Artistic Excellence Awards Announced

Artistic Excellence Awards Announced
Monday, December 14, 2020

As part of its annual student art and design exhibition, JCC’s Weeks Gallery recognizes individual students who demonstrate excellence in different media types.

Although this year’s exhibition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the gallery is honoring students, identified by JCC’s fine arts faculty, for consideration.

Recipients included:

Artistic Excellence in Painting - Sarah Marucci, a sophomore fine arts major who plans to transfer to the State University of New York at Fredonia. She hopes to pursue costume and theatre design and be an independent artist. She was a member of JCC’s Anime and D20 clubs and created props and costumes for JCC’s theatre production of “She Kills Monsters.”

Artistic Excellence in Drawing and Prints - July Woolson-Pines, who will graduate with an associate’s degree in fine arts, hopes to attend Skidmore College to earn a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, and eventually obtain a master’s degree to teach college level art.

Artistic Excellence in Black & White Photography - Ashlan Davis will graduate with an associate’s degree in media arts and plans to find a job in lifestyle/documentary photography or travel photography. Her work has been partially inspired by the work of Mary Ellen Mark.

Artistic Excellence in Digital Photography & Graphic Design - Joanna Leamon earned an associate’s degree in communication at JCC in December 2019 and graduates this month with an A.S. in media arts and a certificate in multimedia production. She has been accepted to Buffalo State College and plans to pursue a career in the media industry, focusing on documentary filmmaking or broadcasting.

Artistic Excellence in Ceramics - Lux Woolson, a sophomore majoring in individual studies with a focus on art and psychology, plans to pursue his interests in queer psychology and sociology after graduation.

Artistic Excellence in 3D Design - Noah Howard, a sophomore fine arts major, plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh to continue working toward his goal of becoming a curator for a fine art museum or as a freelance artist.

Artistic Excellence in Video/New Media - Charles Sisson, a media arts major, plans to transfer to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania to develop skills in professional video media with a concentration on editing and post-production.