2016 Commencement Ceremony

Featuring guest speaker Kim Gordon.

Musician, artist and writer Kim Gordon is an alumna of the UCLA Lab School* and studied art at the Otis Art Institute. Born in Rochester, New York, her family moved to Los Angeles when her father joined the faculty of the UCLA Department of Sociology.

Gordon rose to prominence as the bassist, guitarist and vocalist of the New York City-based alternative rock band Sonic Youth, which she formed with Thurston Moore in 1981. She continued to write and release material with Sonic Youth until the breakup of the band in 2011. She is currently a member, with Bill Nace, of the guitar duo Body/Head.

Gordon is the author of two books: Is It My Body? Selected Texts and Girl in a Band. In 2015, her artwork was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Benaki Museum in Athens and 303 Gallery in New York. In January, she curated the Gagosian booth at the Los Angeles Art Book Fair.

*Formerly the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School, the UCLA Lab School is an innovative K-6 school and part of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.