WVU Libraries

The West Virginia University Libraries’ Art in the Libraries committee seeks submissions for the Faculty/Staff and Graduate Student Exhibit Awards.

As part of its mission, the Art in the Libraries Committee wants to highlight the art and scholarship of WVU faculty, staff and graduate students. The Committee invites current WVU faculty/staff and graduate students to submit ideas for consideration for an exhibit to visually showcase their scholarship in new and experimental ways.

These can present a visual evolution of their work, visualize their research and influences, or answer a research question. Faculty/staff and graduate student proposals should be based on their academic or creative research and lend themselves to visual interpretation with Library consultation.

“The goals of these awards are to provide a multidisciplinary platform for deeper learning, foster intellectual discourse and discussion and demonstrate the breadth of WVU’s creative and innovative activity,” Libraries Exhibit Coordinator Sally Brown said.

The exhibit should present an evolution of one’s work by visualizing research, influences, and findings. The goals of these awards are to provide a multidisciplinary platform for deeper learning, while fostering intellectual discourse, in order to demonstrate the breadth of WVU’s creative and innovative activities.

The winner of the Faculty/Staff Award will receive a $1,000 professional development fund award and an exhibition in Downtown Campus Library, Room 1020. The winner will give a public lecture, program, or demonstration. Non-art faculty or staff may submit a proposal based on their academic research that could become visualized with Library consultation and limited resources.

Deadline for Faculty/Staff submissions is Dec. 31. Visit exhibits.lib.wvu.edu/awards/faculty-awards to download an application. Complete the form, add an abbreviated CV, save as a PDF (Lastname_Firstname_Facultyexhibitproposal.pdf) and email to sally.brown1@mail.wvu.edu. Type “Faculty exhibit award proposal” in the subject line.

The winner of the Graduate Student Award will receive a $500 professional development fund award and an exhibition in Downtown Campus Library, Room 122. The winner has the option of giving a public lecture, program, or demonstration.

All WVU graduate students who will be enrolled while the exhibit is on display are eligible.

Awards also include help with design, installation, promotion, and coordination of a public program, offering an opportunity for exposure.

Deadline for submission is June 30, 2023. Visit exhibits.lib.wvu.edu/awards/graduate-student-awards to download an application. Complete the form, add an abbreviated CV, save as a PDF (Lastname_Firstname_Graduateexhibitproposal.pdf) and email to sally.brown1@mail.wvu.edu. Type “Graduate Student exhibit award proposal” in the subject line.

Winners will be selected by the Art in the Libraries Committee. Selection will be based on applications that best meet the award’s goals listed above. Applicants may contact Brown at sally.brown1@mail.wvu.edu for a tour and/or consultation before applying.

Previous Faculty/Staff Award winners include Jaime Banks and Nick Bowman, “Avatars and their Players: From Object to Other,” 2018; Lara Farina, “Big Green Data: Herbals, Science and Art, 2019; Nancy Caronia, “Dime Novels: Racialization and Erasure,” 2020; and Colleen Moretz, “Sustainable Fashion Design Exploration: Transformation to Zero-Waste,” 2022.

The first Graduate Exhibit Award Winner was Chansotheary Dang,  Unboxing the Black Box: The Evolution of Microbial Ecology, in 2022.