The Matthew Rolston Endowed Scholarship for Film and Creative Direction

The mission of The Matthew Rolston Scholarship for Film and Creative Direction was established in 1998 to promote cross-disciplinary practices between the fields of film and creative direction. It is aimed at supporting students with financial need, who meet the merit requirements of the College, and who might benefit from a mentorship year (optional) with Matthew Rolston.

Photography and Imaging alumnus Matthew Rolston creates iconic images that explore and reflect the ideas embedded within our cultural obsession with beauty, glamour and celebrity. One of the world’s most sought-after editorial photographers, Rolston is best known for his distinctive celebrity portraits, evocative fashion and beauty campaigns and award-winning music videos. While a student at ArtCenter, Matthew Rolston was discovered by artist Andy Warhol, who immediately commissioned portraits for Interview magazine. For over a half-century, Rolston’s artistic voice has resonated far and wide, shaping our concept of glamour with his unconventional lighting techniques, detailed sets and dramatic mise-en-scene. Rolston’s photographs have since appeared prominently in publications such as Vogue, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and over 100 Rolling Stone covers. Rolston has written and directed award-winning music videos for artists as diverse as Madonna, Janet Jackson and Beyoncé Knowles as well as both print and film campaigns for a wide variety of internationally recognized brands such as L’Oréal, Revlon, Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren and Burberry.

In 1998, Rolston endowed The Matthew Rolston Scholarship for Photography and Film, at ArtCenter. He remains actively involved in the scholarship, now for Film and Creative Direction, as a mentor and lecturer on the subjects of modern communication techniques, from fashion aesthetics to social impact messaging, and continues to divide his professional time between photography, fine art, publishing, filmmaking, creative direction and arts education.