A look down the main room of the Arcade Gallery during the reception.

Last Friday was a day that I had been looking forward to for a long time: The Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition Reception. I was one of fifteen students at Columbia who last spring received the annual Weisman award to complete a project that was already underway. In my case, that was a solo exhibition, Edgewater Oriented Ontology, that showed in the college’s C33 Gallery in April of 2015.

The promotional card for my solo exhibition earlier in the year.

That solo exhibition – my first – in April was definitely a major milestone in my professional career. As a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Arts & Media MFA program, we are encouraged to show our work as much as possible, but a solo show can be hard to come by. They are difficult – it involves having a large, cohesive body of work, as well as having a venue that will support it. And installing the work (on top of my regular coursework and everything else going on) can be very time consuming and exhausting, especially when a wide variety of media and technologies are involved. Finally, solo exhibitions are usually expensive to pull off. The Weisman Award, along with the acceptance of my exhibition proposal for the C33 gallery, was exactly the shot in the arm I needed to propel myself forward. I was able to explore several contemporary technologies, including 3D printing, laser cutting, arduino-controlled motors, as well as using projection and ambient sound.

Interdisciplinary Arts & Media MFA alumnus Greg Browe looking at my installation. I love how my colleagues show up for one another at events.

Friday’s reception, however, was for the group exhibition that showcased all the winners of the Weisman Award, and there were many different projects and media forms to view. My own contribution to the show included three of the seven works from the solo exhibition, and I arranged them so they formed one installation. As one of fifteen artists, I felt like the pressure was less intense than the solo exhibition and I could experiment a little with how I displayed the work.

Interdisciplinary Arts alumnus and exhibition director Leo Selvaggio chatting with grantor Tony Weisman in from of Hannah Batsel’s work “Maneater.” Leo is a Weisman fellow and won the purchase award last year for his project “URME Survelliance.”

There were three other students from interdisciplinary arts graduate programs who also won a 2015 Weisman Award, and their work was wonderful to see. Hannah Batsel, who will be graduating with me in May of 2016, produced a gorgeous limited edition book, Maneater. She won the Purchase Award for the exhibition, which will grant her additional funding. I love Hannah’s work and was thrilled for her. Hannah is also the Graduate Ambassador for our Book & Paper program, and both of us are highly motivated in our careers. We have collaborated together before and support each other, and I really appreciate the relationship we have.

Columbia College Chicago President Kim being shown Adrienne Ciskey’s groundbreaking work “Bitter Pills.”

Adrienne Ciskey, a 2015 Interdisciplinary Arts alumna, also won the Weisman Award this year, and exhibited her work Bitter Pills, which she developed as her thesis. Her work is a game that raises awareness and empathy for this who suffer from chronic illnesses and require a constant regimen of medication. In the photo above, she is showing her work to Columbia’s President Kim, who came to the reception and really took time to talk to students showing work there.

Grayson Bagwell’s work Proto-Type.

Grayson Bagwell, also a 2015 Interdisciplinary Arts alumnus, was another winner. His work, Proto-Type, is influenced by both his book & paper background as well his technological proficiency, and is another fine example of the kind of new space in the art world we can create by having an interdisciplinary practice.

The Weisman Award exhibition will be up in the Arcade Gallery on the 2nd Floor of 618 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago until October 31.