2015-2016 College Award Ceremony Recap
The Department of Art Education Scholarships:
- Jay Boda, MEX, Ph.D.
Ivan and Inez Johnson Family Art Education Grad Scholarship
- Rachel Nelms, Art Therapy, Ph.D.
- Jay Cabrera, Art Education, MA
- Olivia Grace Smith, Art Therapy, MA
- Franchesca Lastra Vicente, Art Therapy, MA
- April Fitzpatrick, Art Therapy, MA
- Morgan Szymanski, MEX, MA
- Achia Floyd, Arts Administration, MA
- Tiffany Patrick, Arts Administration, MA
- Juyeon Song, Arts Administration, Ph.D.
- Hsiu-Chun Yang, Art Education, Ph.D.
Jessie Lovano Kerr Scholarship
Jay Boda
Jay Boda is finishing up his first year as a doctoral student and as Dr. Pat Villeneuve’s graduate assistant in the Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Exhibitions program. His background includes a career in the Air Force with a combat tour to Iraq and an MFA in screenwriting from FSU’s College of Motion Picture Arts. Jay discovered his passion for museum education as a docent at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Today, Jay’s research focuses on storytelling and encouraging museum visitors to tell their stories as a way to better engage with museum objects.
Ivan and Inez Johnson Family Art Education Grad Scholarship
Rachel Nelms
Rachel Nelms, an Art Therapy doctoral student at FSU, is currently researching children’s grief and the relationship between grief and aggression, particularly in violence saturated urban areas. Rachel has a Master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling from Adler University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Rachel is a Registered Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor. She is interested in continuing her work providing art therapy and bereavement counseling support groups for children and families experiencing loss and grief, particularly those who are victims of the violence inherent in the Chicagoland area.
Fagnant Fund for Student Excellence Scholarship
Jay Cabrera
Currently, Jay Cabrera is a graduate student enrolled in FSU’s five year combined Bachelor’s in Studio Art and Master’s in Art Education Program. After completing the program, he will be certified to teach art from Kindergarten through Grade 12. As an art teacher, he plans to expose his students to a large array of art museums, professional artists, and studio set ups. Exposing students to these resources will broaden their definition of art and will encourage them to think critically. He also plans to develop a curriculum that engenders creativity and sets the foundation for pursuing advanced course work in focused areas. In addition, Jay plans to incorporate and encourage art critiques based on Dr. Tom Anderson’s art critique method. This method has proven that anyone, from Pre-K students to adults, can talk about art work in an analytical and critical manner. These educational experiences will expose students to the critique format and provide an academic avenue for developing analytical skills and providing constructive feedback. Jay believes that offering these educational opportunities to students will enhance their art awareness and build vital critical/analytical thinking skills that will in turn, enable them to compete in a demanding world.
Frances Anderson Scholarship
Olivia Smith
Olivia Smith is a second year Master’s student in the Art Therapy Program at FSU. Before coming to FSU, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware. After a variety of rewarding practicum experiences at FSU, she has developed a passion for working with individuals with eating disorders and substance abuse. In the future, Olivia would like to continue working with these populations in Florida.
Marylou & Ernistine Kuhn Scholarship
Franchesca Lastra Vicente
Franchesca Lastra Vicente is a first year Master’s student in the Art Therapy Program at FSU. Before coming to FSU, she studied Psychology and Fine Art at the University of South Florida, and received her bachelor’s degree in 2014. In the past, she has worked with individuals of physical and intellectual disabilities, and currently has a passion for helping those with mental health conditions. In the future, she would like to provide alternative options through art therapy to individuals of different cultural ethnicities, in hopes of advancing the topic of multicultural issues in the profession. Franchesca is also a member of Florida State University’s Art Therapy Association (ATA) and will be the incoming president for this organization in the 2016-2017 academic year.
April Fitzpatrick
April Fitzpatrick is a first year Master’s student in the Art Therapy Program at FSU. Before coming to FSU, she studied psychology at Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS, and received her bachelor’s degree in 2012. The Art Therapy program has allowed her to focus her efforts on learning more about her specific interests, which include Afrocentric theories, social justice, cultural awareness, and non-western approaches practiced within the field. April plans to complete an art project in Accra, Ghana, to explore the traditional values of art as it relates to the community, cultural beliefs, and identity development. Using what she learns, she plans to develop an art therapy program to address presenting issues through cultural specific group art therapy. April has adopted the motto of “letting the client lead you,” which is a frequent statement used within the Art Therapy program.
Morgan Szymanski is a first-year Master’s student in the Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Exhibitions program at FSU. Morgan also earned a bachelor’s degree at FSU for studying humanities and museum studies. Her goal is to make the museum a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can come and feel welcome. She is especially interested in working with youth and families. Moran is excited to implement what she has learned in the program thus far as she starts working at the Museum of Florida History as an educator, and as in intern in the fall for The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, FL.
Achia Floyd
Tiffany Patrick
Juyeon Song
Juyeon Song is a doctoral student in the Arts Administration program at FSU. Before she joined the program, Juyeon worked for the Arts Council Korea (ARKO), which is a state-funded, nonprofit quasi-government organization in Seoul, Korea. Juyeon received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Marketing at University of Massachusetts in 2006. After, she returned to Korea to start her professional career as a financial analyst in the Korean equity market. Juyeon received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from KDI School in 2011, and a Master of Science (MS) degree in Management from Georgia Tech in 2012. After graduation, Juyeon worked as a portfolio manager to invest the Culture and Art Promotion Endowment in ARKO for two years. Her work experience in ARKO inspired her shift in perspective from profits-focused to public-focused finance. Juyeon is interested in researching how to deliver the value of the arts equally and effectively to the public. Her research interests are capital structures and strategic decisions with intangible resource-based arts and cultural organizations. Juyeon believes that strategic approaches reflecting arts and cultural organizations’ characteristics enhance organizations’ competitive advantage, while the public receives greater benefits from arts and cultural organizations’ strategic movement.
Hsiu-Chun Yang
Hsiu-Chun Yang is a first year doctoral student in Art Education at FSU. Before coming to FSU, Hsiu-Chun spent a year in Italy completing the field study required for her Master’s thesis, which studies the Reggio Emilia approach. Hsiu-Chun was also an art teacher in art studio for four years in Taiwan. Pursuing an art education doctoral degree in the United State is Hsiu-Chun’s life goal for self-actualization on the profession development. At FSU, Hsiu-Chun would like to research how to adapt the Reggio Emilia approach in her own country. Hsiu-Chun dreams of having her own art school for kids where she can provide them a holistic view to using art for understanding, communicating, expressing, and everything in their lives. She hopes to see art exist in a closed relationship, despite the form, and in our lives.