WCAAD 2025 Senior Commencement Held on May 18 in San Gabriel

myarteducation
May 28
4 min read

West California Academy of Art and Design (WCAAD) 2025 Senior Commencement was held on May 18 at the Academy’s San Gabriel headquarter.

The 20 graduating students of the 2025 academic year achieved 100% admittance to the top-tier colleges with scholarship offers totaling 4.5 Million Dollars.

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, San Gabriel Councilmember Tony Ding and Jorge Herrera Avila congratulated the college candidates and presented the graduation certificates plus the city-issued congratulation certificates to the students.

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma highly commended WCAAD for its tremendous contributions to children’s art education. She warmly congratulated the young artists about to embark on their college journeys, encouraging them to strive for even greater accomplishments and become visionary leaders of tomorrow.

San Gabriel City Councilmember Tony Ding praised WCAAD as "a shining gem in San Gabriel and across Southern California." He noted that over its nearly three decades of excellence in art education, the academy has significantly elevated the city’s cultural vitality and community value.

San Gabriel City Councilmember Jorge Herrera Avila expressed pride in having a prestigious institution like WCAAD in San Gabriel. "It’s an honor to witness the 2025 graduating class’s success, with every student admitted to top-tier colleges." he remarked.

Professor Robert Liu, former president of the Chinese American Education Association, applauded WCAAD’s faculty for instilling both artistic excellence and humanistic values in students. "My two sons, though now in STEM fields, carry the lifelong lessons of discipline, mutual respect, and perseverance they have learned at WCAAD." he shared

Lei Wang, the WCAAD Principal, thanked the parents for their consistent support to the Academy. “We are all happy to see that our students have had their dreams come true,” she said,"such impressive admission results are not only an honor for the students but also a source of pride for our school and teachers."

Omar Gallegos, the WCAAD Vice Principal and Director of Education, also expressed his thankful feelings to the 2025 class. “From the moment you walked in the class and felt fear, self-doubt, and now you see that anything is possible.” he said, “Your sacrifice has paid off and seeing the final portfolios and work has been a true gift to the world that will continue and evolve. I hope the memories, the friends, and the skills you have gained will guide you in your wonderful future that lays ahead.”

The 2025 class has made an impressive accomplishment in the college admittance. For example, Vicky Du is admitted by 12 top-tier colleges with scholarships offers totaling $910,000.

Every year, there are some students apply to non-art majors at top universities, and their art portfolios undoubtedly give them a significant competitive edge in admissions. Katherine Kligys，a 2025 graduate whose major is Bioengineering，was accepted by 13 universities including Harvard, Princeton, UC Berkeley, John Hopkins, U Penn, UCLA and Northwestern.

According to Principal Wang, the academy's educational reach has now expanded globally, attracting students who travel from far-flung locations—other states or even countries—to study the art programs at WCAAD. "For instance, this year we had a student from Berlin, Germany. His major is Architecture and Business, and his goal is to attend a U.S. university. He initially enrolled in our online courses, and flew all the way from Berlin to Los Angeles for our in-person classes during the summer. Now he is admitted to Fordham University in New York."

Based in Beijing China, Ryan Wang earned acceptance to the prestigious Art Center College of Design majoring in Transportation Design by just taking WCAAD’s online class. “During the two years learning, Ryan has made rapid progress.” Ryan’s online instructor Roman said, “He can make certain automotive exterior designs independently, with his computer-rendering skills comparable to those of sophomores in Art Center.”

Some students such as Chang Li and Stella Wu started their art experience with WCAAD at a very young age, and now they all have earned acceptance to their dream colleges.

Vicky Du expressed her gratitude to the Academy and the instructors, Omar in particular: “I remember coming here for the first time as a sophomore being so nervous and intimidated by all the amazing artists in the room and now looking back it's crazy how much I’ve grown.” She said that through WCAAD’s program not only did she expand her artistic skills, she also learned to open up and socialize with people. “I think what made the past three years so rewarding was the connections I made along the way, It was great to be surrounded by a community of young artists like myself, we all encourage each other and pushed each other to be better. Being around my classmates made these 9 hour classes so much fun and even though this was basically like having another day of school every week, I genuinely looked forward to coming here each and every Saturday.”

Iris Jing also shared her learning experience and growth at the WCAAD. “I came to this classroom filled with anxiety and uncertainty about the future.”she said, “I have loved the idea of artmaking for most of my life, but I just couldn’t put into context what the life of a creative could look like—or how important art really is to the sanity of being.” She said that surrounded by talented students who are passionate and willing to sacrifice their clean clothes, morning sleep, time and patience for the single goal of personal expression, she gained the confidence to step out of her comfort zone. “I’ve broken the cocoon of insecurity and self-doubt that once prevented me from turning my wild, absurd ideas into reality. I realized that being creative means responding to your emotions, feeling them profoundly, and taking risks—constantly. In response, I built large installations in abandoned houses, spent hours carving a styrofoam beetle, and raised silkworms that wove paintings into one.”

Katherine Kligys, who was unable to attend the graduation ceremony due to scheduling conflicts with an out-of-state research program, sent a video message expressing her gratitude to the school and teachers, while also sharing her perspective on the significance of art education in one’s life.

The parents expressed their gratitude from the bottom of their hearts to the Academy and the instructors for such valuable gift of art education.

Ms.Wang and Omar extended their wishes to the graduating students as they embark on their college studies. "Whatever career path you choose," they said, "may your innovative brilliance shine through, establishing you as visionary leaders and trailblazers in your respective fields." Set sail for a creative life with WCAAD!