SUNY Announces Student Art Fellowships

Albany - The State University of New York honored three students for exemplary achievement in the Arts, with the presentation of this year’s Thayer Fellowship in the Arts and Patricia Kerr Ross Awards.

 Each year, a Thayer Fellowship in the amount of $7,000 is awarded to one student, or shared among several students, who demonstrate outstanding achievement and high professional potential in the arts. The Patricia Kerr Ross Award, for $1,000, is given to a student, or shared among several students, who have demonstrated excellence, originality, and promise in the arts. Both awards are intended as a bridge between SUNY study in the arts and entry into a professional career in the arts.

 “It is a great pleasure to provide some of our most creative arts students with financial assistance as they face the challenges that come with professional life and we wish this year’s winners success as they begin their new careers,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “Congratulations to both of these talented SUNY students for winning such prestigious and competitive awards.”

“The quality of the artistic work of this year’s winners is truly outstanding,” said Artistic Director and SUNY Potsdam Distinguished Service Professor of Art Joseph Hildreth. “The panel of judges made difficult decisions among many fine submissions, but in the end they chose very well.  SUNY, and its outstanding faculty, can take great pride in the achievement of our very talented students as they make their way in the world.”

This year’s Thayer Fellowship and Patricia Kerr Ross Award recipients were presented with their awards at the spring SUNY Student Art Reception in Albany. This year, two winners were chosen for the Thayer Fellowship:

• Kathleen Diehl, MFA in Performance and Choregraphy, SUNY Brockport – Dance
• Benjamin Firer, Bachelors in Music Performance, Education at SUNY Potsdam - Music

 The Patricia Kerr Ross Award was awarded to:

• Kevin Zak, BFA in Music Theatre, University at Buffalo – Theatre Arts

About the Thayer Fellowship 

The Thayer Fellowship was established in 1985-86 by the late Walter N. Thayer, Chairman of Whitney Communications, New York City, in honor of his wife, Jeanne C. Thayer, who was a SUNY trustee from 1974 to 1984 and an active supporter of the arts.  The Thayers wanted to assist SUNY's most talented young artists at the most difficult period of time for a young professional, when the struggle to make a living can overwhelm even the most dedicated individual.  The fellowship helps the artist take advantage of important opportunities.

 About the Patricia Kerr Ross Award

Patricia Kerr Ross dedicated 30 years of service to SUNY, where she began in 1969 as Assistant to the University Dean in the University-wide Program in the Arts. Ross directed the University-wide Programs in the Arts from 1971-91, and over the years, was also a board and committee member, panelist and speaker for a variety of arts-related organizations in New York State. She was a founding board member of the Gallery Association of New York State in 1973 and the Association of SUNY Arts Presenters in 1982. Following her death in 1999, Ross’ $30,000 bequest created the Patricia Kerr Ross Award to benefit graduates in the arts by enhancing the outreach of the Thayer Fellowship program.

The artistic director for the Thayer Fellowship and Patricia Kerr Ross Award is Joe Hildreth, a Distinguished Service Professor of Art and a past president of the SUNY University Faculty Senate. 

Nearly 100 applications for the awards are received each year. The applications are evaluated by a Jury Panel of experts in the various arts disciplines.  The finalists are then interviewed in person by the Jury Panel, and their work is reviewed during performances, readings, screenings, and exhibitions.  At the end of this process, the jury panel determines the winners.

About The State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

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