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Stamps Students Receive Award Recognition at 2024 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition

UJE group
Dean Carlos Francisco Jackson congratulates the award recipients at the 2024 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition. From left to right are students: David Byun, Anna Boden, Boya (Selina) Gong, Yassmine El-Rewini, Lily Gandhi, and Ikalanni Jahi. Not pictured: Sonia Xiang, Annie Poorman.

Stamps students selected by a distinguished jury celebrated with faculty, family, and friends at the 2024 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition (UJE) opening reception at the Stamps Gallery on Friday, February 9.

More than 400 people attended the opening, which featured 65 selected works. The 2024 jury included:

  • Parisa Ghaderi is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communications Technology at Shoreline Community College. Born and raised in Iran, Parisa holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan. Her artwork has garnered recognition and been displayed in esteemed galleries and museums, including Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, Craft and Folk Art Museum Los Angeles Museum, The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

  • Jova Lynne is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator artist born and raised in New York City of Jamaican and Colombian heritage. Lynne completed a Bachelor’s degree at Hampshire College and obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2017. Lynne was appointed the inaugural Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) in 2022. She has also worked at the Museum of Moving Image in Queens, New York, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California.

  • Dalia Reyes is a curator and an interdisciplinary artist from southwest Detroit. She is the Gallery Director for the historic Scarab Club in Midtown Detroit. She received a BA in Fine Arts Studies from the College for Creative Studies in 2010. Dalia has exhibited her own work and has curated exhibitions in and around the city of Detroit and Mexico. Her work is cosmic, meditative and focuses on a metaphysical curiosity as well as surreal imagery.

At the event, Dean Carlos Francisco Jackson announced the UJE Awards. Eight students were selected by the jury panel to receive the following awards:

Alice Elizabeth Kalom Award
This award is given to students who demonstrate excellence in photography. This annual award is given in memory of alum Alice Elizabeth Kalom, who received her BFA from the University of Michigan in 1969. The 2024 award recipient is Boya (Selina) Gong.

Arden Fate Memorial Award
This award is given to students who demonstrate excellence in metalwork. It is given in memory of Arden Fate, an avid metalworker. The 2024 award recipient is Lily Gandhi.

Guy Palazzola Award
The award was created to honor the memory of Guy Palazzola, Professor and Associate Dean Emeritus of the Stamps School of Art & Design. Professor Palazzola worked tirelessly to improve the educational opportunities for students. He loved art, teaching, and the School. The 2024 award recipients are Anna Boden, Ikalanni Jahi, and Annie Poorman.

Opportunity Fund Award
The Stamps School Opportunity Fund Award is supported by annual gifts from donors and is given out annually as part of the Undergraduate Juried Exhibition. The 2024 award recipient is Sonia Xiang.

William A. Lewis Watercolor Prize
This award was established by professor emeritus William A. Lewis to support excellence in watercolor by undergraduate students at the Stamps School. This annual award is given to the undergraduate student with the highest-scoring watercolor portfolio. The 2024 award recipient is Yassmine El-Rewini.

William Carter Award
This award was established by Professor Emeritus and alum William T. Carter. It is awarded to a first-year student with an interest in industrial design whose work demonstrates a primary regard for factors of human health and safety while realizing the most aesthetic potential of the materials employed in the design. The 2024 award recipient is David Byun.