|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Jeffrey Schiff, professor of art, is a Guggenheim fellowship recipient. |
|
| Posted 04.21.08 |
Professor of Art Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture
|
Jeffrey Schiff, professor of art, was awarded a 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship
by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. According to the
foundation, the "fellowships are appointed for stellar achievement and
exceptional promise for continued accomplishment." Schiff’s fellowship was
awarded in the "Fine Arts" category in recognition of his work in sculpture.
The program provides funds to permit fellows to work with "as much creative
freedom as possible." The fellowships are without conditions or
stipulations, allowing recipients the liberty to spend the awarded funds in
the way they see to best affect their creative work. Schiff is one of 190
fellows who were awarded with monies from the $8.2 million in fellowship
grants.
“Professor Jeffrey Schiff has been deeply committed to, and very successful
in, using his artistic vision to reach out to the greater world beyond the
Wesleyan campus,” says Joseph Bruno, vice president for academic affairs and
provost.
“We place a high premium on creating scholarly and artistic work that has
just this type of far-reaching impact. It is no surprise to me that Jeff has
received this honor from the Guggenheim Foundation, and I’m delighted that
the Foundation has recognized his important work with such a strong show of
support,” Bruno says.
Schiff is known for his contemporary sculptures which feature a mix of
natural and industrial materials. Many of his works are large-scale pieces
and he has been commissioned to do public installations such as a steel and
bronze piece located at the South Station bus and railroad terminal in
Boston. In his pieces one can observe an interplay between different objects
and meaning beyond the physical structures.
Schiff says he was “Surprised, grateful, honored, perplexed, hopeful, [and]
energized” upon learning that he was chosen to receive such a prestigious
grant.
“The Guggenheim funding will make it possible for me to construct works that
were simply too costly to make without assistance. Precisely what I'll be
making is yet to be determined,” Schiff says.
Schiff is also grateful that being in the liberal arts environment at
Wesleyan helps inspire and inform his art.
“Working at Wesleyan has been an enormous influence on my work,” Schiff
says.
“First, I am influenced by the exchange of ideas on a broad range of
subjects that I enjoy with my colleagues, or encounter from visiting
speakers and resources such as the Center for Humanities. Second, contact
with my students keeps alive ideas about art that are not a principal focus
of my own work. Finally, I do a lot of the actual making of the sculpture
here, making use of the digital printing facilities and ITS expertise, and
especially working with the invaluable Scientific Support Services Machine
Shop, whose skilled fabricators have dramatically extended the possibilities
of my work,” he says.
|
|
By Corrina Kerr, associate director of media
relations |
|
|
 |
|
|
