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2020 Senior Show: Worlding Online

Posted by on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 in News and Events.

These Class of 2020 students present their work under extreme circumstances that removed them from their studios and into distance learning model halfway through their final semester. They have worked hard and proven to be a resilient and adaptable group of young artists. The Department of Art at Vanderbilt University is very proud to present their achievements, their research, and their work.

The virtual doors for Space 204 have opened to showcase the hard work of Vanderbilt University’s graduating studio art majors with their Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet and Senior Thesis Exhibitions collectively called, The Senior Show 2020: Worlding.

The Senior Show 2020 is on display following this link:

Senior Show 2020: Worlding

The 9 participating seniors include Rebecca Arp, Kirsten Bailey, Alexis Bray, Peter Hill, Sydney Kaemmerlen, Thomas Maetens, Arezou Moosavi, Sophie Stark, and Fei Yang.

 

About the Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award:

Since 1984 the department has supervised the awarding of the Margaret
Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award to an eligible senior major student.
The Hamblet Award provides the means for travel and independent art activity for one year, culminating in a one-person exhibition at Vanderbilt.

There is an endearing story behind the gift that Mr. Clement H. Hamblet established in memory of his wife, Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge. The soon to be Mrs. Hamblet was taking  a sabbatical year from her studies in studio art at Peabody College to study painting in Paris when the two met. It was a time both remembered fondly. Mr. Hamblet wanted to create a similar experience of travel and time to develop one’s art.

The Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award has changed the lives of many of the recipients as well as helped to build the studio art program at Vanderbilt. The gift allows a graduating senior, who is serious about pursuing art, to travel and have time to create. In 1984, this was a surprising gift to a department without an art major although many students did thoughtful and interesting work over the years. Receiving the Hamblet Award gave most of the students the confidence and the time to build a body of work, to pursue graduate degrees, or to develop their own art studios.

In 2005, with new facilities, additional faculty and support from the administration, Vanderbilt began to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art. The Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award became an important element in the development of our art major. The competition and the accompanying art exhibition have created a capstone experience for our seniors serving as a natural extension of a senior thesis. The gift also enriches the senior major experience throughout the entire senior year, with guest artist visits as well as an art-viewing trip to a city with a vibrant art community for all the majors.

A year and a half after graduation, the winner of the Hamblet competition returns to campus to mount a solo exhibition of the work he or she has completed during the award year. Happily, in 2002, the department was able to add a merit award as well.

The Department of Art is grateful to the Hamblet family for providing such a remarkable opportunity for our students.