The Joy of Giving Something, Inc. (JGS) is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the photographic arts and established in 1988 by the late Howard Stein. Last year through the JGS Resolution Program, the first scholarships were awarded to ten IA members campuses who have actively served their local communities through programs in photography or media arts. Each school selected one high school student from their community program to be awarded the $2,500 scholarship. The scholarship assisted high school seniors to pursue a post-secondary education in photography or a related field. This scholarship program is a generous part of Stein’s legacy.
2012 Scholarships
In 2012, Imagining America again offered scholarships of $2,500 each to publicly-engaged students of photography/media/visual arts selected from our member institutions (awardees are now chosen from college-level students, instead of highschool-level). All nominated students were facilitating a free community-based photo or media arts workshop with people unlikely to otherwise have access to art-making. Criteria included:
- Financial need;
- Artistic merit; and
- Quality of community-engaged practice.
All nomination submissions included:
- Sample work (2-3 photographs or media art sample); Submit all materials electronically and labeled with artist’s name, title of each piece (if any), media, dimensions, and year completed;
- A faculty letter of recommendation; and
- A brief statement by the student nominee (250-500 words) regarding artistic and academic goals and the value of facilitating the community-based photo/media/art workshop.
Funds will be released in May, 2012. Checks will be distributed to the winners’ IA institutions and the institutions will be responsible for ensuring that the winning student receives their scholarship funds.
2012 Award Winners
- Zalika Abdul-Azim, New York University, NYU Department of Photography and Imaging‘s Tisch Future Imagemakers
- Daniel Aguilera, Syracuse University, SU Photography and Literacy Program
- Laurel Anderson, Bellarmine University, Bellarmine Art Department
- Meredith Borie, Dominican University, Dominican Art Department
- Meghan Gavin, California Institute of the Arts, CalArts Community Arts Partnership
- Hodo Lee, Maryland Institute College of Art, MICA MA in Social Design at MICA PLACE
- Christa Martinez, Lafayette College, Lafayette Art Department
- Ashlie Moore, Southern Oregon University, SOU Photography Program
- Alessio Summerfield, Auburn University, College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities
- Will Swenson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Peck School of the Arts Milwaukee Visionaries Project
- Noelle Theard, The New School, Photography Program at Parsons The New School for Design
- Elise Trelegan, Hampshire College, Care Center Photography
- Mara Truslow, Vanderbily University, Fifteen Fragments
Click here for the 2012 award winners’ statements, and samples of their work.
See a slideshow of the 2012 awards winners’ work below:
Click here for the list of 2011 award winners, and samples of their work.
