The MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario will be the keynote speaker at the 48th annual commencement exercises of the School of Visual Arts, to be held Sunday, May 21, 1:00pm ET, at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.

A recipient of the SVA Masters Series Award and Exhibition last fall, Addario is a MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning American photojournalist who has been covering international conflict, humanitarian crises and women’s issues on assignment for The New York Times and National Geographic for more than two decades. In 2015, American Photo Magazine named her as one of the five most influential photographers of the past 25 years, crediting her with having changed the way we see the world’s conflicts.

Addario joins a distinguished group of leaders in the arts, humanities and public service who have delivered commencement addresses at SVA, including author Roxane Gay, visual artist and longtime MFA Fine Arts faculty member Marilyn Minter, artist and filmmaker John Waters, musician and poet Patti Smith, activist and author Gloria Steinem, civil-rights hero and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, cultural critic Greil Marcus, artists Laurie Anderson and Carrie Mae Weems, playwrights Edward Albee and Tony Kushner, and historian Robert A. Caro.

Read on for selected quotes from SVA commencement exercises of years past, and join the College this Sunday at 1:00pm ET to hear from Addario and celebrate the SVA class of 2023.

Features

The School of Visual Arts hosts its 48th commencement this weekend; read about the keynote speaker and see quotes from past ceremonies.