The 2026 event marks only the third iteration of the awards, which recognize the college's most accomplished graduates. This year’s Alumni Award recipients include Brian Nugent, a 2004 animation graduate and visual effects veteran whose credits include The Hobbit trilogy and Iron Man, and 2012 graphic design alumnus Dillon Kogle, a creative force at PLAYLAB, INC. The college is expanding the scope of the honors this year by introducing the Radiance Legacy Award, granted to Irene Delka McCray for her two decades of service as a Fine Arts educator, and the Radiance Partner Award, which celebrates Epic Games and Unreal Engine for their ongoing collaboration with the school’s Game Art and Animation departments.

Festivities begin at 5:00 p.m. MT on the Lakewood campus, running concurrently with the 63rd Annual Student Exhibition. Attendees can tour two gallery showcases, including a dedicated exhibition of work by Nugent and Kogle in the Rotunda Gallery. While the event is free to the public, registration is mandatory for in-person attendance. For those unable to reach the campus, the college will provide a live stream of the ceremony. Keely Garcia, director of strategic partnerships, noted that the awards serve to highlight the creative spark that develops into a professional beacon for the next generation of artists.