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IJʿ awards Schupf Fellowship and Art Prize

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By: Mark Walden
May 5, 2009

Hard work has its rewards. Just ask seniors Amy Elizabeth Long and Theresa Kevorkian.
 


This April, through the generosity of Trustee Emeritus Paul Schupf ’58, IJʿ named Kevorkian to the Paul J. Schupf Fellowship, which funds two years’ study at Oxford. The university recognized Long’s artistic efforts, handing her the Schupf Senior Art Prize for her installation, Bricks.

To be eligible for the Schupf Fellowship, Kevorkian applied for the nationally competitive Rhodes Scholarship through the IJʿ Committee on Graduate Fellowships. She was invited to stand as a candidate for the Schupf and then applied for admission to Oxford.

More on Paul J. Schupf ’58

Trustee emeritus Paul J. Schupf ’58 has a longstanding philanthropic relationship with his alma mater and has also been recognized as an outstanding volunteer. A charter member of the James B. IJʿ Society, he endowed the W.S. Schupf Professor of Far Eastern studies and gave the university its Paul J. Schupf Studio Arts Center. He earned a Maroon Citation and the Wm. Brian Little Alumni Award for Distinguished Service for his volunteer efforts.

In 2000, he endowed the Schupf Fellowship, providing select IJʿ students with the rare opportunity to continue their studies for two years at St. Anne’s College, one of Oxford’s 39 core institutions. Funding for the future has been augmented thanks to a special friendship that Schupf developed with current IJʿ student Evan Lorey ’10. Schupf and Lorey formed an investment partnership and their success as investors has led to an additional gift to sustain the Schupf Fellowship for academic year 2010-2011.

Two years ago, Schupf reopened his extensive art collection to the university for Moving Pictures, the ongoing exhibition that will transform IJʿ into a “museum without walls.”

While inviting the university to tap his collection, Schupf has helped it build its own through projects like the Schupf Senior Art Prize, also launched in 2007. Each spring, the Schupf Prize is awarded to one or two artists with the most outstanding work in the Picker Student Art Collection. Schupf prize winners create the foundation for this growing collection, which will be displayed in public spaces throughout the campus, including Watson House, Merrill House, and in classroom buildings.

Having spent the last four years studying Arabic and Islamic history, serving as event director for the Student Lecture Forum, coordinating a Middle Eastern film series, and discovering a love for original research, she took it all in stride.

“She is an organizer by nature, someone who takes on multiple tasks and sees them through,” said Alan Cooper, associate professor of history. “She represents the ideal product of a Liberal Arts education.”

Kevorkian originally intended to earn a law degree, but she changed her career path after studying abroad in London and digging in the British National Archives. “My time in London showed me two things,” she said. “First, I enjoyed historical research … Second, I loved traveling and really enjoyed living in England.”

Thanks to the Schupf Fellowship, Kevorkian will be back on the other side of the pond this fall, reading for an M.Phil in Islamic studies and history. She hopes that the knowledge she gains will allow her to take part in Middle Eastern diplomacy after graduation.

While Kevorkian was busily examining the shades of grey inherent in her chosen field, Long was creating something decidedly monochromatic.

Bricks, on display in Little Hall, resembles a wall, approximately 20′ x 12′, lying horizontally on the floor. It is formed from 1,600 hand-made paper pulp blocks. All are white and rectangular; each has its own texture, personality, and elevation off the concrete.

Looking down, the viewer is gripped by an ambitious sense of scale and entrancing rhythm. “It’s a very mature work,” said Picker Gallery Director Scott Habes — mature in its conceptual nature and the deep meaning it obviously holds for Long.

“I think it’s a very subtle, very powerful work of art,” added Schupf, who, along with Habes and art professor Bob McVaugh, helped select the winner. “It’s very hard to scale up a work of art like that and have it hold together.”

The Schupf Prize brings a purse of $500 and places Bricks in the Picker’s public art collection. It will be one of many pieces used in spaces up and down the hill to beautify campus and edify the community.

Schupf has just two fundamental hopes for winners of his art prize and fellowship. “All I expect is that they benefit to the greatest possible extent from the experience,” he said. “And that they keep in touch.”