In addition, an award for excellence is occasionally administered with the aim of awarding a student who has done distinguished work in either studio art or art history in the previous academic year. The faculty also select an outstanding graduating senior to receive the departmental book prize.
SCHOLARSHIPS
TUCKER PRIZE FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
The Tucker Prize for Outstanding Achievement was established in 1985 by Professor Paul Hayes Tucker of the Art Department to honor a student who produces a truly distinguished work of art or paper in a studio art or art history course. Any student at any level of study is eligible. The student need not be an art major and does not have to be enrolled in an advanced class. The only criterion is the quality of the work. Whatever that work might be, it must demonstrate the student’s originality and sophistication and must remind us of the value of insight and the importance of creativity through the making of or writing about art.
VIVIAN CAROLYN SAVIO SCHOLARSHIP
Named in honor of a former student in the department, this scholarship provides funds for tuition and fees. The Art Department will award one scholarship a year to be used toward tuition and fees. Criteria for the award includes general scholastic ability, potential ability in art, and financial need.
Preference will be given to students under 25 years of age at the time of the award, but students up to age 30 may be considered. Students must have completed a minimum of 12 credits at UMass Boston with a cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Freshmen applicants need not have completed university course work in Art, but must indicate interest or involvement in the field. Sophomore (or junior) applicants must have completed at least two courses in Art to be considered.
RUTH BUTLER TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
A scholarship fund has been established in honor of Ruth Butler, Professor Emerita of Art at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a distinguished scholar in the history of sculpture. While a student, Professor Butler won a Fulbright fellowship that allowed her to pursue research in France. Recognizing that her trip abroad was a life-changing event, she would like Art majors at UMass Boston to have such an opportunity for contact with individuals and institutions in another country.
The scholarship provides an Art major with funding for travel outside the United States for the purpose of studying art. Preference will be given to projects which promote the student’s understanding of a culture other than the student’s own. Projects should be for either art historical research or studio work. In the case of art historical research, a student should propose to study at a particular archive, library, or collection. In the case of a studio project, students should propose to visit contemporary galleries, work with an artist, participate in a workshop, or in some other way encounter the art of another culture on site. The proposed project should specify plans to make contact with an institution and/or individuals in the country where travel will take place.
THE SAM WALKER SCHOLARSHIP
The Sam Walker Scholarship Fund was created in 1999 by the family of Sam Walker, Associate Professor of Studio Art, at his request, to support art majors in the Art Department at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In addition to support for tuition and fees, the funds may be used “to help an art major mount a final exhibition, travel for a senior to do thesis research, or take on an art project that they would not allow themselves to consider or otherwise be able to afford.” The endowment of the fund reflects the contributions of his family, as well as many friends and colleagues.
An artist, Sam Walker taught printmaking and drawing at UMass Boston between 1993 and 1999. He served the University community both in his department, where he helped coordinate student exhibitions and internships, and University-wide. His own work, in photo etching and painting, was concerned with language, memory, and the visual signs of every day life, and was both intellectual and formal. His work is included in the collections of Harvard University’s Houghton Library, the Addison Gallery of American Art, and the Boston Public Library, among others.
During his appointment at the University he was inspired by the way his students managed work, family and study. As a teacher, he often told his students to find what they loved and “figure out how to get someone to pay you to do it.” This scholarship supports students’ pursuit of the making and study of art, courses of study that he knew often seemed impractical or without tangible benefit, and likely to be put aside for more “economical” pursuits.
Walker scholarship funds can be used for the following purposes:
Tuition and fees for an art major
Independent projects;
Studio projects: materials for an exhibition, an honors show, or any independent projects such as those done in advanced studio courses or independent studies.
Art history projects: thesis research, seminar paper research, or any expense related to independent research for an advanced class or independent study.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Residency: none required
Credits: 24-105 credits
Enrollment status: part-time or full-time (3 credits or more)
Major: Art
Grade point average: overall 3.0 or better
Demonstrable financial need (FAFSA on file)
APPLICATION PROCESS
Application forms for all three scholarships are available from the Art Department Office, M-4-456.
Nantucket Field Station
Studio art courses are regularly offered in the summer at the Nantucket Field Station.
Cross-registration at the Massachusetts College of Art
A program exists among state institutions in the Boston area that permits cross-registration at the participating schools. Students who are enrolled full-time at their home institution, and therefore paying full-time tuition and fees, may cross-register for one or two courses without paying addition tuition and receive the credit and grade on their UMB record. Students at UMB can thus take courses in the daytime program at the Massachusetts College of Art (MCA) without having to be admitted. (MCA does not permit access to daytime courses by non-degree students.) Students who cross-register are not permitted to enroll in courses available at their home institution. Students at UMB and particularly art majors regularly take advantage of this program, taking courses in sculpture, ceramics, glassblowing, foundry, color photography, film, and graphic design which are not offered in the Department’s curriculum. Not all courses will count toward the major in Art at UMB; specialized design courses generally count as elective credit only, and certain pre-professional program such as interior design or fashion design are available for enrichment only, for which students cannot receive credit at UMB. The restriction on taking courses available at the home institution does not apply to courses in Continuing Education at MCA and students often enroll in these courses during the summer and sometimes in the nighttime program in the academic year. Courses in Continuing Education at MCA are treated like any other transfer course at UMB. Approval for all these courses for both Cross Registration and Continuing Education must be obtained from the Art Department and a significant number of approvals are issued each year.
Arts on the Point
The UMB sculpture park “Arts on the Point” consists of large-scale outdoor works by some of the world's leading artists and provides important educational opportunities for students. Through this program many students have had exposure to well established artists and have seen first hand the inner workings of curatorial practices, fund-raising events, and the continual development of a public sculpture park. In recent years, Arts on the Point has hired students as docents guiding visitors through the collection; it has sponsored a series of lectures by artists aimed at Art majors; and it has provided contact for students and faculty in the Boston community. One initiative during Spring 2004 paired gifted art students from neighborhood after-school arts programs with Art majors at UMB in order to encourage the teens to pursue college degrees.
For more information, see http://www.artsonthepoint.com/.