Penn State Abington students, faculty, family and friends gathered to celebrate the 2017 Bertha Lear Awards reception on Monday, April 3, during Common Break. This annual event is made possible because of an endowment by Robert and Marilyn Lear, in honor of Robert’s mother, an artist herself.
The art done by Penn State Abington artists is spread throughout the art gallery, the library and the Woodland lobby. The coordinator of this annual event is John Thompson, who did a spectacular job on putting it together.
Thompson started by thanking Bob and Marilyn Lear, and then invited the winners to the awards and leadership dinner on April 18.
Following the introduction, Thompson gave shout-outs to the artists, who are Jess Schoell, Gigi Fleurentin, Gina Hererra, Julianne Meehan, Lynn Morrone, Joanna Nawn, Scott Palmer and Ashaundei Smith.
Then he presented awards, starting off with the “Honorable Mention,” given to Ashaundei Smith, who was honored for his leadership and organization over two years, his multiple works on computer in the gallery, and making the program better by influencing student engagement.
Next, “Experimentation Across Media” was awarded to Trish Grow, who was honored for her “stream of consciousness” exhibit in the gallery, having an art minor and always being in the studio, and blending her English minor with her studio work.
The third award, “Depth of Content,” was presented to Gigi Fleurentin, who was honored for her “post colonialism.”
The fourth, “Excellence in Media Focus,” was given to Mariya Vasilovski, who was honored for her configuration series in the gallery, making things work, being a perfectionist in that her work was almost impossible to perfect, and having clear vision and focus.
The last award, known as the “big award,” was the “Purchase Award for Exemplary Achievement,” given to Angelique Kopacz, who was honored for her “grasp and release” in the gallery, taking full advantage of her residency at Balinglen, and for her entire and inspiring body of work.
This annual event gave guests a perspective on the importance and background of art.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.