Skidmore College announces inaugural Miranda fellows
Skidmore College recently announced its inaugural batch of recipients for the Miranda Family Fellowship, a collaborative opportunity for emerging artists and art administrators.
Skidmore was recently named a partner institution for the Miranda Family Fellowship Program, which aims to give access to education and long-term support for the advancement of careers in theater, dance, music, and arts administration in underrepresented communities. The Program’s goal is to help increase diversity within leadership in the entertainment industry.
At Skidmore, the Fellowship is a two-year program for students during their junior and senior years. Chiara Garcia-Ugarte ’25, Darren Jackson-Wilkins ’25, Sophie Kelly ’25, Reyn Ricafort ’25, and Javier Soto ’25 comprise the inaugural cohort. Teisha Duncan, artist-in-residence in theater, will serve as one of the fellows’ faculty mentors.
“In addition to getting to know the students more as artists and people, I am excited to explore their artistic curiosities through the collective care of the cohort and the intentional expansion of their own visioning for themselves and their careers,” Duncan said in a news release. “There is indeed strength in numbers, and within the Miranda Family Fellowship, the students have access to a larger network of artists to share with across their disciplines.”
“These exceptional young artists and leaders will thrive through the professional, developmental, and networking opportunities of the Miranda Family Fellowship Program and the mentorship of the Theater Department at Skidmore,” said Lisa JacksonSchebetta, associate professor and chair of the Theater Department, in the release. “These Fellows will enrich the experience of our department, college, community, and profession. To be able to connect our students, and our college, to the national network of the Miranda Family Fellowships at this crucial moment in American theater is both an honor and a delight for the Theater Department.”
Miranda Family Fellows receive financial aid packages that meet their full financial need, as well as a paid summer experience to conduct research, intern, or pursue a personal project in theater, dance, arts administration, or music. They will also have access to wrap-around programming that supports artistic development, increases understanding of the business aspects of the entertainment industry, and connects artistry with advocacy.
Garcia-Ugarte is an art history major with minors in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies and arts administration. She is involved with the Skidmore live music club Lively Lucy’s, and cocurates exhibitions for the Tang Teaching Museum and interns with its Registration Department.
“With the Miranda Family Fellowship, I look forward to accessing their network to form connections with other aspiring arts professionals and create supportive experiences that I can share with my community,” said GarciaUgarte in the release.
Jackson-Wilkins is a theater major with a double minor in music and arts administration, and is spending this summer as the programming intern for Saratoga Performing Arts Center. He is a founding member of his high school’s Social Justice Club and is the current outreach coordinator for Skidmore’s C.R.O.W.N. (Creation of a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair). JacksonWilkins hopes to continue his education after Skidmore and pursue a career in acting or arts management and education.
Kelly is pursuing a major in theater and a minor in English, with concentrations are in playwriting and acting.
Ricafort is a theater major with a concentration in playwriting. As the dramaturg for Skidmore’s fall mainstage show, Ricafort is currently doing pre-dramaturgical summer research on campus and will be workshopping his first full-length play next semester.
“The pursuit of truth and the compassion to receive and understand that truth is at the heart of what it means to create theater, and the advancement of such stories will be what helps remedy a nation seemingly divided by conflicting narratives,” Ricafort said in the release.
Soto is a theater major who has been involved in several Skidmore productions, including the recently staged “After Jane and Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days.” He has worked as a student liaison for the Office of Student Diversity Programs, a camera operator for the Dance Department, a residential assistant, and a summer operations assistant for the Office of Conferences and Events.