IRWIN 2016: SELF
Public reception at the Sesnon Gallery at Porter College:
Wednesday, May 25, 5:30pm-7:30pm with awards ceremony at 6:30pm
Exhibition Dates:
Wednesday, May 25 - Saturday, June 11 2016
The 2016 Irwin Scholars are
Jairo Banuelos
Haley Belenis
Thomas Fallis
Andi Furtado
Jesse Huynh
Jordan Krauss
Erick Medel
Sarah Ploenzke
Caetano Santos
Rachel Smith
Luigi Villanueva
Chloe Yantis
The Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery's annual Irwin Scholarship Award exhibition showcases a collection of the most promising undergraduate artists at UCSC. The William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship Fund was established in 1986 and generates annual merit scholarships to further the education of selected UC Santa Cruz art students.
"It is the most exciting group show of the school year. It is celebratory and an important show," says Faculty Advisor and Professor of Photography, Norman Locks.
The artists are each working with narratives that range from being deeply personal to appearing as a connecting thread within a body of work. The artworks displayed tell stories by addressing current socio-political issues, imagining fictional California ecologies, investigating personal relationships with cultural identity, illustrating body horror, highlighting the ephemeral and trivial moments of daily life.
The scholars express these themes through a variety of traditional and new media practices. The exhibition includes painting, sculpture, experimental and traditional photography, printmaking, installation and interactive installation, graphic novel, digital drawing, glass etching, fashion, and woodworking.
About the Irwin Scholarship
The William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship Fund was established in 1986, with a modest donation by Sue Irwin, and now generates 12 annual merit scholarships to further the education of selected UC Santa Cruz students for proven excellence in the arts. The scholars are nominated by the art department faculty to submit a portfolio of work and then are selected by an all faculty vote.