比尔曼奖如何帮助美术研究生“实现梦想”

旨在支持学生创建项目, 由于资金限制，他们可能无法追求的想法和研究, the Hollis Parry/Ann Billman Fine Arts Award 奖学金是给全日制研究生的吗 College of Fine Arts. 任何学院的学生都可以申请，奖金从1000美元到5000美元不等. 

2023年霍利斯·帕里/安·比尔曼美术奖的获得者是研究生泰勒·Thenikl, who won for his project proposal “Vanishing Points,这是一个沉浸式的艺术展览，展示了阿巴拉契亚山脉的山顶移除采矿的有害影响. By showcasing the landscapes through his art, Thenikl希望提高人们的意识，并鼓励人们就提取技术的后果展开对话. 

Q: Tell us about your background/undergraduate experience.

A: 我上的是现在的奥利弗大学，前身是奥利弗学院. 那是在密歇根州的奥利维尔，在兰辛的南部，是一所很小很小的文科学校. 在那里我获得了平面设计和工作室艺术的学士学位. 现在是我在这里的第三年，我在公开大学读研究生. Studying printmaking in the School of Art Design.

Q: Can you describe your creative work?

A: When I was working on my undergraduate degree, I took my first printmaking classes, and that's kind of my specialty now. 我认为自己首先是个艺术家，然后才是版画家, 因为我探索了很多不同的媒介，但版画是我灵感的核心来源. 这涉及到一些过程, 还有那种单调乏味的性质，你必须用不同的材料来制作你想要的东西. And that was kind of inspiring to me. 我开始觉得我和这些材料有某种关系, and I needed to respect them. I do a lot of different stuff. It's technical, it's a lot more intuitive. 作为这个项目的一部分，我已经能够探索这一切，旅行和认识很多人. It's been fantastic. 

Q: Where do you find inspiration for your art?

A: 我想对我来说，这总是回归自然，我发现我深受其启发. 我在密歇根州大急流城的郊区长大，但我也很喜欢户外活动. 我认为它给我灌输了一种对户外和自然空间的惊奇和敬畏之情，这正是我现在工作的动力. 
When I was in undergrad, and started focusing on studying art, 我总是被这些风景画所吸引, these big, grandiose, beautiful images that were in museums and stuff. 它们很棒，但它们没有考虑到我们面临的所有环境问题. 他们赞美这原始的、美丽的、宏伟的自然，这总是奇妙的. But I felt that as an artist, as a contemporary artist, and as a contemporary landscape artist, I needed to address some of those gaps, some of those silences in this very long, overarching narrative. 
所以现在我所做的是关注那些被某种痛苦所破坏的风景, whether it's from industry or pollution, destruction, or some kind of injustice. 从那时起，我开始研究我们周围的采矿, 然后是南部，西弗吉尼亚州和肯塔基州东部.

Q: 移除山顶是什么启发了你的创作?

A: I was inspired by local nonprofits like Rural Action, and specifically some of the work that John Sabraw 一直在与他们一起清理流域，并生产有助于推动他的艺术实践的颜料. I got to work with him. 我在“乡村行动”组织做过义工，了解了很多关于这个地区和酸性矿井排水遗留污染的情况. 但我也知道河对岸的山顶可以移走. I felt that for me personally, as I'm starting this very large body of work, 我想做一些还在进行中的事情, or maybe a little bit more pressing.
I felt that mountaintop removal, for me, was just a little bit bigger, and I kind of created a space of my own in this region. And then I also felt like a landscape, these vast, wide, 我所看到的清扫区域让我想起了一种奇怪的, 有些老式风景画的讽刺手法. They have the same point of view, or it's like very high up, and then you just see so far, 一直到图像的消失点，在那里所有的东西都消失在天空的大气层中. 所以对我来说，我总是试着参考一下这些. 

Q: 比尔曼奖学金如何提升了你在美术学院的毕业经历?

A: It's like night and day, it has helped so much. Honestly, 我已经习惯了在很少的资源下工作, a small amount of time and very small budgets. 我知道，为了实现我提出的宏伟计划，我想得相当大. 然后我需要帮助，我需要资金，我需要设备. And frankly, if I had not gotten the award, 我不认为我能做到我现在所做的. It's been so critical to this project. 
这让我获得了我想要看到的有利位置，并且实际上能够开始理解和传达它们——我想要谈论的这些地方的范围. Even my drone flights that will be 10 minutes long, will capture maybe a mile of distance or something. These things are happening [in a] really big way. And, again, though, 财政资源不仅让我得到了设备, 但这也让我有了一些安全感，可以拿到那些材料, so I don't have to keep working and, you know, 一边煎汉堡，一边把东西吃完. 

Q: 你认为像比尔曼奖这样的奖学金对艺术有什么影响?

A: Art programs are historically underfunded, they tend to be the last thing that gets funded, or it [often] feels like it. It's such a fabulous resource to have, 我们可以提名某些学生能够进一步工作，实现他们的梦想. 作为奖学金的一部分，我在最后一年的工作中有所转变，也有所提升. 甚至有机会申请和与更多的大学选拔委员会的人交谈都很棒. 许多这些被宣传、引起大学关注和促进社区发展的大型项目都来自艺术, and without that little bit of funding, they wouldn't happen. 我想我们的关系不会像现在这样好.