Quinn Alexandria Hunter Selected as 2025 Stamps Commencement Speaker
Stamps Assistant Professor Quinn Alexandria Hunter has been selected as the Commencement Speaker for the 2025 Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design Commencement Celebration, taking place on Friday, May 2.
Throughout the 2024 – 2025 academic year, Professor Hunter’s inspiring work to bring community and clarity to this moment through the school’s first Common Read initiative makes her the ideal person to share remarks with the class of 2025.
Hunter is a sculptor and performance artist whose work powerfully engages with the historic and contemporary Black female body as material, exploring themes of labor, erasure, memory, and resistance. Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a graduate of Ohio University’s MFA program, she has exhibited and performed nationally and received the 2023 Gilda Award from the Kresge Foundation.
Her artistic practice is rooted in unveiling the histories obscured or erased from our collective consciousness — particularly those of African American communities. She examines how the erasure of historic labor, especially that of African American women in domestic spaces, continues to impact our understanding of space and identity today. Through the use of her own labor and material-based performance, she actively resists this erasure, reinscribing lost narratives and honoring the contributions of those whose work has gone unrecognized.
Beyond the classroom and studio, Hunter is also a vital force in community building. At the 2025 North Campus Deans’ MLK Spirit Awards, she was honored with the Community Building & Impact Award for her dedication to fostering inclusive and equitable spaces that drive meaningful change on campus and beyond.
During the academic year, Hunter launched the first Stamps School Common Read, an effort made possible through a gift from alum Aaron Wolk (BFA ‘03). For the first selection, Hunter chose Octavia E. Butler’sParable of the Sower, a speculative fiction novel that takes place in the year 2024 on an Earth heavily affected by climate change and social inequality. As part of the Common Read, Hunter led interactive events like Parable of the Now, a multidisciplinary performance and reading timed to coincide with the day after the 2024 general election — both in real life and within the book’s narrative. This experience offered a powerful space for collective reflection and dialogue during a pivotal cultural moment. Most recently, Hunter brought together over 100 members of the Stamps community for a day of creativity and conversation around Parable of the Sower, leading discussions and a screen printing workshop. As a result of her efforts, more than 600 books were given out to members of the Stamps community this year.
“We are proud to welcome Professor Hunter as this year’s Commencement Speaker,” said Dean Carlos Francisco Jackson. “Her work exemplifies the power of art to reveal truths, provoke thought, and create change. I am confident that her words will leave a lasting impact on our graduating students and the broader community.”
The Stamps Commencement Celebration will take place on Friday, May 2, at 1 p.m. at Building 18 at the North Campus Research Complex. A livestream of the event will be available on the Stamps website.