Ten students studying in the School of Art and Design in the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts have been awarded scholarships through the school’s Global Position Studies program.

The scholarships are designed to fund outstanding students who are taking School of Art and Design off-campus GPS courses. The awards are made possible by the College of Creative Arts and also by CCA Visiting Committee member Pat Bibbee, an interior designer of Charleston, West Virginia, whose financial gift of $5,000 provides a special award in her name.

The Global Positioning Studies program is an interdisciplinary visual art and design initiative that positions students at the crossroads between a local sense of place and a global understanding of that place in the world.

Through direct experience, Global Positioning Studies courses encourage students to engage the world as a fertile ground for art making and critical research. In addition to GPS related courses, the School of Art and Design weaves community and environmentally driven components into much of their programming—including core-curriculum courses, school-wide projects, initiatives and visiting lectures.

The GPS Scholarships are open to all full-time undergraduate and graduate art or art history majors in the School of Art and Design who have a GPA of 2.5 or higher. The students must be enrolled in one of the GPS courses, such as Art and Environment: Hawaii, Place: Appalachia, Disegno Italia, Art and Environment: Coastal Maine, Frank Lloyd Wright Course, Jackson Hole Photography Workshop, Medieval Stained Glass in France, or Space: Atacama. The awards support each student’s individual art interest, as well as providing for travel expenses for the off-campus courses.

This year’s GPS scholars include:

Amanda Mates, of Northfield, Ohio, majoring in Intermedia/Photography, with a minor in Advertising; Floyd Robinson, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, majoring in Ceramics; Julissa Perkins, of Fairmont, West Virginia, majoring in Ceramics, with a minor in Art History; Molly Bloom, of Charleston, West Virginia, majoring in Intermedia/Photography with a minor in Advertising; Brittany Mick, of Falling Waters, West Virginia, majoring in Intermedia/Photography; Hannah Hicks, of Moundsville, West Virginia, majoring in Art Education with a concentration in Photography; Deondra Snow, of Charles Town, West Virginia, majoring in Art Education with concentration in Graphic Design and minors in Art History and Dance; Hannah Kinney, of Morgantown, West Virginia, majoring in Graphic Design; and William McKinney, of Morgantown, West Virginia, majoring in Ceramics.

The winner of the first Pat Bibbee GPS Scholarship Award is Nathan Ditzler of Kailua, Hawaii, a graduate student studying Ceramics.

Pat Bibbee is one of West Virginia’s foremost interior designers. She has collaborated on renovations to The Blaney House, the home of the president of West Virginia University in Morgantown, and also on the West Virginia Governor’s Mansion in Charleston. She served on the Interiors Committee for the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences and decorated the Donor’s Lounge for the facility. Her work has been featured in Southern Living magazine, the HGTV program “Homes Across America,” and the book “Decorating with Southern Living.”

The Pat Bibbee GPS Scholarship Award in the WVU College of Creative Arts was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $1 billion comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2017.

-WVU-

cl/12/22/14

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304.293.4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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