Three thousand dollars to spend on a summer excursion to anywhere in the world. It sounds too good to be true, but that's just what nine hard-working artists are vying for this week in the Annual Rumsey and Potenza Competition.
The Rumsey and Potenza Scholarship Competition showcased nine UB art students in an exhibit running Feb. 21 to 28 in the CFA Basement Gallery. The Rumsey prize funds $3,000 worth of travel for the winner or winners, along with an exhibit in the gallery next semester of the winners' work done as a result of the grant. Five hundred dollars are awarded to the runner-up in the form of the Potenza scholarship.
The Annual Evelyn Rumsey Lord Summer Scholarship is open to any junior who will graduate the following spring. Each year, it invites members of the art community to devise a proposal detailing where they will travel, what classes they will take, and an explanation of why this grant is essential to their education.
This year's contestants are Clifford Borress, Joseph Brittain, Brett Climan, Maria DiSturco, LindaBeth Nichols Flack, George Jorgensen, Stacey Longley, AmyLynn Maxwell, and Heather Pfister. Many students proposed to see the world, opting for grants to study in Greece, Mexico or England. Others hope to study at U.S. art centers in locations including New York City, Chicago and Boston.
The art department's full-time faculty served as the competition's judiciary committee. During exhibit week, they cast their votes for the top three artists based on their proposals, artwork, and use of the 15 feet of gallery space. The winners will be announced during the first week in March.
The exhibit showcased a conglomeration of unconventional and cutting-edge art from a myriad of disciplines, and allowed the artists' powerful voices to tackle subjects ranging from grandiose socio-political problems to smaller, everyday issues.
Borress developed a photo series for the competition, which touched on community interaction though numerous photographs of residential homes taken between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. in the Amherst, Buffalo and Tonawanda areas.
Christine Walsh, a grad student and teaching assistant, was particularly taken with Borress' work.
"The statement, proposal and work were all cohesive," Walsh said. For many students continuity between proposals and artwork is the hardest part to master, Walsh said.
Pfister rallied against the terrible conditions of American health standards. A combination of six photos, alternating between a piece of rotting fruit and pesticide-soaked hands, used a garish combination of colors to grab the viewers' attention and pull them into the piece.
In contrast, Brittain submitted pieces exclusively dealing with "the honest smallness of everyday life." His submissions included a light-based sculpture, several paintings and a multitude of small, framed works.
Many of the others chose to use a varied media as well, demonstrating their artistic versatility. Jorgensen entered a multi-disciplinary light sculpture that hung from the ceiling. Climan displayed a broad base of artistic versatility as his submissions varied from photo to oil paintings to an interactive computer project created on Macromedia Director.
For many of the applicants, it was not only their first show but their first time in competition with their peers. Maxwell and DiSturco, good friends, both said the competition was a friendly one, and that they would be supportive of the winner.
Some artists, however, felt slightly different about the experience. Brittain felt that while the artists involved in the Rumsey know and respect each other, the atmosphere was at times strained.
Brittain, however, felt that the thrill of competition was one of the most productive aspects of the Rumsey. "I think it gives people incentive to do their best work," he said.
The students' work will remain on display until Friday, in the Basement Gallery of the CFA. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday.
Rumsey and Potenza Scholarship Competition
Basement Gallery
Center For The Arts
Open to Thursday, Feb. 28
