SAN FRANCISCO – Marking another school year of originality and innovation, Academy of Art University proudly displayed its students' best work from the 2024-25 academic year for the annual Spring Show. A fascinating and interactive in-person setup combined with the virtual version (a concept that emerged in 2020) to provide a live look at the 40+ areas of art and design which included a showcase of talents and portfolios from more than 20 current and former ART U student-athletes.

A trio of Urban Knights were among the Outstanding Student Award winners from the School of Brand of Communications. Specifically as a Communications & Media Technologies major, volleyball and track & field's Chandra Reed, frequent guest host of "The Be Artist. Be Athlete. Podcast" and owner of four collegiate seasons with over 50 blocks and more than 100 kills, was recognized on stage amid hosting a series of on-camera interviews with attendees in her department's section of the Spring Show.

From the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design, Halldóra Einarsdóttir of women's soccer was also honored as a standout following her reimagined Iceland Airwaves brand identity. Exclusively utilizing Artificial Intelligence imagery, she incorporated textures from Icelandic nature to remodel the immersive, multi-genre music festival.

Softball's Sydney Harmon, winner of the ARTY for Best Female Student-Athlete Individual GPA, made it three Outstanding Student Award honorees as the School of Advertising representative. Guided by the concept of "tradition meets tide" and built solely through AI, Harmon's SBX Honolulu advertising campaign sought to infuse the brand with cultural elements from Hawaii.

Also recognized in the show for her ad campaign, Alba Rovira Ayuso of women's basketball had her This Is Not A Starbucks project on display. Incorporating "brutal simplicity" in an ironic reimagination, the 2023-24 PacWest Newcomer of the Year designed a nondescript version of Starbucks to distance from the heavily corporate brand.

Out of the School of Visual Development, women's soccer's Nicole Peoples earned MFA Environment Design Honorable Mention from the School of Animation & Visual Effects.
When she wasn't collecting the third-most career saves by an Academy of Art goalkeeper to date, Peoples was putting 80 hours into an expansive landscape scene in different settings supporting the story of a single father raising his daughter on a farm.

Standing out alongside women's golfer Nicole Yang's "Still Life" artwork in the School of Fine Art, Zoe Arnold of volleyball and women's track & field created a self-portrait through abstraction and surrealism inspiration, emerging with award-winning work. She had two separate pieces make the show, one being a blended self-portrait and the other, which features a canvas-filling hairstyle, capturing the First Place Unique Award for Fine Art.

With the "Muppets Movie" classic song "Man or a Muppet" at the forefront of her mind, Anna Maggi-Brown of women's soccer and the School of Fine Art molded one of her two sculptures in the show to represent the power of music. The idea behind the piece literally shaped from late nights of hard work embodied how putting on the headphones and listening to your favorite tunes can make one feel like they can conquer the world.

Women's soccer was also represented in the School of Jewelry & Metal Arts as Piper Schmidt presented a fossil-inspired necklace called "Eternal Spiral of Life" that accentuated earthy elements.

Sending a love letter to the sport that has shaped her, softball's Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki watched her dream come to life down the runway during the Graduate Fashion Show. A standout Fashion Design major and the program's record holder in both single-season and career triples, Grayhorse-Pupecki paid homage to early versions of softball uniforms, reinterpreting them in a way many would never expect with the intention of allowing "bodies to be less tense, more confident, and increasingly fluid in multitudes of environments" while enabling their wearers to be "the most transparent and truthful versions of themselves."

Grayhorse-Pupecki's designs were fittingly worn by her former teammates Nina Vallejos and Hannah Rose Balke while volleyball was also well-represented on the runway with Arnold joining Katherine Von Kraut and Paola Divis as models.

Within the School of Fashion, track & field/cross country's Michaela Andrews had much of her portfolio on display including her "Constructed Elegance" editorial ad campaign. Andrews served as the creative director and stylist for the provocative looks while fellow track & field teammate Yacouba Gnacko contributed as a videographer on the project.

Gnacko, the ARTY winner for Male Individual Athlete of the Year, joined two others in another collaboration in his own School of Industrial Design, focusing on the potential of "Jeep Blaze." Geared toward exploration challenges such as the disconnect between hikers and their vehicles in 2050, Gnacko helped innovate a hiking boot that communicates with the Jeep, offering personalized settings and on-the-go adaptability to transform the relationship between adventurers and their gear.

The School of Architecture was well-represented by physical work from women's soccer's Kayla Hampton, a repeat selection, and men's golfer Mario Stump along with project blueprints from softball alumni and women's track & field's Elle Edeker. The latter of the trio designed a new public library in San Francisco's Western Addition that honors Japanese American heritage, blending flexible learning spaces, workshops, and art classes. Inspired by origami, its folded polycarbonate roof and wooden joinery would create a light-filled, lattice-like architectural experience.

All nominees in the 2025 edition of NXTUP Fest, an awards show recognizing the Schools of Entertainment (Acting, Motion Pictures & Television, Writing for Film, TV & Digital Media), numerous films were presented by Urban Knights. Women's soccer Raquel Calvo Mendez directed "I Dare You", a piece about uncovering the dark truth behind a father's mysterious death where two siblings embark on a harrowing mission of justice, seeking vengeance against the woman who claimed the inheritance money after signing it over to her name weeks prior. A teammate of Mendez on the women's soccer squad, Alicia Calderon, the program record holder for saves in a single season, collaborated with Director of Photography Lida Wos of softball to create "Just a Little Nervous," which spotlights two shy strangers crossing paths in a coffee shop, where stolen glances and quiet hesitation bloom into an unexpected connection after fighting the urge to open up to one another. Lastly, Guilherme Gomes (portfolio) of men's soccer directed "Lessons", a film that showcases a young woman trapped in an abusive situation while clinging to the piano that connects her to her first love (played by men's soccer's Heath Nager) as she tries to find hope and healing in the heart of San Francisco.

Spring Show's "Foundations" section, which focuses on the core skills of drawing, painting, and sculpture from various majors, brought fourth no fewer than three hand-crafted pieces each from softball's Kayla Vaughan and women's soccer's Aubrey Schraml who share early paths as Illustration and Animation & Visual Effects majors respectively. Vaughan's "Two Point Light and Shadow," "Three Point Perspective," and "Mandala" demonstrated mystical harmony while Schraml's two "Still Life" works and "Portrait" offer exquisite detail as they explore the effects of light across what ranged from a 24 to 61-hour production process.

Whether entering their respective design industries as 2025 graduates or continuing to build their portfolios in the coming years, these 20+ student-athlete Spring Show honorees represent some of the best and brightest artists Academy of Art has to offer.