|
|
Fergus Fund Scholarships
Open Doors for Art Students
A program in the College of the Arts generously supported by the Fergus Fund is the annual Fergus Scholarship Awards Competition, open to all undergraduate and graduate studio artists in the Departments of Art, Design and Art Education at Ohio State. Typically, about 15 students are awarded scholarships in the competition, and their artwork is shown in an exhibition in Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor. This year’s show is scheduled Feb 27 – Mar 10, with an opening reception and awards presentation on Mon, Feb 27, 5-–7 pm.
The philosophy of the Fergus Fund awards, and the strong belief of the Fergus family, is a responsibility to share the benefits of success by giving back to the community, according to Elizabeth Fergus-Jean. The Fergus family has directed the careful use of the Fergus Fund to foster the talents of young visual artists.
The Fergus Fund, formerly known as the Fergus-Gilmore Fund, originally was established by a bequest from
John C. Fergus, Robert H. Fergus and Elizabeth O. Fergus in honor of their mother and mother-in-law Edith Fergus Gilmore. The fund has been renamed to more clearly represent the bequest of its primary funder, John C. Fergus.
We wondered what a few of our previous Fergus-Gilmore Scholarship winners were up to these days. Here’s a round-up of what we found out from a few of them:
Fernando Orellana
Orellana, who earned an MFA in art & technology in 2004, recently joined the faculty of Union College near Albany, NY. He’s starting up a digital arts program at the college, and plans to develop its curriculum over the next few years. Orellana also continues to make art and exhibit his paintings and electronic projects, and has recently exhibited in solo and group shows in Ohio, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Australia, Illinois and New York.
George Ferrandi
An installation and performance artist now based in Brooklyn, NY, Ferrandi earned her MFA in sculpture in 1996. After teaching in Florida and Peru for several years, she moved to New York to concentrate on making and showing her art, often at the nearby Cinders Gallery, which she describes has a “whimsical and edgy” aesthetic that appeals to her. Ferrandi also is active in the City Reliquary Museum in Williamsburg and runs a small business that specializes in the repair and restoration of large-scale religious statuary for churches.
Dion Johnson
Ohio native Johnson is currently gallery manager and adjunct faculty member at the University of La Verne near Los Angeles, where he teaches painting, life drawing and sculpture. He earned a BA at Ohio State in 1997, and continues to exhibit actively, opening recent shows at the Carl Berg Gallery in LA and at the Rebecca Ibel Gallery in Columbus, which has represented him since 1997. His artworks combine use of innovative painting and graphic techniques with everyday subject matter, showing how the extraordinary can be found within the ordinary. |
Annual Fergus Scholarship Competition:
list of 2006 winners
Fourteenth Annual Fergus Scholarship
Awards Exhibition
Mon Feb 27 – Fri Mar 10
Opening Reception: Mon Feb 27 • 5–7 pm
Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor
|
fprint(null), Fernando Orellana
acrylic and sumi ink on paper (2005)
|
all the ones that have arms are saluting
George Ferrandi
mixed media, forms are plaster or carved soap on found furniture (2005)
|
crisscross, Dion Johnson
acrylic on canvas (2004)
|
|
