Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship
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Dear Friends, Students, and Colleagues,
We recently held our second virtual fundraiser for our newly endowed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship. I loved hearing stories from Melanie Yazzie, Jade Gutiérrez, and Benjamin Burney about how art and education have impacted their lives. Yazzie shared how getting a scholarship as a student helped her believe in herself, since she knew that someone else believed in her, too. Jade had a great story from her time as a student about making an artwork out of pinto beans; she created a performance that involved counting out one pinto bean for each dollar that she spent on tuition. She didn’t include books, food, and rent, because she couldn’t afford that many pinto beans. Benjamin told about turning down an offer to return to the NFL with the Green Bay Packers (he had previously played for the Cleveland Browns) because he wanted to continue his life as an artist. When the Packers won the Super Bowl that year, he said to himself that he had to do something better than winning the Super Bowl to prove to himself that he made the right decision (you can watch the video on our YouTube channel to find out what happened).
It’s been inspiring for me, at both fundraisers, to have an opportunity to celebrate all of the incredible accomplishments of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. From alumna Valeria Velez working to diversify collecting practices as an Associate Curator at the art consulting company Nine dot Arts, to Professor Anna Tsouhlarakis’ performance illustrating the process of decolonization using sinew and Ikea furniture remnants, it is thrilling to see our community inspire change.
Our DEI scholarship is now endowed at $49,445. Our goal for this year is $50,000. We hope that you may be inspired to donate; any amount helps get us closer to our goal. Making education accessible has a cascading positive effect—for the students who receive the scholarship, for the work they do, and for everyone who is affected by their work. Scholarships give, and give, and give, to all of us.
Thank you for everything you do to support art, to support diversity, and to support education. We are so grateful for our creative and generous community.
All good wishes,
Jeanne Quinn
Professor and Chair
Department of Art and Art History
Click here to donate to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship Fund