2018 Commencement

Friday, May 18, 2018, 10am ET

Our Commencement speakers were artist, animator and educator Kevin Geiger, class of 1989, and Jacqui Evers, class of 2018.

Kevin Geiger has 30 years’ experience in arts and entertainment, including 15 years with Disney in Burbank and Beijing. Kevin, who has lived in China since 2008, has enjoyed an eclectic career as an artist, animator, technician, teacher, consultant, entrepreneur, producer and executive. He is a Disney animation veteran, was an animation instructor at California Institute of the Arts, and the first foreign guest professor at the Beijing Film Academy’s Animation School. He co-founded Magic Dumpling Entertainment in Beijing, and was vice president of local content for Disney Greater China, where he created Disney’s first Chinese TV co-production. 

In 2015, Kevin resumed his independent ventures in China, developing animated features and immersive media at Magic Dumpling, launching the Beijing Film Academy’s International Animation & Virtual Reality Research Center as executive director, and serving as acting vice dean of the Beijing Film Academy’s new Digital Media School. In 2017, Kevin founded Peewee Frog, a children’s content company. 

Geiger graduated from CIA in 1989 with a BFA in painting. 

Student speaker Jacqui Evers arrived at the Cleveland Institute of Art with a challenge to face: find her passion. “Settling on one thing was so daunting for me,” she says. 

Evers began her studies at Montclair State University and took classes in everything from marketing to biology before transferring to CIA. Biomedical art sounded like a good major for her, but she found she didn’t enjoy making highly technical illustrations. Then Evers took a class in graphic design. She remembers thinking, “I love it. I get to learn about different fields and help solve complex problems through design.” 

Evers has won numerous awards, including the Myrtle Waintrup Givelber Prize, which goes to a female artist for travel or independent study. Her winning entry into the 2018 Duvel Glass Art Competition will earn her a trip to Brussels, Belgium. 

Evers has interned at Studio Chartreuse, served as creative director at Jim Brickman Music, and works as a design consultant at Stern Advertising and Groovy Candies. 

2018 Commencement Program

 View photo albums from our 2018 Commencement:

2018 Commencement Ceremony and Reception

2018 Commencement portraits