Our Crowdfunding Groups
What is it for?
Each summer, world renowned crafts schools like Anderson Ranch in Colorado, Peters Valley in New Jersey, Penland in North Carolina, and Arrowmont here in Tennessee offer colleges partial “matching” scholarships for ambitious art students across the country to gather and study advanced craft techniques, build community, network, and expand their horizons for their artistic careers.
However, colleges need to provide the other half of the matching funds for our students to attend. This year, we are raising the funds to match Anderson Ranch’s partial scholarship to send one of our best students to partake in this career-altering opportunity.
Why is it important?
This opportunity to recognize and launch our students on a national scale is invaluable for opening up future avenues for their art careers.
If this pilot campaign is as successful as we believe it can be, we will continue to build more partnerships between the University of Memphis’ Sculpture and Ceramics Areas and world-class craft programs across the country that will open doors for our students in their chosen artistic fields and set them up for illustrious careers in the arts!
Who will receive the scholarship this summer?
Ethan James McVay (he/they) is a Junior at the University of Memphis seeking a degree in Studio Arts. While his practice is interdisciplinary, he loves to work with unfired clay, performance, and volunteer participation. He is exploring topics of long-term change, action/reaction, and the relationships between bodies and landscapes. He loves to interact with nature and is an avid mountain biker, rock climber, and plant keeper. After school, he would like to teach, maintain a studio practice, and create systems for sustainable food production and living spaces.
Genn Franks, a Memphis-based creative photographer, is a senior in the UofM art department. She has been honing her photography/videography skills for the past six years. She specializes primarily in digital art with a keen interest in painting and sculpture. Genn has a constant eagerness to obtain knowledge and experience, as well as an eye for visual aesthetics. Her determination makes her an asset anywhere she goes seeking new opportunities to model her creativity.
