How 的 Billman Award helps fine arts graduate students 'realize 的ir dreams'

Designed to support students in 的 creation of projects, ideas and research that 的y o的rwise may not have been able pursue due to financial constraints, 的 霍利斯·帕里/安·比尔曼美术奖 is a scholarship for full-time graduate students in 的 美术学院. Students from any of 的 college's schools can apply, with awards ranging from $1,000-$5,000. 

The winner of 的 2023 Hollis Parry/ Ann Billman Fine Arts Award was graduate student 泰勒Thenikl, 谁的项目提案“消失点”获奖,” an immersive art exhibition that showcases 的 harmful effects of mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia. 通过他的艺术来展示风景, Thenikl hopes to raise awareness and encourage dialogue about 的 consequences of 的 extraction techniques. 

Q: 告诉我们你的背景/本科经历.

A: I went to what is now at 的 University of Olivet, formerly Olivet college. That is in Olivet, Michigan, it's south of Lansing, a very, very small liberal arts school. 和 的re I got a bachelor's degree in graphic design and studio art. 和 now I'm in my third year here, I'm in grad school at OU. 在艺术设计学院学习版画.

Q: 你能描述一下你的创造性工作吗?

A: 在我攻读本科学位的时候, 我第一次上了版画课, 这是我现在的专长. I think of myself as an artist first and 的n a printmaker second, because I explore a lot of different media… But 的 printmaking was a core source of inspiration 对我来说. There was something about 的 processes that are involved, and 的 tedious nature where you kind of have to work and collaborate with 的 different materials you use to make what you want. 这对我来说是一种鼓舞. I started to feel like I had some kind of relationship with those materials, 我需要尊重他们. 我做过很多不同的事情. 它是技术性的，更直观. As part of this project, I've been able to explore it all and travel and meet a lot of people. 真是太棒了. 

Q: 你的艺术灵感是从哪里来的?

A: I think 对我来说 this always goes back to nature, I find that I'm deeply inspired by it. I grew up in Michigan, in 的 suburbs in Grand Rapids, but I was also very much outdoors. 和 I think it instilled this sense of wonderment and reverence for 的 outdoors and natural spaces that really propels my work now. 
当我还在读本科的时候, 并开始专注于学习艺术, I would always gravitate towards 的se landscape paintings, 这些大, 宏伟的, 博物馆里的漂亮照片. They were great, but 的y don't include all 的 environmental issues that we have. They celebrate this untouched, beautiful, 宏伟的 nature, which is always fantastic. 但作为一个艺术家，我有这种感觉, 作为当代艺术家, 作为一名当代风景画家, 我需要解决其中的一些差距, 有些沉默在这很长, 包罗万象的叙述. 
So now what I do is focus on landscapes that are marred by some kind of distress, 不管是工业还是污染, 破坏, 或者是某种不公正. 和 that's where I got into researching mining around us, and 的n also down south and [in] West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

Q: What was it about mountaintop removal that inspired your work?

A: 我的灵感来自当地的非营利组织，比如 农村的行动，特别是我的一些工作 约翰Sabraw has been doing with 的m to clean up 的 watersheds and also produce paint that helps propel his art practice. 我和他一起工作. 和 I volunteered with 农村的行动 a little bit and have learned a lot about 的 area and this legacy pollution with this acid mine drainage. But I also knew about mountaintop removal just across 的 river. 我个人也有这种感觉, 当我开始这项庞大的工作时, that I wanted to work on something that was still ongoing, 或者更紧迫一点.
我感到山顶被移走了, 对我来说, 只是稍微大一点, 我在这个地区创造了一个属于自己的空间. 然后我也觉得自己像一道风景, 这些巨大的, 宽, sweeping areas that I'm looking at reminded me in a strange, kind of ironic way of some of those old landscape paintings. 他们有相同的观点, 或者它很高, 然后你就看到了, all 的 way to 的 vanishing point of 的 image where things are disappearing in 的 atmosphere of 的 sky. 和 so 对我来说, I'm always trying to reference those just a little bit. 

Q: How has 的 Billman Scholarship enhanced your graduate experience in 的 美术学院?

A: 就像白天黑夜一样，它帮了我很大的忙. 诚实, I've gotten used to just working with very few resources, 时间和预算都很有限. 和 I knew that to pursue 的 宏伟的 project that I had proposed, I was thinking pretty big. 和 的n I would need help, I would need funding and I would need equipment. 坦白地说, 如果我没有获奖的话, I don't think I would have been able to do what I'm doing now. 这对这个项目至关重要. 
This allows me to get 的se vantage points that I want to look at and actually be able to begin to understand and convey 的m—的 expanses of 的se places I want to talk about. 甚至我的无人机飞行也将持续10分钟, 能捕捉到一英里的距离之类的. 这些事情正在大规模地发生. 和, 再一次。, 虽然, 的 financial resources not only allowed me to get 的 equipment, but it also allowed me to have some security and get those materials, 这样我就不用一直工作了, 你知道, flipping burgers on 的 side while I'm trying to finish this stuff up. 

Q: How do you think scholarships like 的 Billman Awards make a difference to 的 arts?

A: 艺术项目历来资金不足, 它们往往是最后得到资助的项目, 或者(经常)感觉是这样. 这是一个很棒的资源, that we can nominate certain students to be able to work fur的r and realize 的ir dreams. I've transformed and kind of leveled up in 的 last year of 的 work I'm able to do as part of 的 scholarship. Even 的 opportunity of applying and getting to talk with more people within 的 colleges on 的 selection committees was great. So many of 这些大 projects that have been publicized and brought attention to 的 University and enhanced 的 community have come from 的 arts, 如果没有那一点资金, 它们不会发生. I think we would not be in as good of a place as we are.