Jeffrey Gibson, Amy Lawson Smeed, and Robert Earl Paige Named as 2026 Honorary Degree Recipients

CHICAGO—The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), a global leader in art and design education, will welcome world-renowned, interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson to deliver the Commencement address on Monday, May 18, at the Wintrust Arena. Gibson will receive an honorary doctorate alongside two of his fellow alums, artist and designer Robert Earl Paige (SAIC 1962) and animation icon Amy Lawson Smeed (BFA 1997).

“Hosting these accomplished guests is always a highlight of our graduation ceremony, but it is a distinct pleasure to welcome three members of our alum community back to their academic home as honorary doctorate recipients this year,” said President Jiseon Lee Isbara. 

Since 1938, SAIC has awarded honorary degrees to an elite group of individuals who have made significant contributions to art, design, and scholarship. Past recipients include Mel Chin, Albert Oehlen, members of the Hairy Who, Tania Bruguera (MFA 2001), Yoko Ono, David Sedaris (BFA 1987), Theaster Gates, Patti Smith, founding members of AFRICOBRA, Marina Abramovic, Philip Glass, and Jeanne Gang.

In addition to remarks from Lee Isbara and Gibson, the event will include messages from faculty, alums, and students, all in honor of the class of 2026.

Jeffrey Gibson (BFA 1995) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener celebrated for his work in painting, installation, video, and performance. For over two decades, he has examined how language, pattern, and music construct meaning, synthesizing Indigenous and Western traditions through vibrant color, complex patterning, and layered sound. A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson represented the US at the 2024 Venice Biennale with his acclaimed exhibition the space in which to place me, which made its US debut at The Broad in Los Angeles in May 2025. In June 2025, he unveiled a site-specific installation at Kunsthaus Zurich. Gibson was selected for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025 Genesis Facade Commission, and his monumental bronze sculptures will be on view through June 2026. His work is held in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Art. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and is artist-in-residence at Bard College.

Robert Earl Paige (SAIC 1962) is an artist, designer, and educator whose work disregards boundaries between fine art, craft, and design. A member of the Chicago Black Arts Movement, Paige champions community engagement in art and culture, and his practice reflects a love of color and geometry, a commitment to design principles, and a belief in making art accessible for everyone. Repurposing is central to his work, transforming found fibers, cardboard, and paper into new creations that invite others to embrace curiosity and making. Paige’s textile designs have helped to popularize pan-African aesthetics in US homes, including his signature Dakkabar Collection, which was sold in more than 100 Sears stores nationwide in the 1970s. In 2026, Paige was named National Design Visionary by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. His works have been exhibited at Salon 94 Design; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Hyde Park Art Center; and the SMART Museum of Art. Paige has held residencies at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Hyde Park Art Center.

Amy Lawson Smeed (BFA 1997) began her professional career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1998, working as an assistant on the production of Dinosaur, before moving on to become an animator in 2004 on Chicken Little. For more than a decade, she has served as head of animation on such popular films as Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, Strange World, and Moana 2. She is currently serving as head of animation on Frozen 3, the 2027 feature release from Disney Animation. Smeed’s animation of the character Rapunzel for Tangled earned her a Visual Effects Society Award nomination for outstanding animated character in an animated motion picture. Her other distinguished credits as an animator include such films as Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and most recently, Zootopia 2. Smeed attended Western Michigan University for three years before going on to receive her bachelor of fine arts degree from School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For 160 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two in the nation among art and design colleges by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world, and adults, teens, and kids in our Continuing Studies classes have the opportunity to explore their creative sides, build portfolios, and advance their skills. Notable alumni and faculty include Georgia O’Keeffe, Nick Cave, David Sedaris, Cynthia Rowley, Michelle Grabner, Richard Hunt, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Jeff Koons.