By Karina Montoya, News and Media Relations Intern
The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Muesum of Art announced the winners of the art purchase prize and the design award at the graduate exhibition last Thursday. The winning works and the works of other graduate students are on view through June 16.
Recipients of the awards were Rachel Deane and Adam Flint Taylor.
Deane’s piece titled “The Home I Had to Live In” earned her The Keister and Allen Art Purchase Prize, which is awarded annually to a UC Davis graduating MFA student in Art Studio. Thanks to the generosity of the donors, Shaun Keister and Walter Allen, this award ensures that one piece chosen from a student artist’s body of thesis work will be added to the university’s Fine Arts Collection each year.
Deane’s piece is a three-dimensional environment of intricate patterns, repetitive shapes, bold colors and ornamentation inspired by stories she has written about dating culture, female sexuality, and trauma. As a recipient the Keister and Allen Art Purchase Prize, a piece of Deane’s work will be purchased for the UC Davis Fine Arts Collection. Deane writes modern-day folklore that examines dating culture, female sexuality and trauma. A native of Atlanta, Deane holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and a master’s degree in art and design education from the Rhode Island School of Design. Deane’s work can be seen here.
The new Savageau Award in Design is aimed at furthering the career of a graduating design MFA and to encourage, recognize and celebrate creative and original contributions to the discipline of design.
Taylor’s winning thesis project examines ballot design, gerrymandering and political candidates’ visual identities. He has worked as a designer at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, the Crocker Art Museum and Boulder Associates Architects. Taylor earned his undergraduate degree in design from UC Davis and is the first recipient of the Savageau Award. Taylor’s work can be seen here.
The award is named for Ann Savageau, a professor in the design department from 2007 to 2014. A widely admired professor, writer and curator, she has continued to collaborate with the department and the UC Davis Design Museum, most recently co-curating “Weaving and Woodwork.”
The blog story on all the graduate exhibitions can be found here.