Following is a sampling of awards, prizes and grants that CalArtians have recently received.
2014 LA Emerging Artist Grant
CalArts alumni Heather Cassils (Art-Integrated Media MFA 02), Danielle Dean (Art MFA 12), Mark So (Music MFA 06) and John Wiese (Art BFA 01) are among eight artists to receive the 2014 Los Angeles Emerging Artist Grant, an unrestricted $10,000 prize awarded by the Rema Hort Mann Foundation. Cassils and Dean join a growing list of CalArtians who have won the grant, among them Nery Gabriel Lemus (Art MFA 09).
The David C. Driskell Prize
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta named CalArts alumnus Lyle Ashton Harris (Art MFA 90) the 2014 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize. Harris is the 10th recipient of the award, which honors and celebrates contributions to African American art and art history.
From the press release:
For more than two decades, Harris has cultivated a diverse artistic practice ranging from photographic media and collage to installation and performance. His work explores intersections between the personal and the political, examining the impact of ethnicity, gender and desire on the contemporary social and cultural dynamic.
Known for his self-portraits and use of pop culture icons (such as Billie Holiday and Michael Jackson), Harris teases the viewers’ perceptions and expectations, recalibrating the familiar with the extraordinary.
Harris will be honored at the Driskell Prize Dinner in Atlanta on May 2.
SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award
The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) has chosen composer and CalArts faculty Barry Schrader as the recipient of the 2014 SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award. The award acknowledges an individual’s contribution to the field of electro-acoustic music. Schrader joins an impressive list of award recipients which includes the musician Les Paul and CalArts Music Program (now The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts) co-founder Morton Subotnick.
College Improv Tournament
Tall Grande Venti, an improv group whose members are Michael Yichao (Theater MFA 13), Casey Jackson (Theater MFA 13) and Sarah Shoemaker (Theater MFA 14), took home the grand prize at the National College Improv Tournament held in Chicago on March 1. The team bested sixteen other improv groups from colleges around the United States to win the prize.