School of Art + Design Donor Group Selects Its 2019 Faculty Grant Recipients

The SDSU Art Council Ambassador Program, a donor group comprised of alumni, friends and community members dedicated to supporting the SDSU School of Art + Design, recently announced its annual Faculty Development Grant recipients for 2019. The grants, in the amount of $1000 each, were awarded to Kerianne Quick, assistant professor of Jewelry and Metalsmithing, and Mark Siprut, associate professor of Multimedia.

Quick’s project is a comprehensive exhibition catalog to accompany her upcoming solo exhibition, A Portrait of People in Motion, at the New Americans Museum in San Diego and later at Super+Centercourt Gallery during the Handwerksmesse & Munich Jewelry Week in March of 2020. Quick’s catalog will be a full- color, print and digital publication. The digital version will also be translated into four languages, provide full access to the visually impaired and will be freely distributed to schools, libraries, museums, non-profit organizations and interested researchers and readers.

Since September 2018, Quick, a resident artist at the New Americans Museum, has been investigating the role objects play during and after migration journeys. As part of her project, Quick has digitally collected 150 objects and oral histories from residents of San Diego related to their own or their family’s migration stories.

“Using digital audio documentation and 3D scanning and printing technology, these objects and stories paint a portrait, not only of how objects connect people to places and people to their past, but also to our diverse city,” said Quick.

Associate Professor of Multimedia Mark Siprut, the second Art Council Ambassadors grant recipient, plans to complete an interactive multimedia exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), scheduled to open in August of 2021. Siprut envisions his interactive, multi-screen installation titled, Community Interpretations of Oceanside Culture, to be a multimedia community-engagement project, linking collective memory and creative commentary of Oceanside culture from a diverse community perspective.

“My intent with this project is to paint a personal picture, a community self-portrait of Oceanside, not typically represented in postcards and business advertising,” said Siprut.

The installation will be controlled by sensors, switches, and buttons strategically placed within the gallery so that viewers will trigger, navigate and control the audio and visual content. The photographs, videos, and audio effects, will be created by Siprut, along with content pulled from archives, artists, photographers, and organizations within the community.

Both Siprut and Quick are eager to share the cultural, historical and technological significance of their projects with students and the greater community.

“Being able to see these projects come to fruition will be so gratifying,” said Quick. “We are incredibly appreciative for the support of the Art Council Ambassadors who understand the value and impact of providing opportunities like these for our Art and Design faculty.”

Art Council Ambassadors provide generous support to faculty, students, programs, and projects at the School of Art + Design. For information on becoming an Art Council Ambassador and/or supporting the School of Art and Design, please call: 619-594-4548 or visit this link.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.