Senior Julianne Norton, who is minoring in Studio Art, has received a prestigious Mitchell Scholarship to study in Ireland and work on a graphic novel next year. The George J. Mitchell Scholarship is awarded to applicants with unusual depth in their academic interests and exceptional records of focused contributions to society – those identified as having the potential to become national leaders.

At UConn, Norton is completing an individualized major in international relations with a concentration in cross-cultural relations and a minor in studio art. In Ireland, she plans to earn a graduate degree in creative writing as she continues work on a graphic novel that includes a cross-cultural comparison with postmemory of the Holocaust and the Irish Famine.

Early on Norton cultivated her interests in the analysis of artwork. As a freshman in the honors program, she received funding as a Holster Scholar for a project that examined postmemory in five generations of her family’s artwork and included original paintings. Building upon this work, last year she presented at the U21 International Research Conference in Amsterdam and has since received a UConn IDEA Grant and a SURF Grant to fund work on her graphic novel.

Norton also earned a SHARE Grant in 2013 to work with Kathryn Myers in the Department of Art and Art History, researching Jewish Indian art and culture. She spent time in Israel during her Holster project and later studied abroad in the Czech Republic. On campus, she is active as a UCAELI Volunteer, HIPS Volunteer and event coordinator for the International Relations Association.

 

BFA student Cat Boyce worked with four of her fellow students to document their recent exhibition “As Is” (March 2014) at Art Space Windham.  A Photography concentrator, Cat filmed a group interview as well as an in-depth artist profile with Antonio Campelli (BFA 2015).

Our BFA students won several major awards at the Connecticut Art Directors Club Awards Night. Recent graduate Mikey Karpiel earned the Judge’s Choice Award and a Gold Award for “Dog Days,” and a Silver Award for “New Appliance.” Juror Aaron Goodman said, “The combination of style and substance made it one of my favorites in the show.” Current students Fei Fei Luo and Haley Taylor also accepted scholarship awards for Illustration and Graphic design, respectively.

The Connecticut Art Directors Club is  the leading independent professional organization serving the Connecticut creative community.

Congratulations, UConn artists!

 

From the conceptual to the material to the technical, contemporary sculptural practices represent a rich, multifaceted area of investigation for art students.

Utilizing various techniques such as metal fabrication, constructed environments with sound and video projection and labor intensive installations, Ashley Frato, Antonio Campelli, Andrew Janevey and Katrina Orsini are four young artists and students who are consciously embracing the formal, historical, technical, political and personal features of this practice in ways that deserve our attention.

AS IS is an exhibition that reflects both the depth and span of some of the artwork being created in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Connecticut.

We hope you can join us the opening at ArtSpace Windham, on March 27 at 7:30 PM.

The Florence 2013 Study Abroad Exhibition will be on display in the Arena Gallery of the Art Building, from February 10-14, 2014.

An exhibition reception will be held on Wednesday, February 12, from 5:30-6:30 p.m., in the Arena Gallery.

For additional information, please contact Professor Deborah Dancy at deborah.dancy@uconn.edu or (860) 486-3371.

 

SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fund) Awards provide students with up to $4,000 to undertake summer research or creative projects under the supervision of UConn faculty members. The application deadline is February 3, 2014.  More information about SURF can be found at http://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/surf/. The Office of Undergraduate Research is holding an information session on Thursday, January 23 from 12:30-1:30 pm in Laurel Hall 305 and students are also welcome to email the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uconn.edu.

If you are interested in studying abroad in Copenhagen during Summer 2014, applications (including references) are due on February 1.

 

ARTH 3993 Copenhagen Architecture and Cityscape is a 3-credit course that runs from May 25 to June 14. The course is open to all upper-level students with an interest in art, architecture, urban and open-space planning, and architecture –from the Middle Ages up to and including exciting, new projects currently underway to make Copenhagen a terrific place to live.

 

This is the fourth time Professor Givens has offered the class, and it attracts an interesting mix of students from different fields.  It’s an enjoyable way to meet a major requirement and to introduce yourself to travel abroad.

 

Copenhagen’s many museums are outstanding, and the local art scene in nearby Malmo Sweden has proved appealing for Art and Art History majors, too.

 

 

 

Please contact Professor Jean Givens (jean.givens@uconn.edu) with  questions. And  apply ASAP if you are interested in the course, since space is limited.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communication Design students will spend the Spring Semester 2014 in London studying at Central St. Martins under the guidance of Art & Art History Professor Mark Zurolo.  The students are writing a blog, full of great stories and images, to document their experience: http://ucdesignuk.tumblr.com.

The Central Saint Martins BA (Honours) in Graphic Design is structured around small group tutorials, workshops and critiques and emphasizes solving visual communication problems through experimentation beyond the commercially driven constraints of contemporary design practice. UConn students will be distributed across tutorial groups and engage with project briefs and other required and extra-curricular activities as faciliated by CSM BAGD faculty alongside regular CSM degree students. UConn students will concurrently enroll in Communication Design 3 and Design Survey that will be taught on-site by UConn Associate Professor of Design, Mark Zurolo.

Students will live in the Central Saint Martins student housing where they will share kitchen and living facilities with a range of other UK students. By living in the center of London, students will have the opportunity to visit studios, museums, and historical sites, and attend a wide variety of cultural events. The goal of the program is to produce designers with a global perspective who are prepared to develop their interests cultivated upon this trip into their professional and academic lives. Each student will return with an understanding of the international design community, a network of designers whom they can contact in the future, and a skill set honed at the premier art school in the UK.

 

 

A group of Studio Art and Art History majors has spent the semester studying at the Palazzo Rucellai with Professor Deborah Dancy.  They have used photography, painting and drawing as media for exploring the city, its art, and its history.  They’ll be home soon – changed by the experience.  Some quotes from the students as they prepare to finish their studies:

“I walk through narrow streets, surrounded on all sides by buildings that have been standing for centuries. I use historical and artistic masterpieces as landmarks on my walks to unfamiliar places. I see, touch and have an entire experience with the art I have always studied and admired. It is like a dream.”

“I have seen some of the most beautiful things, [eaten] some of the most fantastic food, and met some of the most amazing people during my time in Florence.  All I want is more. I want to see more, to do more… I wish there was a way I could wander forever; to get lost in the world but be okay with it.  I just want to travel the world and draw what I see.  I feel as if there is not enough time to see all there is to see and experience all there is to experience… Everything seems too short and there is never enough time in a day. I just know this adventure will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“… I still hope to meet the rest of this semester with an open mind because I know for a fact that there are still experiences to be had, even though part of me is already looking forward to [coming back] to a heavy work-load, multiple deadlines, and late nights. The reason for my excitement to go back is not as much homesick as it is an anxiousness to use what I’ve discovered here towards getting my career started. I do believe that this experience has had an incredible influence on me and I’m excited that it’s both almost over, and that there is still a good deal of time left to spend here.”

To hear more from the students, visit their blog at http://uconnflorence.blogspot.com