks. I made a cool redux vest-tee shirt. 2. I landed in two education classes. My First-Year Forum called Teaching Science and Pedagogies: Theory and Practice. These two classes helped me realise my love for teaching through practical events. I got to design and teach a curriculum at Bennington Elementary. I also got to understand the intricacies of lesson design and have another teaching experience in my Pedagogy class.
3. The International Student Services Potluck and Talent show was a personal favorite. I enjoyed food from different countries and also experienced amazing cultures and talent." - Samuel Desmond Abbey Darko '29
"I published my first collection in 2025, and I had a story published in AGNI. That process of editing with their team was fantastic." - Philip James Shaw '28
What are you looking forward to in 2026?
"Helping change the current political trajectory of the US!" - Barbara Kent Lawrence '65
"More collective joy and Ecuador winning the World Cup ;)" - Carlos X. Torres de Janon '14
"Delving fully in to my new position as Conservator of Books and Paper at Cambridge University Library in Cambridge, UK." - Lizzie Curran '10
"Spending time with my granddaughters." - Melissa Darrow '77
"My new role as part-time Art Teacher at St. Thomas School while still maintaining a busy acupuncture practice and building my martial arts curriculum." - Jessica Peck-Lindsey '96
"More time to write and translate, rather than simply promoting this new translation." - Jeanne Bonner MFA '16
"Finishing the book I started at Bennington (Shadow Mother) and starting the querying process. :)" - Madeline “Mady” Feehan '25
"Continuing to cuddle my lovely girlfriend and future protests!" - Erika Lygren '16
"I am the 2026 Commencement Speaker at University of Michigan Stamps School of Art. I've received tenure promotion to Associate Professor of Art at UCLA Department of Art. I will be doing a mini-survey exhibition at the University of Michigan in September 2026." - Cosmo Whyte '05
"Much more intense and amazing events and self-development" - Samuel Desmond Abbey Darko '28
"Continuing the pace on my novel." - Philip James Shaw '29
What do you appreciate most about Bennington?
"Freedom to grow." - Barbara Kent Lawrence '65
"The Plan process and the incredible people the school attracts." - Gwen Welliver MFA '09
"The encouragement that academic freedom is not a lack of self-restraint but rather, the elimination of restraint imposed by others, yo!" - Carlos X. Torres de Janon '14
"The freedom allowed for mind, body, and spirit." - Lizzie Curran '10
"The rural campus." - Melissa Darrow '77
"The Dewey system of learning, which encourages the hands-on approach." - Jessica Peck-Lindsey '96
"Permission to be intensely focused on our passions with the insanely hopeful knowledge that we get to keep these passions forever, regardless of age." - Jeanne Bonner MFA '16
"How it brings together people of all walks of life to build supportive writing communities." - Madeline “Mady” Feehan '25
"It’s genuine-ness, the way it leans into the weird, the niche, the deep; the people who are drawn to it." - Erika Lygren '16
"The lasting friendships forged. And VAPA. " - Cosmo Whyte '05
"The International Student community. Moving to a new country can be lonely, but this vibrant and amazing community puts smiles and makes me feel at home each day." - Samuel Desmond Abbey Darko '29
"It lights up my mind." - Philip James Shaw '28
