School of Art Celebrates Windgate Accelerator Grant Winners

‘Ceramic Room Divider’ by Ana Buitrago. Photo by the artist.

Thanks to a more than $350,000 grant from the Windgate Foundation, 10 recent undergraduate and graduate students from the U of A School of Art in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences each received a $10,000 grant upon graduation to help them set up or expand their studio art career practices.

The studio art B.F.A. 2024 graduate recipients include Vita Long, Emma Nilsson and Madison Varns.

M.F.A. graduate recipients include Janice Agustin, Parto Ahmadpour, Vic Barquin, Ana Buitrago, Vincent Frimpong, Megan Pobywajlo and Larissa Ramey.

Guest jurors Scott Stulen CEO and president of Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa and Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas curator and director of exhibitions at Socrates Sculpture Park in New York were selected the recipients from among dozens of talented applicants.

Stulen and Garcia-Maestas shared that the submitted proposals represented a strong and diverse range of work. They described the quality of portfolios as impressive and addressed relevant issues of place, identity, migration, conflict and community. 

In addition, they shared that many of the proposals included a vision for creating new spaces in the local community to support their practice and that of other artists. Stulen and Garcia-Maestas were inspired to see student dedication to professional development through avenues such as artist residencies, research travel and advanced training programs in the arts.

“The University of Arkansas is well represented by the work of the students and we encourage them to continue to push themselves, get involved in their community and remain connected to each other,” said Stulen and Garcia-Maestas.

This years’ recipients plan to use the funding in a wide-range of ways including launching podcasts, producing work, hosting workshops, securing studio space, purchasing tools and travel research.

“Each graduating artist has a dedicated research practice and ambitious plans post-graduation, and all require resources and funding that isn’t always readily available once they leave school,” said Adrienne Callander, associate professor of art and Windgate grant committee member. “These grants help to provide students with financial security to set up their practice while continuing and expanding their research as they embark on what we know will be rich and rewarding careers in art.”   

Special thanks to the Windgate Foundation for this support and investment in School of Art students and their futures. 

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.

​