In 2013, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded 173 Fellowships to artists, scholars and scientists in all fields.

Twelve VCU professors and alumni have received Guggenheim Fellowships since 2002, including past recipients Brian Ulrich, Assistant Professor in the Department of Photography & Film (2009); Elizabeth King, Professor in the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media (2002); Teresita Fernandez (2003) and Bonnie Collura (2005), both alumni of the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media; Hilary Wilder, Assistant Professor in the Department of Painting + Printmaking (2006); Michael Jones McKean, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media (2010); Corin Hewitt, Assistant Professor of Sculpture + Extended Media (2011); and Stephen Vitiello, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinetic Imaging (2011); Kathleen Graber, assistant professor of English (2012); and David Wojahn, professor of English (2003);.

This year, for the second time, VCUarts has received two Guggenheim grants. Congratulations to VCUarts faculty, Sonali Gulati and Siemon Allen for their 2013 Guggenheim Fellowships.

Associate Professor in Photography & Film, Sonali Gulati, received her Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in Film & Video. Her most recent film, “I Am,” has won 12 awards internationally and is still being shown. Gulati grew up in New Delhi, India, and her latest work explores what it’s like to come out as gay in her home country.

Visiting Assistant Professor in Sculpture + Extended Media, Siemon Allen, was awarded his Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in Fine Arts. Allen will spend a year archiving South African music, much of which he says has been destroyed or forgotten during decades of political instability. A native of South Africa, Allen focuses on the visual elements of what he refers to as audio artifacts, documenting record labels and album covers. He incorporates the visuals in large-scale installations.

Guggenheim Fellowships are grants to selected individuals made for a minimum of six months and a maximum of twelve months. Since the purpose of the Guggenheim Fellowship program is to help provide Fellows with blocks of time in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible, grants are made freely. No special conditions attach to them, and Fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work.

LABELS, Siemon Allen, 2009
installation, inkjet photo-prints, black plastic, map-pins, 25′ x 10′
from the exhibition “Imaging South Africa: Records | Newspapers | Stamps”
BANK Gallery, Durban, South Africa

On April 21, 2013 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, David S. Leong, Chair of the Department of Theatre, was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. “Investiture in the College is one of the highest honors bestowed on educators and professionals of America’s educational and theatre community.” Leong received his nomination from Dan Carter, Director of the School of Theatre, Penn State University. “The primary purpose of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre is to promote and encourage the highest standards of research, writing, and creativity in educational and professional theatre through honoring distinguished service and notable accomplishment by individuals of recognized national stature.”

The 2013 Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship awardee is Rotem Tamir, graduate student in Sculpture + Extended Media. Congratulations to Rotem! The fellowship provides a generous one-year $10,000 stipend.

On Rotem’s exhibition, the review panel provided the following commentary:

We were impressed by every aspect of her installation, from its conceptual rigor and exceptional craftsmanship to its participatory character. This first-hand investigation of the work, made possible through prior arrangement with the artist, engrossed as it also confounded in the best possible way. At the same time, the installation existed easily as a totality even in the absence of direct participation, due to Rotem’s considered placement of its component parts within the space she was assigned. –Ashley Kistler

Given the caliber of the work of our exceptional graduate students, the task of selecting could not have been easy. Many thanks to the panel of reviewers – Anderson Gallery Directory Ashley Kistler, Head of Exhibitions Michael Lease, and Gallery Coordinator and Collections Specialist Traci Horne Garland.

Toby Lewis is well known for her philanthropy in the arts and this fellowship is granted to the ten best schools of art in the country. MFA students who are poised to graduate from the fine-art programs are eligible for this opportunity (including Craft/ Material Studies, Photography and Film, Kinetic Imaging, Sculpture + Extended Media and Painting and Printmaking). VCUarts is delighted to have once again been chosen as a conduit for this award.

Image: Modular Expansion Envelope, Rotem Tamir

Xuan Liu, MFA student in the Department of Interior Design, placed first in the Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design National Competition. The XYZ Light concept is inspired by the Tao “The Tao begot one. One begot two. Two begot three. And three begot the ten thousands things.” The XYZ Light provides functional and decorative illumination. The system operates on linear LED elements that are arranged along 3D coordinate axes.

The VCC was held as part of VCU’s annual Student Research Week, a series of events that brings together undergraduate and graduate students from across disciplines to celebrate research and creative and scholarly projects.

This year, a total of 35 teams comprised of 78 undergraduate and graduate VCU students from eight of VCU’s schools, as well as three VCU alumni and four non-VCU individuals, entered the competition. Matt Woolman, associate professor in The Department of Graphic Design and director of Creative Entrepreneurship, VCU School of the Arts, served as a judge for this year’s competition.

Several from VCUarts won awards in both the undergraduate and graduate categories.

Lumiform Tech, comprising Kathleen Barron in the School of Engineering, Catherine Gellatly in the School of the Arts and VCU alumna Christine Stoddard, won 2nd place in the undergraduate division for their aesthetically-pleasing, responsive light technologies.

RBazaar, 3rd place undergraduate project, is devoted to providing a regular market space for up-and-coming artists, growers, movers and shakers, and consisted of art students Melissa Lesh, Virginia Wood and Brynne Whitford.

The graduate finalists included team members Owen Duffy, VCUarts student, and his brother, Joseph Duffy, a non-VCU individual, with Artifact, a socially responsible company dedicated to providing retail store consumers with affordable, gallery-quality, cutting edge artwork made by in-house professional artists.

Source: VCU News

The annual AIGA Grade 7 Awards for Design Excellence were awarded to a few MFA students and alumni from The Department of Graphic Design.

Charley Foley with Scout Design (MFA Visual Communications alumnus, 2000) won a Judge’s choice award and a Best Poster/Flyer award.

Best Student Design, Visual Communications Graduate Student James Walker

Merit Award, Visual Communications Graduate student Lucia Weilein

Presented by: AIGA Richmond

The VCU Council for Community Engagement in partnership with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Richmond  has awarded a $17,000 grant for the project entitled “Production and Distribution of a Documentary Film to Inform Parents, Service Providers and Students about Down Syndrome.” The primary goal of this proposal is to develop an original documentary film that will illustrate the spectrum of abilities seen in people with Down syndrome and provide answers to questions regarding the needs and aspirations of these individuals. The second project goal is to distribute this film to community health care centers, members of the DSAGR, and faculty members teaching trainees from a wide variety of disciplines, to bring improvements in knowledge and resource access to members of the community.

Congratulations to Photography + Film Chair, Sasha Waters Freyer, filmaker for the project. Sasha is internationally acclaimed and has received numerous honors for her production of documentaries and short films. Along with Colleen Jackson-Cook (Co-PI), she will assume responsibility for the development of the film and will supervise/review the adjunct/visiting faculty teaching the special service class. She will also be directly involved in the interviewing, editing and production of the film, reivew the project evaluation questionnaires, and develop the final report.

Associate Professor in Art Education, Dr. Melanie Buffington, is the lead PI on a team that recently won a $19,700 Community Engagement Grant from VCU. Working with Dr. Liz Cramer from the School of Social Work, Art Education graduate student Jess Norris, the Neighborhood Resource Center (NRC), Transitions Day Support Services, and the VMFA, the group will implement a multi-faceted service-learning and art program for teens who attend the NRC. The teens will learn about nutrition and cooking and then teach these skills to adults at Transitions Day Support Services. As they work on the project, the teens will make a video that includes their reflections about their learning and work with their partners at Transitions. The teens will also plan and lead a tour of the VMFA for their Transitions partners. The project will culminate in a community event for all participants.

Alexander Kreher, comes to VCUarts Art Foundation from Germany. His girlfriend is Zoë Romano, who ran across the US as Alex documented it. Kreher created a short film – his first – of Zoe’s adventure as a portfolio piece. That film, along with “All Those Beautiful Things,” about a woman from Maine, who struggles with OCD and hoarding, impressed PDNedu (Photo District News magazine) judges so much that they awarded Kreher the top prize.

Now, Romano plans to run the route of the Tour de France. Yes, she will run more than 2,000 miles – including mountains. (You may recognize her name, as she spoke at the first TEDxRVA and wowed everyone.) Kreher will join her and document her once again. He has started a Kickstarter campaign for Zoe Goes Running – The Film: Running the Tour de France.

Kreher will also be featured in VCU’s Make it Real campaign.

We can only imagine what Kreher will accomplish during the rest of his time at VCUarts (he’s only in his first year!). Congratulations to Alex and Zoë on their tremendous accomplishments.

Due to the great success of VCU Jazz‘s partnership with the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the project has been chosen as the 2013 recipient of the VCU Community Engagement Award for Research, an award saluting VCU’s efforts to engage its community locally, nationally, and internationally through research. This opportunity brings the music and cultures of Richmond and Durban more closely together thanks to the VCU Global Education Office and the VCU School of the Arts, who have co-funded this grant. The current year’s partnership is still in progress, with a CD and journal-article creation yet ahead.