Denison student receives visual art award

Date of Event: February 15, 2013

Posted: February 15, 2013

GRANVILLE, Ohio— Denison senior Chelsea Flowers, from Aurora, Ohio, has been selected to receive the 2013 Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO) Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts. Flowers is one of six students chosen for the award. Students were judged by twelve arts faculty members from AICUO-member campuses for the competition, which is now in its sixth year. Each of the winners will receive an exhibition of their work and this year’s custom award sculpture.

“I have a peculiar relationship with art making,” says Flowers. She reflects on events that occur in her life and then responds to them. “I photograph, sculpt, perform, sew and crochet. Since the way I make art is personal and therapeutic, the process is much more important than the actual product. I gain empowerment by demonstrating control over the outcome of an event.”

“It has been such a pleasure to see Chelsea and her work mature during her four years at Denison,” says Sheilah Wilson, assistant professor of studio art. “I distinctly remember a project she made called “The Way I Play With Dolls.” I was struck by her use of deadpan humor to address issues as complicated as race, gender and socio-economics.”

Flowers’ works will now be entered into a competition for two final awards, the Grand Award and the People’s Choice Award. Visual-arts community leaders from across the state and Ohio legislator Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, chairman of the House Higher Education Finance Subcommittee, will determine the Grand Award winner, who will receive a $2,500 cash prize and have a piece of their art purchased by AICUO to be hung in the governor’s office for the next year. The People’s Choice Award will be given to the student whose work receives the most votes on the website www.aicuoartaward.com. The awards will be presented at Denison University early on the evening of Wednesday, April 3.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name: Ginny Sharkey
Position Title: Media Relations
Primary Email: sharkeyv@denison.edu
Business Phone: (740) 587-6266

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