UCLA Arts Commencement 2026: Keynote Speaker Refik Anadol

On Saturday, June 13, hundreds of students, faculty, staff, friends, and family gathered in UCLA's Dickson Court to celebrate this year’s graduating class. This year's keynote address was given by UCLA Arts alumnus, visionary media artist, and Dataland co-founder Refik Anadol. Anadol is an internationally renowned trailblazer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. He is the director and co-founder of Refik Anadol Studio in Los Angeles and teaches in the UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts, from which he earned a Master of Fine Arts. One of 12 prestigious professional schools at UCLA, the School of the Arts and Architecture is the top ranked arts school in the nation and offers leading programs in four degree-granting departments: Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design | Media Arts, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance.