AS A GRAPHIC DESIGN student at the School of Art + Design, Leah Maldonado ’20 set out to challenge the practice of typography with a new typeface she called GlyphWorld. An expressionist design made up of nine “landscapes,” GlyphWorld forms a universe of letterforms that Maldonado likens to a garden. “Each stylized letterform has been planted and nurtured by me,” she explains. “I am their author, I grew them—but they will continue to grow without me.” The project was the culmination of months of creative work set in motion when Maldonado was named the top winner of the 2019 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize, the highest award offered in the School of Art + Design. the arts ARTISTS IN THE MAKING For 10 years, the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize has offered PSU students a springboard for a career in the arts UP & COMING Meet the 2022 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Winners In August, the School of Art + Design announced the recipients of this year’s Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize. Juror Kelsey Snook shares her thoughts on the winners: For Maldonado, winning the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize was validating.“I didn’t realize that I was an artist,” she says, “or that I was a good one.” Now working as a designer at Nike’s Jordan brand, she credits the prize, and the typeface she created with it, for opening doors. “It really put me on the map as a new, bizarre kind of type designer,” she says. “I got a job at Wieden + Kennedy two weeks after the reception party.This prize helped start my career.” The Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize was established in 2013 with a gift from the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation. Known as a devoted champion of the arts in Portland, Arlene Schnitzer, who passed away in 2020, nurtured the careers of numerous artists throughout her life.The prize honors her legacy by celebrating three PSU student artists and designers each year as they launch their professional lives. To be considered for the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize, students in the School of Art + Design submit a portfolio of work and a proposal for a project they intend to create.The prize includes a financial award along with faculty mentorship for the winners as they create a final showcase for exhibition. Arlene Schnitzer was a devoted champion and benefactor of the arts throughout Portland. JOHANNA HOUSKA 1ST PRIZE, $5,500 Houska focuses on developing ethical and sustainable textiles. “She was so thorough with this big idea that I could tell not only would she execute it well, but would also think through what the consumer product would look like in the context of her art practice.” SHELBIE LOOMIS 2ND PRIZE, $4,000 Loomis makes collaborative work focusing on life in alternative housing such as RVs and mobile homes, exploring the meaning of home, grief, and art in community. “Shelbie’s depth of process ... showed that she is ready to dream bigger and expand in whatever direction she chooses.” NIA MUSIBA 3RD PRIZE, $3,000 Musiba creates vibrant paintings, murals, and other works that explore Blackness throughout history, with vibrant representations of Black and brown bodies as a direct response to negative depictions in art and the media. “Nia’s visual execution was excellent, down to the details.” OREGONIAN
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