Students Receive Department of Visual Studies Awards

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Students in the art program in the Department of Visual Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo have received awards for their work during 2006-07.

Oreen Cohen of Rochester, a junior in the painting bachelor of fine arts (BFA) program was selected by faculty in the department to receive the Evelyn Rumsey Summer Scholarship.

Established through the generosity of Buffalo painter Evelyn Rumsey Lord, the award is to be used for summer travel or study. Cohen is using the award to travel to Berlin, Germany.

She also received a fall 2006 Morrison Scholarship, awarded to talented art majors to help support them toward completion of their degrees.

Nathan Draear of West Seneca, a student in the painting BFA program, and Jessica Rauscher of Cheektowaga, a BFA student in the visual studies studio, have received the Philip C. Elliott and Virginia Cuthbert Elliott Painting Scholarship for their outstanding ability and interest in the area of artistic painting. The cash award is based on the ability and overall merit of the student.

The scholarship was established with a grant from the late Virginia Cuthbert Elliott. She and her late husband, Philip C. Elliott, served for 30 years as artists and art educators in Western New York, including lengthy tenures at the Albright Art School and at its successor, the UB Department of Art.

From 1941-69, Philip Elliott served successively as director of the art school and the first chair of the UB art department. Virginia Elliott taught art at both institutions from 1941-61. Both were a strong force in shaping the UB art department during its formative years.

Draear also received a spring 2007 Morrison Scholarship, awarded to talented art majors to help support them toward completion of their degrees.

Jacqueline Spicer of Horseheads, a BA student in studio art, has received the Carl E. Sentz and Virginia W. Sentz Memorial Award. Spicer also is a recipient of the Alan E. Cober Award recognizing

excellence in drawing skills and concepts. It is named for the late illustrator Alan Cober, who taught at UB from 1987-96.

Ashley Rose of Rochester, a junior in the communication design concentration, is this year's recipient of the Julius Bloom Memorial Scholarship for excellence in typographic study.

Toby Bloom Schoellkopf established the scholarship in memory of her father, who worked for several well-known printing companies, had a lifelong interest in the typographic arts and helped organize the first international conference of typographical arts in the mid-1960s.

Rose also received a spring 2007 Morrison Scholarship, awarded to talented art majors to help support them toward completion of their degrees.

Andrea Swierat of Depew, a junior in the communication design BFA program, has received the Dennis Domkowski Memorial Scholarship, awarded to juniors in the communication design or computer art program who show excellent potential for design.

Swierat also received a spring 2007 Morrison Scholarship, awarded to talented art majors to help support them toward completion of their degrees.

Mary Stack of Syracuse, a student in the printmaking concentration, is the recipient of the Eugene L. Gaier Award for Excellence in Printmaking.

Jennifer Custard-Jarosz of Lackawanna, a student in the fine art BFA program, is the recipient of the Eugene L. Gaier Award for Excellence in Drawing. The Gaier awards were established by Gaier, UB professor emeritus of counseling, school and educational psychology who has had a long-time interest in the arts.

Jennifer Walsh of Lancaster, a student in the photography BFA program, and Rachel Kleparek of Akron, a student in the photography BA program, received awards from the William E. Townsend Photography Scholarship Fund. These awards are the result of an endowment set up by William E. Townsend, who graduated from UB in 1950, to recognize worthy students in photography.

Walsh also received a fall 2006 Morrison Scholarship, awarded to talented art majors to help support them toward completion of their degrees.

Laura Bowen of Buffalo, a photography BFA student, received the Sally Hoskins Potenza Memorial Scholarship. The Potenza scholarship was established by the family of Sally Potenza, who was a promising young painter pursuing graduate studies in the UB art department at the time of her death. The award, by faculty vote, is based on the works exhibited in the Rumsey competition show.

Nicole Feliciano of Jamestown, a painting BFA student, has received the Alan E. Cober Award recognizing excellence in drawing skills and concepts. It is named for the late illustrator Alan Cober, who taught at UB from 1987-96.

Bonny Mae Stuber of Amherst has won an Allentown Village Society Art Scholarship, presented to a student who is an Erie County resident, attended a high school in Erie County and needs financial assistance.

The Morrison Scholarships, established by Louis Morrison and his family, are awarded to talented art majors and help support them towards completion of their degrees.

Morrison Scholarships winners for fall 2006 are:

• Jason LaBarr of Buffalo, a student in the sculpture BFA program.

• Casey Latzen of Suffern, a BA student in communication design.

Morrison Scholarships Winners for spring 07 are:

• Catherine Barnum of Amherst, a BA student in communication design.

• Chu Fung Chan of New York City, a student in the communication design BFA program.

• Alexandria Franinda-Brown of East Amherst, a photography BFA student.

• Ariana Swartz of Tonawanda, a sculpture BFA student.

• Wei Fern Toh of Malaysia, a communication design BFA student.

• Tara Warwick of Buffalo, a BA student in general studio.