VIDEO: Showcase Highlights with Five UHS Alumni Design Professionals

After graduating from UCLA, Marjorie Skouras '78 spent 20 years in the film business, which included her position as Executive Vice President of Acquisitions at Skouras Pictures and programming the Sundance Film Festival. In 2000, Marjorie entered the world of interior and product design. Over the past two decades, She has been hailed as one of the 100 most influential designers in the US, and her work has been published in books and magazines around the world. She now resides in an historic house in Merida, Mexico where her work includes product design and production, a gallery of Mexican photography, as well as the sale of her curated collection of Mexican designer dresses from the 1970s and home decor at her boutique La Malaquita. Part of her heart remains in San Francisco.

LaToya Burton '98 guides clients in creating supportive homes to reflect their unique way of being and nourish a sense of inner belonging. Her process unities design, art, and creative self-discovery as a catalyst for growth and creative living. Her portfolio highlights the belief that we all deserve access to quality design - bridging knowledge of designing public community spaces for the City and County of San Francisco to a more intimate level in her current projects. LaToya holds a Bachelors in Design and a Masters of Architecture. She lives in Australia with her husband and son travelling in their tiny home on wheels.

Richael Best '09 is a left-handed redhead with synesthesia. She is currently Operations Manager and Design Assistant for Kathy Best Design, which specializes in crisp, clean interior design for high-end residential projects. Richael has years of experience in various industries including business consulting, events, and publishing. She has a passion for the arts and is a freelance dance reviewer and member of the Seattle Women’s Chorus. She spends her spare time reading, eating ice cream, and learning how to handstand.

Yuma Shinohara '10 is a curator and editor working in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Following positions at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, Ruby Press in Berlin, the Akademie der Künste Berlin, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, he is currently Assistant Curator at the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel, Switzerland. He has translated Bruno Taut into English, among others, and has worked for magazines such as ARCH+ and a+u. He graduated with a degree in comparative literature and society from Columbia University in New York.

Our moderator for this event is Emily Blevins '11, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Sausalito, CA. Since graduating from California College of the Arts in 2016, she has worked at publishing houses and magazines throughout the Bay Area. She most recently co-founded and became the design director at Marin Living magazine. Her passion for bold design influences everything she does from magazine design to Instagram and brand materials. When she's not creating the many facets of the Marin Living brand, she can be found exploring Marin and planning future solo trips around the world.

Spencer Small ’17 is a senior at Brown University studying Architecture and Computer Science. His studies in architecture are through the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), as part of a joint degree program between the two institutions. Over the past two summers, Spencer has worked as a studio intern at Piechota Architecture in San Francisco, where he designed custom furnishings using computational design techniques. After Brown, Spencer hopes to further explore the intersection of his two interests, which were fostered at UHS through courses like Western Civ and AP Computer Science.