The work of student artists who participated in the Focus: Artist Grant Program was displayed in the Memorial Union Art Gallery at a reception April 3. Focus is an Iowa State campus organization that has been supporting students in the arts since 1972. Students of any major can apply for a grant of up to $600 for projects in the visual arts, apparel design, writing, theater, dance and musical performances. The exhibit is on display in the Memorial Union Art Gallery until April 25.
Letitia Kenemer is the committee chair of the Memorial Union Art Programs. She is part of the committee that decides which applicants receive funding and organizes the exhibit with the students’ work.
“It’s a great opportunity for artists to learn how to work within a grant and how to put a budget together,” Kenemer said.
Some applicants receive their grants an entire year before the exhibit in the month of April and others get theirs in October. Kenemer and the committee work with the artists and do check-ins to make sure they are staying on track with their projects.
“I’ve spent either a year or half a year with these artists, you know, seeing what they’re developing and seeing what they’re doing,” Kenemer said. “So when they finish it and it all comes together, it just feels like such an exciting time and they are proud and they feel good about it.”
Colton Vance, a freshman majoring in integrated studio arts, has been surrounded by the arts his entire life because of his father being a fine artist. However, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that Vance found himself bored and fell in love with art for himself.
“During COVID, I was obviously bored and I was a freshman in high school with nothing to do, and I took it up as a hobby and ended up falling in love with it,” Vance said.
Vance was the youngest person to receive a grant and participate in the program this year. The grant not only gave him the opportunity to buy supplies for a project but to get his name out there early in his college career.
“I wanted to make this piece as a transition from adolescence to, you know, playing pretend adult,” Vance said.
For others, participating in the program was an opportunity to expand upon work they had already done in class. Jazmin Terrell, a senior majoring in integrated studio arts, based her piece on her current body of research in natural color. Terrell was grateful for the funding that gave her the opportunity to purchase the material needed for her project in an environment outside of the classroom.
“[The program is] really a celebration of so many different ideas, how we can really push ourselves to try something new outside of the learning environment we’re already in and to take ideas that we learned in the classroom further,” Terrell said.
Alicia Stagg is a junior majoring in integrated studio arts and was encouraged by her classmates who were participating in the program at the time to give it a try for herself. She based her project on another body of work she did in her screen printing class and turned it into an animation. Stagg also found inspiration for her piece from the inner workings of her own mind.
“My main inspiration was my own thought life and thinking about my thought processes through different emotions,” Stagg said. “So a big emotion is anxiety and showing, ‘What does it look like to be thinking in the midst of anxiety?’”
The six-month to year-long process for those participating in the program takes diligence to complete their projects on top of their class loads, but to have their work completed, on display and appreciated is a rewarding experience.
“I feel like I’m part of a broader community of artists,” Stagg said. “I really appreciate being in this space because there’s so many artists coming in and people who appreciate art; I feel like my work is appreciated in this space.”
