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Alumna LaRissa Rogers ’14 Recognized by Forbes’ “30 Under 30”
Photo courtesy of Larissa M. Rogers
It was an early morning in late November when LaRissa Rogers ’14 got the email: Forbes’ prestigious “30 Under 30” list had just been announced, and she was among the 600 young trailblazers to be selected across the continent. What’s more, the Afro-Asian artist — whose work often explores the interplay of culture, identity, and the enduring impacts of colonization on perception and the human psyche — was one of only 30 individuals or groups to be featured in the Art & Style category.
The congratulatory phone calls, texts, and emails started to flood in immediately afterwards. LaRissa was surrounded by uplifting messages, some from people she hadn’t connected to in years. The excitement was palpable. More than an individual accolade for one artist, this was a testament to the value of art as an expression of shared histories and experiences, however complex and challenging.
To be recognized on such a large scale was definitely exciting, especially in a profession that can feel a little grueling and a little isolating.
Rogers’ “Operations of Care” art installation, made with partner Luis Vasquez La Roche, provides a gathering space that is meant to redefine and reimagine what a monument could be. Formed from three structures made from a form of tabby — a mixture of lime, sand, and water, that enslaved Africans and Black communities historically used as a substitute for concrete — they are meant to evoke the bases of the controversial Confederate monuments that were removed from around Charlottesville.
Usually when you go to a monument or memorial, you do so as a passive audience. One thing we wanted to do is create a community space of participation and action. In the center is a garden bed. It transforms with time. It doesn’t have to reassure itself as being legitimate. All things monuments are unable to do.
Of her Forbes’ distinction, Rogers states that she is “very honored and humbled to be recognized with all these other people who are doing really amazing cultural work.”
In fact, it was her athletics participation that propelled her into art education. She warmly recalls the words of Girls’ Varsity Head Coach Phil Stinnie, P. ’09 & ’13. “He said, ‘You are applying to at least one art school, and I think you should apply to VCU.’ Rogers ended up attending Virginia Commonwealth University art school — the sole art school to which she applied. She would later continue on to earn her MFA at UCLA. “I knew that art was something I would really like to do, but without Mr. Stinnie’s encouragement, I don’t know what it would have looked like for me.” She added humorously, “Though I don’t even know I could call it encouragement. Because I think there was something like, if I didn’t apply, I’d have to run sprints.”
The conversation with Coach Stinnie is one of several pivotal moments at St. Anne’s-Belfield that she credits as having led her to take art seriously. Another came from her time in American Studies class with Upper School Humanities Teacher Jordan Taylor. “It is really funny now looking back, because I didn’t really like that class at the time. But my practice deals with so much history and archiving and research.”
Last year, student and pupil had a chance to reunite when Mr. Taylor attended Rogers’ art exhibit at Second Street. “As I was walking through her exhibit, I couldn’t help but be struck by how the long tail of the influence of education crops up in so many unexpected ways,” reflected Mr. Taylor. “The way she meditated on and refashioned the past, the complex interlocking and intersectional aspects of identity — it is a true gift that Larissa has become a great artist who learned the lessons better and more thoroughly than the teacher.”
Recalling back to that then-hated American Studies classroom, Rogers described writing her final paper on Jean-Michel Basquiat at Mr. Taylor’s urging.
It completely transformed my understanding of art and the art world. And I never would have known who he was without Mr. Taylor. I think that was just another moment of one of the teachers at STAB guiding me and opening me up to things that would really change the course of my trajectory. They saw this potential in me that I didn’t even know I had at the time.
For more on LaRissa Rogers, see her Forbes’ “30 Under 30” profile and visit her website, larissamrogers.com.
