2024-25 President's Scholars

Kat Chavez

Rinehart Family Scholarship (Graduate)

Major: Landscape Architecture

Colleges of Environmental Design

Activities: Marketing and Project Coordinator for NOW Art, Los Angeles (a public art consulting agency); MudMobile Educator at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona; Certified California Native Plant Landscaper

Kat’s journey to landscape architecture has been influenced by her respect for regional land history and its
significant connection to those who reside there. After moving to the East Coast for her undergraduate degree, she became aware that her sense of disconnection and homesickness was tied to a desire to learn more about her ancestral history in Southern California. Before starting graduate school, she pursued an art-based career in museum education and public programming. Yet she found herself “wanting a greater engagement with land and public space in my creative practice.” Kat sees her master’s program as a way to bridge art-making with land-based public engagement. “I want to make space for more young people to understand their creative practices and full lives as interwoven with land and histories of place.” She hopes to pursue a career that aligns with her core values of education, arts-based exploration and land stewardship, and is grateful for the vast life experiences that students and faculty share that inspire her to expand her knowledge and development.