Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts (Est. 1980)

The Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts is awarded annually to two graduating Seniors who, in the opinion of the Faculty, have demonstrated excellence or the highest standards of proficiency in performance or execution, and in the field of composition in one of the following general areas: architecture and design, creative writing, dance, film and video, music, theater, painting, sculpture, photography, and digital arts.

2024

Carter Sundown King, Pauli Murray College

Carter Sundown King graduates with distinction in his major, Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Admired by faculty and students alike, he is not only a costume designer who raises the standard of every production he joins; he also has a deep respect for the materials, histories, and bodies with which he works. Moving between rigorous research and ‘intuitive leaps of the imagination’ his costumes demand to be seen and understood.

An enrolled member of the Oneida Nation, Carter King’s design practice centers his Oneida experience, drawing on lessons in creativity, community, integrity, and ingenuity he learned while being raised on the Oneida Nation Reservation in Wisconsin. If you find yourself anywhere in his vicinity, you cannot help but notice him. He wears his Nation and his art form everywhere he goes, teaching us all how to carry elements of what we love with us, on our very bodies.

“For his unwavering dedication to the highest standards of his art form, Yale College is honored to award the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Performing and Creative Arts to Carter Sundown King.

Jordi Bertrán Ramirez, Trumbull College

Jordi Bertrán Ramirez of Trumbull College graduates with a double major in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and in History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health. In his doubled studies he has investigated popular and political cultures of information, identity, and representation, using not only classrooms and computers but also stages, voices, and bodies to explore urgent questions.

Anyone who has seen Jordi on stage (in his over 30 productions at Yale), knows that he has ‘It’— the ‘it’ of a theater actor’s magnetic force that compels audiences to watch and listen; the ‘it’ of an actor’s grace, charisma, and artistic intelligence; the ‘it’ that Professor Joseph Roach has called ‘easy to perceive but hard to define, possessed by abnormally interesting people.’ Jordi is not only such a person; he brings his own interests and ethics alive in his performances; he plays the stage as a virtuoso plays the piano; he channels his talent into projects that matter — to him, to his community, and to our changing and challenging world.

For his luminous accomplishments in theatrical performance, Yale College is honored to award the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Performing and Creative Arts to Jordi Bertrán Ramirez.