Two MFA students awarded Graduate Student Thesis Research and Production Grants

MFA in Visual Art (MFA-VA) students Alex Davis and Anna Schenker have each been awarded a Graduate Student Thesis Research and Production Grant by the Graduate School of Art’s MFA-VA program.

All second-year MFA-VA students are eligible to apply for the annual grants, which provide funding to pursue ambitious thesis projects. Proposals are reviewed and awarded by a faculty jury based on the following criteria: intrinsic merit of the proposal; evidence of value and contribution to thesis work; and provision of a well-considered and reasonable budget.

The funding from these grants will support Davis and Schenker as they produce their projects in spring 2023 for the MFA-VA Thesis Exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

Alex Rosborough Davis (MFA23) The Magnus Hirschfeld Queer Revolutionary Library

In response to recent bans of Queer literature around the United States, I will fabricate a 15-foot tall, nomadic triangular structure to serve as a library to fortify and push forward a collection of queer and revolutionary literature. The library will have a table, chairs, and three different single-page leaflets of my own writing. Visitors to the structure will be able to sit, read, form connections, and take the leaflets with them. Behind the structure, at the back corner of the room, will be a large installation of triangular wall-based forms which will scale the 25-foot high walls from floor to ceiling forming a triangle using the corner of the room as a center point.

Anna Schenker (MFA23) Time Span

This project includes a series of rubbings that seek to slow down our perception of environments in hopes to develop a greater sense of respect and appreciation for their contributions within our day to day lives.