What does social justice have to do with art and DIY print culture? What stories do you want to explore about the past and present of activism? What creative activities can help you share the texts and contexts of these organized movements against oppression?
This Artist-Scholar Residency is open to any current Dietrich School or CGS undergraduate interested in spending Summer 2022 exploring a social justice topic of their choice through scholarship and creative printmaking. Applicants must submit a 3–5-page research proposal and community statement online and secure a letter of support from a faculty mentor in their field, to be emailed to OUR@pitt.edu by March 14, 2022. No prior experience with creative arts or using a letterpress needed.
Inspired by the life and activism of the Jewish, lesbian, anti-fascist writer, Eve Adams (1891-1943), this residency supports 4-6 undergraduate Artist-Scholars conducting research on a topic related to the past and present of social justice organizing with a summer stipend of $4000. Artist-Scholars will learn letterpress printing and linoleum block-carving techniques in the new Text & conText Lab. Building on these skills, students will collaborate on a letter-pressed artist book or series of prints that creatively presents themes from their research, to be displayed and shared with the Pitt community in Fall 2022.
Artist-Scholars will spend up to 15 weekly hours in the Text & conText Lab practicing print techniques and creating their letter-press project and viewing special collections materials related to their work.
Artist-Scholars will spend up to 10 additional weekly hours conducting original research on their individual topic with support from their faculty mentor.
Artist-Scholars will also enroll in a section of ARTSC 0125: Special Topics in Research, where they will put their summer research in conversation with students from the Summer Undergraduate Research Awards program.
Application Details
Eligible Dietrich School undergraduates who
- are interested in joining a commuity of scholars
- are interested in conducting self-directed research
- can secure a faculty mentor within the disciplinary area of the research topic.
Application Deadline: March 14, 2022
Online Application Available Here
Information for faculty mentors writing letters of support
This Summer Residency will take place in the Text and conText lab, where Artist-Scholars will work collaboratively on a culminating creative work that draws on themes from their individual and collective interests. Artist-Scholars will also enroll in a section of Special Topics in Research where they will read and discuss The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams by Jonathan Ned Katz and receive archival instruction related to the history of queer, anti-fascist and anarchist print cultures.
In your Letter of Support, please discuss the way in which this opportunity connects to the students’ broader interests, based on your knowledge of the students’ work in previous courses or other contexts. Please discuss the way in which the student has demonstrated the ability to work as part of a team.
As a faculty mentor for the 2022 Artist-Scholar Residency, your role is not to define a culminating academic work for the student to complete by the end of the summer, but rather to help the student develop an appropriate methodology for their independent research into their social justice topic(s) of choice over this 12-week term. Faculty mentors will provide this support through an initial developmental conversation with the Artist-Scholar upon acceptance into the residency followed by three mentoring check-ins over the course of the summer.
In writing a letter of support, you affirm that you will make yourself available to meet with the Artist Scholar a minimum of three times over the course of the summer to discuss their work and to advise on future directions for their research that they may choose to pursue in future semesters.