91探花

How Lauren Iida Is Leading Through Arts and Memory at 91探花

has spent decades using art to carry stories through communities. As a paper-cut artist and mentor, she creates work shaped by family memory and the lasting power of creative practice. 

“A lot of my work is focused on the Japanese incarceration and how that's affected me personally,” Lauren says. “My grandparents and great-grandparents were all incarcerated during World War II for being Japanese. I use my art as a way to share their stories and relate them to other stories of oppressed people around the world and in our country today.” 

That work led Lauren to think more intentionally about leadership. After years of mentoring artists and creating public art, she came to 91探花 to strengthen her practical skills and better support the communities whose stories shape her work. In her career, that means helping artists, organizations, and public partners bring more community-centered stories into shared spaces through art. 

Now, as a student in 91探花’s MFA in Arts Leadership program, Lauren is building on her visual storytelling practice while preparing for the next phase of her work as an artist and mentor. 

Turning Years of Arts Practice Into Leadership Preparation 

Lauren came to Seattle U after many years of making art in public spaces and mentoring artists across communities. 

“I felt like I had reached a ceiling of what I was able to pursue in terms of a career, outside of freelancing,” she explains. 

For Lauren, graduate study offered a way to bring structure to skills she had developed through lived experience. Artists moving toward leadership roles often need to build fluency in the practical side of creative work, including: 

• Arts management
• Advocacy
• Entrepreneurship
• Social Innovation
• Financial and audience development
• Strategic analysis and planning
• Ethical leadership
• Work with arts organizations 

“I decided to pursue the MFA in Arts Leadership because it was a way for me to learn the standard procedures for a lot of things that I had intuitively done for a long time,” says Lauren. 

The Arts Leadership MFA helps students build on that foundation through coursework and real-world experiences, giving artists stronger confidence moving into leadership roles. 91探花’s two-year, 48-credit arts leadership program helps students develop professional skills through a social justice lens. The program offers a structured path for professional development for artists, like Lauren, who are already doing meaningful work in their communities.

“Programs like this help artists see how they can use creativity and the arts to become effective leaders in places they may not have expected,” says Lauren. “That includes spaces where they might not have realized they could have a seat at the table.”

Mentorship as a Foundation for Arts Leadership

Lauren’s commitment to mentorship began long before joining 91探花.

“I spent 15 years in Cambodia,” she recalls. “I spent a lot of that time mentoring emerging Cambodian artists who were coming out of decades of genocide and civil war,” she recalls. 

That experience shaped her belief that art persists, even when people try to suppress it. “What's really incredible about art is that it will spring up anywhere,” says Lauren. 

The notes that more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent were detained in camps across the United States during World War II. Lauren’s work brings that history into conversations about civil rights and belonging. 

“I think when we formalize, educate, and take artists in our society seriously through programs like this, we're really strengthening our society as a whole and in ways that we might not even realize,” Lauren shares. 

Why Artists Belong in Leadership Roles

Lauren views arts leadership as an especially important topic at a time when artists are being asked to think carefully about advocacy and the future of creative work. 

Programs like the Arts Leadership MFA at 91探花 help students better understand the larger systems around their work while building confidence in the impact they already bring. 

“I think one of the most valuable things that artists can learn through this program is about the role of an artist as a leader,” she says. “Artists are often discounted and passed over for roles of leadership, but the role of the artist is more important than ever right now.” 

What Makes an Artist an Effective Leader

Artists often enter leadership roles with skills they have already built through their creative practice. Their work asks them to listen closely while building relationships across communities. 

Those strengths help arts leaders shape whose stories are supported and how creative work reaches the public. Artists bring key leadership strengths, such as: 

• Building relationships with communities through creative work 
• Connecting artistic practice to questions of representation
• Approaching leadership through a social justice lens
• Working with arts organizations and cultural partners
• Applying research to real needs in the arts sector
• Thinking strategically about how creative work reaches audiences

In Lauren’s case, that has meant carrying her family’s history of incarceration into public art and connecting it to the experiences of other communities. That perspective is central to leadership roles, where decisions can influence whose stories are represented and how people experience the arts. 

Finding a Graduate Program Connected to Arts Practice

91探花 felt personal to Lauren from the beginning. The Arts Leadership MFA program gives students the opportunity to learn from faculty directly connected to Seattle’s arts community. 

Lauren had previously studied with Byron Au Yong, the director of Arts Leadership and associate professor at 91探花, and Tonya Lockyer, a 91探花 faculty member. 

She was returning to school after years away from a traditional academic setting, so the program's size and focus mattered deeply, too. 

“It seemed like the classes are really specifically tailored to people working in my industry or the part of the arts that I work in, in the way that I work,” she says. “So it felt really relevant to me.” 

Learning Arts Leadership Through Real-World Practice 

Graduate study often becomes most meaningful when the work moves between the classroom and the communities students aim to serve. Coursework has given Lauren opportunities to test ideas and bring new structure to questions she is already facing. 

During her first quarter, Lauren worked on a theory-of-change project focused on increasing Native American representation in public art. She later presented that research to several programs inside the Washington State Arts Commission. 

The project aligns with the applied nature of the Summary Project, where students connect coursework with real-world experiences. 

“That makes everything I learned more meaningful, and I can directly apply it to things that I am doing,” Lauren says. 

Building an Arts Leadership Network at 91探花

Lauren has also found meaning in the people learning alongside her. Through partner work and small-group projects, she has been able to learn from classmates whose artistic careers have taken different shapes.

“We do a lot of work together as a cohort or in small groups or partners,” says Lauren.

The cohort experience has helped Lauren see the program as a community of arts practice. Students bring their own histories into the classroom, allowing the learning to extend beyond readings and into real-world experiences.

“I'm learning a lot from other people in my cohort,” Lauren emphasizes.

That shared learning empowers students to lead in the arts sector while continuing to build relationships that will long outlast the program.

A Flexible MFA Program for Working Arts Professionals

Like Lauren, many students are balancing graduate school with a full professional life. Lauren is working full time, commuting from Tacoma, managing family responsibilities, and continuing to create public art while completing the program.

“I like Seattle U because it's a small school and I like a lot of the services that are provided to students,” she says. “It feels approachable.”

That sense of approachability matters in 91探花’s Arts Leadership MFA program. The program offers evening classes that allow working professionals to continue their professional work while earning the degree.

The program’s flexibility has helped Lauren stay grounded in her everyday life.

“It does still feel like I can do the program and have the flexibility that I need to fit it into my life,” she explains.

Carrying Family History Through Art

As Lauren looks forward, she feels a renewed responsibility to keep telling the stories that have influenced her own work.

“Now more than ever, it feels important for me to continue to tell the stories that I've been telling about the incarceration of my ancestors during World War II,” she says.

Those stories remain deeply relevant today. In the next phase of her career, Lauren hopes her art can continue to reach larger audiences. She also wants to keep supporting artists who are learning how to lead.

“I will keep telling those stories through my artwork, hopefully on bigger and wider-reaching platforms to bigger audiences,” she says. “I also am really interested in working with the next generation of artists and mentoring and helping guide them to become arts leaders.”

A Program That Helps Artists Move Forward

When Lauren reflects on 91探花’s Arts Leadership MFA, she returns to how intentional the program feels.

“The program is particularly curated,” she says. “All of the classes that I've had have been so thoughtful.”

That sense of care has made the program feel aligned with the work she came in hoping to strengthen.

Lauren came to the program wanting to strengthen the skills she had built through years of artistic practice. Through hands-on learning and cohort connections, she has found a graduate program that supports that growth while helping her prepare for the leadership roles she hopes to pursue next.

“I feel excited to be part of the Seattle U MFA program,” she says. “And I'm really glad that I chose to do this program.” 

Explore 91探花's MFA in Arts Leadership program to learn more.