Cranbrook Academy of Art Announces 2022 Student Awards

Photo: PD Rearick

As Cranbrook Academy of Art concludes the 2021-22 academic year, we are pleased to announce several awards presented to our students. The awards are all designed to support study at the Academy and to aid our 2022 graduates in the transition from students to practicing artists. We are grateful to the individuals and organizations who continue to see the importance of supporting today’s artists, architects, and designers.

The Robert C. Larson Venture Award was given to Eleanor Anderson (Fiber ’22) who will attend the Berlin Arts Institute for a month-long residency; Dot Jackson (Fiber ’23) who will attend Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, to take the class, “The Art of Making Books: Experimental Artists’ Books Inspired by Nature”; and William Lanzillo (Sculpture ’23) who will take the two-week course, “The Expanded Field in the Expanding Field: Zines, Ephemera, and Events” at the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency. The shared award recognizes and supports the work of innovative and inspired Academy students. The endowment fund was established by Bonnie Larson, Patron and former Board of Governor of the  Academy and Art Museum, to celebrate her husband Robert C. Larson’s commitment to Cranbrook. Larson was a long-time volunteer leader and donor at  Cranbrook and served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees from 1996–2002. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy and Art Museum from 1986–2000. 

The 2022 Museum Purchase Award was presented to Julian Jones, a 2022 graduate of the Photography department, for his work Untitled Quilt #9 (MARKINGS). This work was on display in the 2022 Graduate Degree Exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum and was selected for purchase by the Museum Committee. His work will be accessioned into the permanent collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.

The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Scholarship was presented to two students this year. Doug Jones (Print Media ’22) will use it to take the “Charcoal and Expressive Mark Making: A Painter’s Approach to Drawing” workshop, and Kayla Powers (Fiber ’23) will take the “Positively Paper: Easy Set-Up for a Hand Papermaking Home Studio” workshop.

The Anderson Ranch Scholarship was awarded to two students, Sakurako Reed (Print Media ’23) who plans to attend a “Textile Surface Printing” workshop, and Dalila Sanabria (Sculpture ’23)

The Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions (ACRE) Residency was awarded to Dalila Sanabria (Sculpture ’23).

The Ox-Bow Summer Scholarship was awarded to Megha Gupta (Ceramics ‘23). She will receive funding to take a “Beginning Glassblowing” workshop through the Ox-Bow summer school program based in Saugatuck, Michigan.

The Ox-Bow Summer Residency was awarded to Zena Segre (Fiber ‘23), which will provide full access to all facilities and artists at Ox-Bow during the three-week course period.

The Stewart Thomson Fellowship at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was awarded to Linda Sanchez (Metalsmithing ’23), who will take the “Hard and Soft: Sculptural Brushmaking” workshop this summer.

The Pophouse x Cranbrook Academy of Art 3D Design Fellowship was awarded to Madeline Isakson (3D Design ’22). This fellowship is designed to provide a student with professional experience at Pophouse, one of Detroit’s leading design firms, while they move through the MFA program at Cranbrook. Students selected for the fellowship join Pophouse during the summer between their first and second year of study and work with the team on a design project. Breanne Johnson (3D Design ’23) has been selected as the new fellow and will be working to develop a one-of-a-kind furniture piece this summer that will debut during Detroit’s Month of Design in September.

We also welcomed eight Gilbert Fellows this year. The students are Christopher Salas (Ceramics ’23), Akea Brionne Brown (Photography ’23), Delia Touche (Print Media ’23), Dalila Sanabria (Sculpture ’23), Jae Song (4D Design ’23), Kevin Cendejas (Architecture’23), Walker Walls-Tarver (Painting ’23), and George Perez (Photography ’23). In 2021, Jennifer and Dan Gilbert established the Gilbert Fellowship program to create a more diverse and equitable community by removing financial barriers to graduate art and design education and bringing voices to Cranbrook that represent the world in which we live. Cranbrook plans to welcome a new class of Gilbert Fellows in the Fall of 2022, while the students listed above will enter their second year of the program.

The Gallery A Award was presented to Kiwi Nguyen, a first-year student in the Metalsmithing department. This award provides funding for a student to exhibit their work in the entry space in the Academy of Art Administration office. Nguyen plans to prepare an exhibition of selections from the “Cranbrook Trash Couture Collection” that was recently presented on campus in collaboration with House of Kiwi and others.

The Meredith Beau CAA ’97 and Scott Beau Materials Fund was awarded to first-year student Andrew Riiska (3D Design ’23), and second-year students Kira Keck (Fiber ’22), Kelly Kroener (Sculpture ’22), Chelsea Romeo Allen (Sculpture ’22), and Jing-Ying Su (Architecture ’22). This gift is to be used to assist students in any discipline with purchasing materials.

The Cranbrook Educational Community President’s Award was established by Cranbrook Educational Community’s former President, Dominic DiMarco, and is continued by current President Aimeclaire Roche. It recognizes those artists engaged in environmental sustainability projects. The $1,000 award will be split between three students this year: Andrew Riiska, a first-year student in the 3D Design department; Yi Shi, a first-year student in the Architecture department; and Cooper Siegel, a 2022 graduate of the Ceramics department.

The Academy Director’s Award was awarded to Vikram Kalidindi, a 2022 graduate of the 4D Design department. The Director’s Award recognizes excellence throughout two years of study at the Academy.

In other student news, we are pleased to learn that several students were awarded a variety of awards and residencies, including Eleanor Anderson (Fiber ’22), who was awarded an Open Studio Residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; Noelle Choy (Sculpture ’22) was awarded a Residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; Mitch Frank (Fiber ’22) received a Windgate Sustainable Craft Award; Julian Jones (Photography ‘22) received an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Playground Detroit; Kira Keck (Fiber ’22) received a scholarship for a Chautauqua School of Art Residency and a Center for Craft Career Advancement Grant. Finally, Kayla Powers (Fiber ’23) was a nominated for an Outstanding Student Award from the Surface Design Association; Chris Baker (2D Design ’23) and Mason Goolsby (2D Design ’23) were named “Students to Watch” by Graphic Design USA magazine, and Delia Touche (Print Media ’23) received a summer internship at Minnesota Center for Book Arts.