the uarts emblem sitting at the center of a hazy of cloudy blurs of colors spanning the entire rainbow

The Awards

2024 Honorary Degree Recipients

 

DOCTOR OF FINE ARTS

honoris causa 

a black and white portrait of Thomas Collins in formal attire, overlaid with an orange swirling gradient at the right. Collins is looking right ahead with a subtle smile, bald with square tortoiseshell glasses and wearing a black tie
Photo © the Barnes Foundation, 2015; photo by Michael Perez

Thomas Collins

Neubauer Family Executive Director and President, The Barnes Foundation

An innovative educator and accomplished art historian, administrator, and author, Thomas Collins, a Philadelphia native, has more than 20 years of experience at some of America’s top arts institutions, including the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM); the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, New York; the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore; the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati; the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle; and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Collins earned his MA in art history from Northwestern University and his BA with honors in art history and the history of religion from Swarthmore College. He serves on the Board of Trustees at Swarthmore College and is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Association of Art Museum Curators, and the College Art Association.

 

a black and white portrait of Jeffrey L. Page overlaid with a lavender gradient at the right. Page has a serious look and a light mustache and a pointed arrow-like earring. page has dark skin and big eyes, with curling long dreads falling to his shoulders

Jeffrey Page BFA ’02 (Jazz Dance)

Director, Choreographer, and Performer

Jeffrey L. Page BFA ’02 (Jazz Dance) is a distinguished director and choreographer recognized for his innovative contributions to theater and dance. An MTV Video Music Award winner, Emmy nominee, and recipient of Chita Rivera’s prestigious Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics’ Choice Award for his co-direction of Broadway’s 1776, Page and his work have been noted for having a profound impact on both national and international stages. His collaboration with Beyoncé for “Who Run the World (Girls)” highlights his versatility and creative genius in blending compelling narratives with dynamic choreography.

Page holds an MFA in Theater Directing from Columbia University and a BFA in Dance from University of the Arts, where he will be recognized with an honorary doctorate, acknowledging his contributions to the arts. He has also been recognized with a UArts Silver Star Award for his outstanding contributions to dance and theater.

As founder and CEO of Movin’ Legacy, Page is committed to preserving and celebrating the dance heritage of Africa and its diaspora. His work extends beyond performance; he is deeply engaged in cultural anthropology and research, focusing on the intersection of dance and the legacy of Black communities. This commitment is also reflected in his role as an artist fellow at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, where he contributes to initiatives exploring the legacy of slavery.

His extensive teaching experience includes roles at prestigious institutions such as the Juilliard School, where he was the first African American to earn the Marcus Institute Opera Directing Fellowship, and Harvard University, where he currently serves as a lecturer. Page’s innovative approach to education and performance has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Award, and multiple nominations and accolades for his directorial and choreographic work.

Through projects like “Echoes Through Time: A Rhythmic Odyssey” and his directorial efforts in operatic and theatrical productions, Page continues to challenge and redefine the boundaries of performing arts. His work not only entertains, but also educates and inspires, making him a pivotal figure in the contemporary arts landscape.

 

2024 Silver Star Awards

black and white headshot of Ron Tarver

Ron Tarver MFA ’17 (Studio Art)

For nearly 50 years, photographer Ron Tarver’s work has explored facets of the Black community. Throughout his career he has produced photo essays on subjects ranging from double-Dutch jump rope to the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. His exhibitions have explored Black architectural legacy and the experiences of Black veterans, and his most recent project appropriates images his father made in the 1940s-1950s to comment on the current racial climate. His broad range of works shows his love for the medium relating to the community at large and the deeply personal.

Tarver received a BA in Journalism and Graphic Arts from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and an MFA from the University of the Arts. He is an associate professor and interim chair of Art at Swarthmore College. He is a Guggenheim and Pew Fellow. Before joining the faculty at Swarthmore, he had been a staff photojournalist at The Philadelphia Inquirer for 32 years, where he shares the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his work on a series documenting school violence in the Philadelphia public school system. During his time at the Inquirer, he was nominated for three Pulitzers and honored with awards from World Press Photos, the Sigma Delta Chi Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association/ University of Missouri Pictures of the Year, as well as other national, state, and local honors.

In addition to his newspaper publications, Tarver’s work has appeared in National Geographic, Life, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Ebony, Jet, Black and White Magazine, Huffington Post, and Hyperallergic. He is a co-author of the book We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, published by HarperCollins in 2004, which was accompanied by a traveling exhibition that debuted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Tarver’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 30 solo and 50 group exhibitions. It is included in many private, corporate, and museum collections, including the National Museum of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Studio Museum in Harlem; the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg; Oklahoma History Center; and many other corporate and private collections. His work is represented by the Robin Rice Gallery in New York and Grand Image in Seattle.

 

black and white headshot of sidney dupont

Sidney DuPont BFA ’13 (Musical Theater)

Sidney DuPont is a 2022 Tony Award nominee, and originated the role of Washington Henry in Paradise Square at the Barrymore Theater. Originally from Philadelphia, he began his training at the Creative & Performing Arts High School (2009) and continued at the University of the Arts (2013). He made his Broadway debut in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in 2015 and continued with the show’s first national tour and its Australian company. Other national tours in which he performed include Memphis and A Chorus Line. DuPont’s regional credits include the world premiere of Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical at American Conservatory Theatre, Paradise Square at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Man of La Mancha at the Shakespeare Theater, In the Heights at Geva Theatre, and Gypsy at North Carolina Theater.

His TV and commercial credits include FBI: Most Wanted (CBS) and Cartier. DuPont has also stepped behind the scenes as a director, a choreographer, a cinematographer, and an award-winning screenwriter.