Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

The Invitation to Dream

Tue, October 24, 2023
Dinner Program
Taylor K. Shaw

Taylor K. Shaw is a natural-born trailblazer and founder of BWA Studios, the first animation studio powered by Black women and animators of color. As a visionary producer and writer, Shaw is committed to building a more inclusive media landscape and creating liberating narratives for Black women and other marginalized groups. In sharing the story of her life, career, and community influences, Shaw crafts a call to action in raising the primary question, “Who is invited to dream?” Shaw peels back the layers of inequity in her field and beyond — training, employing, and empowering diverse talent. In her address, she unveils how the opportunity to live an artful life with one’s imagination at the center can be democratized.

Taylor K. Shaw is a 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list honoree and 2021 Shadow & Act Rising Executive Award Winner.

She is the youngest CEO in the animation industry and one of the brightest game changers in Hollywood. She founded BWA Studios, the first and only animation studio designed to change the world of animation by consciously hiring Black women and animators of color.

BWA is an original content house that creates and develops both adult and children’s programming. Commercially, the company has created award-winning digital and television campaigns for the likes of Hulu, A&E, Warner Bros. Discovery, Mattel, and more. She has been featured in Deadline Hollywood, Emmy Magazine, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the LA Times for her work empowering marginalized voices in entertainment. 

Ms. Shaw's talk is co-sponsored by the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies and the Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America at CMC.

Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Claremont McKenna College
385 E. Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711

Contact

Phone: (909) 621-8244 
Fax: (909) 621-8579 
Email: