Ella Risa Marroquin Earns College of the Arts Excellence Award at VSU

Ella Risa Marroquin of Brunswick, Georgia, has earned the Spring 2025 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of the Arts at Valdosta State University. She graduates summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts and an Honors College Certificate during VSU's 239th Commencement on May 10.

VALDOSTA — Ella Risa Marroquin of Brunswick, Georgia, has earned the Spring 2025 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of the Arts at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to a high-performing graduating student in each of VSU’s six colleges — Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of the Arts, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Science and Mathematics, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Marroquin will be recognized during VSU’s 239^th Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, on the Main Campus Front Lawn. She will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts and an Honors College Certificate. 

“Before I take my bow on the commencement stage, I feel an overwhelming sense of thankfulness for my educators and loved ones who have encouraged my passion for theatre, stagecraft, and storytelling,” she shared.

“Upon graduation, I will have worked on 19 productions at VSU. Of those 19, I have worked backstage in a variety of capacities, progressing to lead positions like master carpenter, charge artist, props manager, and even scenic designer. On six of them, I was even doubling my duties on stage as an actor. And when not in school, I have had the wonderful opportunity to work professionally in the summers at Maine State Music Theatre and Valdosta’s very own Peach State Summer Theatre. Including summer work, in total, I have helped build 32 productions during my time in undergrad.

“I like to tell people that I have the best job in the world — because I do. I get to make worlds come alive on stage. Every day I am doing something new, from puppets to painting to platforms and so much more. I lead and work with teams to make the backstage production a well-oiled machine in the scene shop and in the wings. My job is to make the magic on stage so that the audience enters the story without worry of what is going on behind the scenes. With this award, I am thankful for the recognition of the invisible work of theatre technicians and am honored to represent the designers, artists, and artisans who make it all happen. As I receive my degree and this award, I know that this is not the finish line, but only the beginning of what is next. While curtains close on this act, I look forward to what is to come.”

As a student at VSU, Marroquin volunteered as a peer advisor for the Honors Success Program. She was an active member of the Honors Student Association from 2022 to 2025, serving as research coordinator for one year; the Epsilon Cast of Alpha Psi Omega from 2021 to 2025, serving as treasurer for one year; and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology from 2022 to 2025, serving as social media coordinator for two years.

Throughout her four years on campus, Marroquin served as artistic director for the Immediate Theatre Project (ITP), a student-run production company dedicated to uplifting and showcasing original student work through workshops and performances. The project was an experiential learning initiative developed in collaboration with the Honors College and VSU Theatre and Dance.

She introduced a one-act play, “Spark & Shadow,” during the 2022 ITP Student Written Showcase; a monologue, “Shoes,” during the 2022 ITP Alpha Psi Omega “Hearts on Our Sleeves” Showcase; a poetry series — “Body of Work,” “Sliding Scales (Empty Promises),” “As I Lie Awake (Melting),” and “I Ask My Friend (Love Is …)” — during the 2023 ITP Student Written “Spoken Slam” Showcase; and a poem, “Fragile (Clay),” during a 2024 collaboration between ITP and VSU Art and Design’s “Art Spoken” event. She collaborated with two other students, Anna Robinson and Adonis Monroe, to write a one-act play — “Are You Ready for Love?” — for the 2023 ITP Alpha Psi Omega 24-Hour Play Festival.    

Marroquin presented original research at the 2022 Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference and shared a small collection of original artwork at the VSU Art and Design Fall 2024 “Don’t Say Hello” exhibition — a print titled “the bed (that we lie in),” a print titled “(where is my) backbone,” and a zine titled “Something or Other: A Stranger in the Mirror.”   

Some of her most notable technical roles as a VSU Theatre and Dance student include scenic designer for “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” (2025); scene charge artist for “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” (2025), “The Three Musketeers” (2024), and “Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical” (2023); props manager for “Iphigenia 2.5” (2025), “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (2023), and “Proof” (2022); and production dramaturg for “Iphigenia 2.5” (2025) and “The Three Muskateers” (2024).

Marroquin’s commitment to academic, creative, leadership, research, and service excellence resulted in her being selected for the prestigious Jennett Scholars Program and the VSU Theatre and Dance Scene Shop Student Assistantship. Her research, “Limiting the Ecological Footprint of the Theatrical Industry,” earned first place at the 2023 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium Three-Minute Video Research Competition. She also earned three Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival nominations for dramaturgy as well as props design and management. She was a Zell Miller Scholar and a repeated Dean’s List honoree.  

She will continue her education this fall at the University of Alabama, pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre with a concentration in design and technical production.

“My goal is to be a professional scenic designer within the theatrical industry,” she said.

Her supportive family includes parents Dallas and Andrea Marroquin.