2020 Creative Arts Award Winners

Originally posted 4/28/2020

The Studio is proud to announce the 2020 winners of the Creative Arts Awards!

Siena Laws, our research project winner, will “investigate our inner thoughts and feelings in social settings: our anxieties, joys, and feelings of disconnection”. She plans to create wearable sculptures that participants can choose to interact with. These pieces will reflect those inner thoughts and feelings and lead to a discussion with participants on how they connected to the work in order to better understand the pressures of daily life.

Malcolm McCanles and Asher Bernick-Roehr, the winners of our service project award, plan to address what we talk about when we talk about community. The team plans to hold a public discussion following a multidisciplinary performance inspired by Raymond Carver’s book of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. They hope to “explore and redefine what connection and relationships mean and do to us, as individuals and as members of communities, in a COVID-19 world”. The goal of their project is to rebuild community through discussion, as a community. The performance will be crowd-sourced, so if you’re interested in contributing in any way (art, tech skills, organization/publicity, etc.) please reach out to either Malcolm: mmccanles@wisc.edu or Asher: abernickroeh@wisc.edu

We look forward to hearing updates on these projects!

In the meantime, here’s an update from Heron Splinter, 2019 recipient:

My idea has evolved considerably. But the common thread has always been public performance. After considering different interests, I found that I really wanted to be a living statue. I find them so oddly vulnerable. They are an immoveable hard stone, and a soft and creative performer at the same time. Oddly these days, standing still takes a lot of courage. (and perseverance) I find it daunting, so I want to challenge myself to go out in public and entertain.

For this project I have created a gnome-like-character who holds a lantern. His job is to bring a light to people’s day because they are sad or grumpy as they walk down the street. I’d like for him to give out gifts, but I have not had a good idea of what that would be yet.

My design will tell the story of a light-filled person sharing that kindness and presence. This will be because the pointed hat has a long tradition across the globe for belonging to holy, mysterious, and angelic persons. Its red colour links it to today’s depiction of a garden gnome to draw the viewer’s memories in. I have purchased white clown paint and sewn a red gnome-cap. I have gone to thrift stores and found some shimmery clothing but have yet to put the whole thing together.  But right now, I am concerned about taking my character outside. I don’t yet know how I can keep myself and others healthy and still perform. So, I am delaying my project until the COVID-19 debacle ends, or I find a way to entertain safely.

Finally, check out this blog post from LCPA and former recipient of the service award, Sam Eklund, for an update on his project: https://thestudiouw.arts.wisc.edu/apply-for-a-creative-arts-award/