Lara Yildiz ‘25 remembers sitting in front of the television as a child, taking in the vibrant color and smooth movement of the animation on the screen. Watching cartoons was a bonding activity for Yildiz and her family, one that left her wanting to explore the art of animation more.
“I loved seeing the effort animators put into their work to make something so funny that sticks with you,” she said. “I always loved how animations look and make you feel. It’s something that unifies people.”
When she was 15, Yildiz visited a college fair at her Quakertown Community High School. She already knew she wanted to major in animation, but she learned that Moore College of Art & Design offered more, including the Visionary Honors Scholarship for students who excel artistically and academically.
“I remember seeing Moore’s table and learning that it’s a historically women's college for visual arts. It felt like the perfect fit, and that’s when I knew I wanted to go to Moore,” she said.
After four years spent nurturing her creative skills through the Animation & Game Arts major and Comics minor (formerly part of Sequential Arts), Yildiz was named the Class of 2025’s valedictorian.
“I’m so proud of the community I built here. The people I met encouraged me to become a better artist, whether it was my professors or my peers,” Yildiz said. “I made a lot of lifelong connections during my time here, and I’m so grateful that I came here and met the people I did—I don’t think I’d change anything about it.”
The support network Yildiz helped her through both the triumphs and challenges she encountered at Moore. After the passing of her grandfather during her first year, she leaned on her classmates, who helped her grieve and find comfort. That same community of friends and peers was by her side as she explored the Philadelphia area, taking trips on the Moore shuttle to the Philadelphia Zoo and the King of Prussia Mall.
Still, Yildiz said she grew the most through Moore’s intentionally small class sizes.
“Being able to show off my art and blossom in a classroom where it’s just 20 of us and I can show my work without any judgment is amazing,” she said. “I think having that smaller bubble really helped me grow into a more confident artist and person overall.”
Yildiz’s final semester at Moore is creating more than one full-circle moment. As part of her Senior Show thesis project, Yildiz will finish Periodicity 118, an animated short film based on the periodic table of elements. She first started working on the project as a middle school student, fulfilling a years-long creative goal.
“It’s so exciting to be able to talk about my characters and bring them to life. If I could time travel, my 14-year-old self would be so excited,” she said.
After graduation from Moore, Yildiz will join the Screen Arts Institute in Shamokin, PA, as an instructor for adult animation and digital art classes, using her experience as an Animation & Game Arts peer tutor to launch her career. Yildiz worked as an animation intern at the Screen Arts Institute between her junior and senior years as part of Moore’s paid internship program.
Yildiz says she wouldn’t be able to take her next step without the technical skills she honed at Moore, deepening her knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite software like Photoshop and Illustrator. The Academic Path of the Visionary Honors Program also helped her develop soft skills like communication, teamwork, problem-solving and time management.
“The Visionary Honors Program felt like a recognition of my hard work leading up to and throughout my time at Moore. It challenged my thinking and rewarded my effort. Through courses that encouraged more critical engagement with the world we live in, I grew to better articulate my ideas and listen to other perspectives,” she said. “Being part of the Academic Path helped shaped the way I view, understand and discuss both art and humanity.”
Ultimately, Yildiz aspires to create animations independently or for a major network. Another career goal for Yildiz is to create a graphic novel, filled with characters and artwork like the kind she created at Moore.
Her advice for incoming and current students is to build a network at Moore while surrounded by like-minded people.
“Find a community and make the most of having all these students around you who want to do the same thing,” Yildiz said. “Whether it’s making art in a different medium or making art for a different purpose, they all want to make art alongside you. Make those connections."
Moore College of Art & Design is the only independent art and design college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Want to learn more about the Animation & Game Arts major at Moore? Contact our Admissions team at enroll@moore.edu or 215.965.4015 to set up a call or a campus visit. We'd love to tell you more!
Photos and artwork courtesy of Lara Yildiz ‘25.
