The Undergraduate Creative Discovery and Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards provided juniors and seniors in the arts program funds for their various projects.

The grant provided art students and faculty in the College of Arts and Media money for creative projects, a scholarship or funding for research in 2018 in a ceramics or painting concentration.

Brian Pennington and Jessica Ashworth were the students chosen to receive the grant, while professors Ian Hagarty and Frederick Bartolovic were recognized as mentors.

Pennington was mentored by Hagarty, and Ashworth was mentored by Bartolovic.

“It felt amazing receiving this grant as an art student, as not many people receive this opportunity,” Pennington, fine arts major, said.

Ashworth said she was excited about the possibility of a new project.

“I was very excited to have received the award knowing that I was going to be creating something that I had never done before,” Ashworth, senior visual arts major, said.

Hagarty was requested by Pennington to be a mentor, and he said he was happy to take on the responsibility.

“He is an exceptional student who is highly motivated and independent,” Hargarty said. “So, when he asked me to support his proposal, I agreed.”

Hagarty said he hoped the students would gain some intellectual insight.

“I hope that Bryan gains new experiences and insight into how to become more intellectually independent,” Hagarty said. “I hope that he is able to develop and articulate clear objectives and to achieve those objectives that he sets out to pursue and is able to create a distinct and personal body of artwork that is suitable for exhibition in a gallery.”

“Faculty gain the opportunity to work closely with exceptional students to help them realize their personal creative research goals,” Hagarty said.

Pennington said he believed the money would be beneficial to his education and experience as an artist.

“I do believe this will improve my education, because it gives me valuable experience working independently that I can use in a classroom setting,” Pennington said. “I’m able to create strong independent work without worrying about the monetary aspect of the creative process.”

The mentors also said they thought this opportunity was beneficial.

“This experience supports undergraduate research and creative activities that might not be able to happen otherwise due to financial constraints on our students,” Hagarty said.

Michaela Crittenden can be contacted at [email protected].