The art of belonging
The Miranda Family Fellowship program is now in its third year at Skidmore, and more and more students studying theater, music, dance, and arts administration are feeling the impact of the professional preparation and supportive community it fosters.
The three-year program — during fellows’ junior and senior years and for one year after graduation — offers guidance and opportunities to emerging artists and arts administrators, fostering broad participation in the arts.
From taking group field trips to see performances, to participating in inspiring conversations with experts across industries, to engaging in meaningful mentorship sessions with faculty and guest artists on campus, the fellowship has enriched students’ experiences in a multitude of ways.
“Our multidisciplinary cohorts support one another and learn together with the goal of moving into the profession alongside one another,” says Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, professor and chair of the Theater Department, who manages the fellowship at Skidmore. “It’s a game changer for students in the arts.”
Skidmore’s inaugural cohort of fellows — Chiara Garcia-Ugarte ’25, Darren Jackson-Wilkins ’25, Sophie Kelly ’25, Reyn Ricafort ’25, and Javier Soto ’25 — graduated in May with strong portfolios and an abundance of connections and well-earned confidence.
“Each of these fellows has distinguished themselves — they have won awards and accolades, assisted professionals in the field, and created original work,” says Jackson-Schebetta. “They have also been leaders in our department, at the College, and in our wider community.”
The fellowship expands the College’s ever-evolving portfolio of offerings that focus both on key learning outcomes and post-grad preparedness — ideas that underscore Skidmore’s motto, Creative Thought Matters.
“Community and collaboration are key to a successful arts education,” says Luis A. Miranda Jr., patriarch of the Miranda Family and Miranda Family Fund. “As the parent of a 2023 Skidmore graduate, my family’s reverence for this institution is personal."
We are deeply proud and thankful that this partnership with Skidmore is not only supporting the higher educational pursuits of our nation’s young people but is also providing a nurturing environment to help shape our next generation of artists and arts administrators. This is only the beginning.”Luis A. Miranda Jr.patriarch of the Miranda Family and Miranda Family Fund
Skidmore welcomed a second cohort of fellows in fall 2024, and a third is started this fall as the program continues to evolve to provide the fullest, most balanced experience possible for each student.
Mentor Teisha Duncan and each of the first five fellows reflected on their journeys with the Miranda Family Fellowship so far, providing a glimpse at what it means for the creative futures of Skidmore students.
Darren Jackson-Wilkins ’25
Darren Jackson-Wilkins ’25 was looking forward to attending a fully funded master’s program in theater arts this fall and seeking work in arts administration and theater, building off the things he became passionate about at Skidmore.
Among many other accomplishments, he received the Skidmore Racial Justice Award for his role in the play "Black Super Hero Magic Mama" and wrote, performed, and produced a one-act cabaret titled "Scraps of Us" with Nina Renkert ’25.
“One of the things I’m most proud of academically and artistically is just how much I’ve grown and all the different things I’ve tried.”
A summer internship with Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs as part of the structured field experience for his arts administration minor was a pivotal opportunity, and he was invited back the following summer to work as SPAC’s programming assistant. He was also able to study at the British American Drama Academy in London for a semester.
Through the Miranda Family Fellowship, Jackson-Wilkins also enjoyed traveling to other colleges and learning about others’ art while bringing his own to a wider range of audiences.
“I’m really passionate about what my identity means directly in the work that I’m doing, so being able to build a network with people who are also doing that has been really rewarding. The resources provided by the Miranda Family Fellowship have exposed me to new works of theater and helped me to become more aware of how my identity informs my experiences and my art.”
Being a member of the inaugural cohort of Miranda fellows was also special, he says, because he made close friends and worked with exceptional faculty and guest artists in the Theater Department.
“We got to figure it out together and shape what the fellowship was going to look like for us. It was very unique in that Skidmore is one of the first colleges to have the Miranda Fellowship, and it’s been great to craft it together. I am very grateful for the doors it has opened.”
Sophie Kelly ’25
From writing and staging an original play to attending clown school, crafting puppets, and performing comedy and drag, Sophie Kelly ’25 enjoyed many creative adventures through the Miranda Fellowship, Skidmore’s Theater Department, and beyond.
For their senior project, Kelly acted in, produced, and directed their comedic parody "Stop the Presses: The Jack Skelly Story," which they staged in the spring semester. A one-act musical inspired by "Newsies," the story follows Skelly, a senior theater major who is wrestling with how to be a leader in their school. In a twist of events, they are transported back in time to 1899 to lead the real newsboy strike.
Kelly also developed an original adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland," drawing on Asian and Asian American experiences. For that project, they earned the Theater Department’s Stephanie Mnookin Award.
The fellowship funded Kelly’s studies at the Accademia Dell’Arte in Italy — at a fancy “clown school,” as Kelly described it — during the summer between their junior and senior years. “It’s very physical, very intense, and it’s comedy, which is something that I really like to pursue, specifically in acting. Being able to get these funds and study what I really love was so exciting for me, and I don’t think I would’ve gone if it wasn’t for the Miranda Fellowship.”
Kelly also benefited from meaningful connections with faculty and guest artists, including Visiting Assistant Professor in Directing Margarita Blush. Kelly met Blush during the mainstage production of "The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs" and worked closely with her as both a performer and assistant puppet artisan on "Where Are You Going, Little Horse?"
“I was extremely excited to work with her,” Kelly says. “To be able to put on a puppet show with a director who had worked in depth with puppetry was a real privilege.”
Being a member of the fellowship’s inaugural class at Skidmore was also a privilege, Kelly says.
“It’s built a sense of community. Being around these students who are just as hungry and passionate about this work (as I am) is so exciting. I truly cannot describe how thankful I am to be able to work with artists who want to make the world a better place and inspire me to do the same.”
Reyn Ricafort ’25
Reyn Ricafort ’25 is grateful for the resources the Miranda Family Fellowship provided — from funding to mentorship — that allowed him to focus on creating art as a playwright.
Fellowship funding supported him in writing his second play, "Artipisyal," which he presented as his senior project. Through a fictional story about a grieving Filipino American immigrant family, "Artipisyal" tackles what it means to be human in the age of AI.
Ricafort also wrote, directed, and starred in a Playwrights’ Lab staged reading of his play "The Year It Stops," about two young men who fall in love at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic despite their conflicting identities and politics.
“It was a lot of work, but I felt like it was in line with the spirit and legacy of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote and acted in Hamilton. To me, it just felt so special to be able to tell an Asian American story. There’s something so invigorating about doing something that you love and means a lot to you.”
Ricafort was selected to work with Pregones Theater to present "The Year It Stops" at the Miranda Family Fellows Summit Industry Showcase in New York City in June.
The Theater Department and the fellowship do an incredible job of encouraging students to work on their practical skills as industry artists, says Ricafort, who also took on roles including editor in chief of the Skidmore Theater newsletter; general manager of the Theater Department with Sue Kessler ’99; and teaching assistant in Laura Menzie’s Voice and Speech class.
He also found the small student-to-faculty ratio at Skidmore allows students to build profound connections — in his case, with advisor Lisa Jackson-Schebetta and Visiting Lecturer in Playwrighting Eric Holmes in particular.
“Dr. Lisa has been incredibly integral in encouraging us and stewarding the way for us to be able to tell these stories and grab at these opportunities,” Ricafort says. “Eric has championed my perspective as a playwright, encouraging me to lean into the parts of myself that deviate from what other playwrights have already written about.”
In addition to disrupting narratives that sometimes dominate in commercial theater, the fellowship seeks to curb the pervasive trope of artists — particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds — pushing themselves to the limit to be heard.
“It emphasizes taking care of yourself and taking care of your community,” Ricafort says. “I feel that supporting underrepresented voices in theater and entertainment is such a vital thing. I’m Asian, I’m queer, and I’m also an immigrant. The types of stories we tell matter, so this fellowship was very, very important to me. I was so honored to have been chosen.”
Javier Soto ’25
Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Javier Soto thinks of Skidmore as his second home.
“Skidmore was the best fit for me, allowing me to do both theater and media and film studies at a school that felt exciting and encourages students to do the most.”
He felt empowered by the friends and educators he met at the College.
“Instead of trying to shape me into a certain kind of actor or a certain kind of artist, they really embraced that I’m different, where I come from, how I am,” he says. “At Skidmore, they didn’t see it as an issue that I wanted to do so many completely different things. They thought that was awesome and encouraged me to pursue these different things.”
With the support of the Miranda Family Fellowship, he has deepened and nurtured his relationship with Chilean culture and his abilities as an artist. For his senior project, he spearheaded a multimedia production of Chilean writer and activist Ariel Dorfman’s "Death and the Maiden."
Another highlight of the fellowship, he says, was the robust programming it provided. Through small-group activities and one-on-one meetings, in person and online, industry experts shared key insights with the fellows.
“We’ve had great conversations with authors, playwrights, actors, producers, agents, lawyers. They tell you about the industry and — from a perspective of an emerging artist, an artist of color, an artist coming from a marginalized background — how you can make that industry work for you,” Soto says.
The fellowship also funded Soto’s summer experience with The Orchard Project, a nonprofit artist accelerator. It has been offering summer programs in Saratoga Springs for over 20 years, lifting up artists with diverse voices at multiple stages in their careers.
“I’ve really seen a lot of growth in myself,” Soto reflects. “I’ve become more comfortable and more secure in my own capabilities. I’ve discovered ways to experiment, and as it happens with art, sometimes it’s tough to finance, but through the fellowship, I’ve been able to do it. I’m proud of being self-motivated, doing it away from home and from my family. But I feel like I make them proud, and I make myself proud.”
Chiara Garcia-Ugarte ’25
Chiara Garcia-Ugarte ’25 discovered her love for museum work and community through the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore. In addition to being a Miranda fellow, she was the Tang Museum’s 2023-24 Carole Marchand Endowed intern and chair of the Tang Student Advisory Council, among other roles.
Her senior project, "Beyond the Bite: Food, Art, and Identity," highlights art that examines food as a source of survival and pleasure while also exploring its multifaceted role in expressions of gender, family ties, sexuality, and prosperity imbalances.
“Because of the fellowship, I was able to have lunch with one of the artists who had an exhibition at the Tang Teaching Museum, Yvette Molina, and we were able to talk a lot about our shared identity, her art process, and how she began collaborating with museums and galleries and other artists,” says Garcia-Ugarte. “It’s been really wonderful to get to know and work with her, and we’ve had many discussions about how our identities inspire our work.”
Having opportunities to learn about and collaborate with other art departments across campus through the fellowship also enriched her time at Skidmore.
“I’ve become great friends with a lot of theater and dance students who I didn’t know before, and I’ve enjoyed watching them produce art. I wouldn’t have normally gone to a theater production at the JKB or seen all these dance concerts if I hadn’t had the encouragement and push from the fellowship.”
Garcia-Ugarte feels confident in now having access to a very large network in the visual arts, theater, music, dance, and other performing arts.
“At the Tang, I found a new form of creative expression. I found that I could visualize a career path for myself through museum work, and it was also a way that I could amplify voices,” she says. “Being able to reach out to fellows and to provide the space for them to showcase their work has been an opportunity that I’m really excited to take advantage of after graduation.”
Meaningful mentorship
Miranda fellows at Skidmore receive personalized mentorship through the College’s Theater Department during their junior and senior years and for one year after graduating.
“That first year after graduation is especially important because it helps you build resilience and a community that can help you maintain it,” says Associate Chair of Theater Teisha Duncan, one of four faculty mentors alongside Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, Lecturer Laura Menzie, and Sue Kessler ’99, theater manager, lecturer, and associate chair of theater. “You see the confidence the fellows get from knowing they have a built-in community with us and with their cohort.”
Now that the inaugural group has graduated, Duncan hopes they keep in touch and continue to take advantage of the support system they have at the College.
I’m excited for them to go and take over the world. These were super impactful students. These were also students who were really kind to each other and kind to other students. They’ve all found their way.”Teisha DuncanArtist-in-residence and associate chair of Theater
Commitment and creativity matter, Duncan says. It’s a lesson she conveys to her mentees, particularly when the going gets tough.
“Required for every career is belief and continuous action. Whatever you decide to do, you have to work on it. If you want to do theater, if you want to do the arts, and there’s something you’re passionate about, then commit to it. But there are also nontraditional ways that this career exists.”
With each new professional networking opportunity the fellowship afforded, the students learned about a different path they could take or became more inspired to create their own, she says.
The fellows have grown as artists and as global citizens, Duncan says, and they are sharing their gifts and perspectives with the world.
“As a result of this experience, they’re better able to articulate what they want, what they’re thinking, and what they’re searching for. They’ve expanded their language, their identity, and their curiosity. Socially, they’re more confident. They just feel more empowered, and they take great pride in being a Miranda fellow.”
A version of this article first appeared in the fall 2025 issue of Skidmore College’s Scope magazine.