Meet the 2024 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Winners

by Mary McVein August 1st 2024

Three views of a smiling obese woman (the artist) in a black bikini.
Michelle Jackson, Reaction, 2023. Watercolor and gel pen on paper, 10” x 14”.

The Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and the College of the Arts are pleased to celebrate the twelfth year of the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize at Portland State University and announce the three prize recipients for 2024.

A jury composed of Schnitzer School faculty and representative professionals from the art and design community reviewed 55 applications from art and design students, both undergraduate and graduate, to award three prizes.

This year’s recipients, each receiving $4,100, are:

  • HG Garner, BFA in Art Practice, Comic Studies Certificate, ‘24
  • Michelle Jackson, BFA candidate in Art Practice, ‘25
  • Olivia DelGandio, MFA in Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice ‘24

In recognition of their outstanding work, honorable mentions went to April Mirvis (BFA candidate in Graphic Design, Art Practice Minor), Carolina Rhodes (BA candidate in Art Practice), Izaak Fazekas (BFA in Art Practice, ‘24), and Quinn Richards (BFA candidate in Graphic Design).

The highest award offered in the school, the prize acknowledges the achievement and promise of our students and is a meaningful expression of our values and commitment to excellence in higher education and the arts. This year’s submissions represented works in various media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, multimedia, and community-based social practice projects. Recurring themes included identity, gender, queerness, mental health, grief, trauma, healing, body positivity, nature, and AI (artificial intelligence).

The Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design is extraordinarily grateful to the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation for their support in creating the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize. It was established by Arlene Schnitzer in 2013 to recognize student achievement in the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and to raise awareness of the quality of art education at PSU. With Arlene's passing in 2020, we are grateful for this annual opportunity to honor her memory and legacy as a devoted and inspired leader of art and culture in Portland. The endowed award ensures that each year, three aspiring artists and designers will receive significant recognition and a financial boost as they begin their lives as active, creative practitioners.

An exhibition showcasing the work of the prize winners will be on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University from February 25 through April 26, 2025. A public reception and awards celebration honoring the prize recipients will be held at the museum (date to be announced). All events are free and open to the public.
 


About the prize winners

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HG Garner is a comics creator who instills a sense of dread and unease through slow pacing and unconventional imagery while telling tales of horror. Their most recent work-in-progress, White Noise Isle, follows a girl who discovers a mysterious nearby island only she can see. Using a monochromatic palette, digital art, and altered photography, the narrative unfolds through a combination of unique imagery and atmosphere to create a work that plays to the strengths of the medium. Part one of the story is available on HG’s website, while the second half of the 80-page tale is forthcoming later this year.

HG grew up reading comics in Corvallis, Oregon. Immersed in the genre, they developed a passion that eventually blossomed into the desire to explore the unique storytelling opportunities offered by the medium. In the spring of 2024, they earned a BFA in Art Practice with a Comic Studies Certificate from Portland State. This fall, HG is headed to the University of South Florida, where they will pursue an MFA in Creative Writing.

hgarner.com

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Michelle Jackson is a painter who identifies as queer and fat. Aware of the lack of representation, she is deeply committed to depicting marginalized people and bodies in a neutral or positive manner. She uses vibrant and bold colors to craft figurative works on the topics of fat liberation, LGBTQIA+ identities, mental health, neurodivergence, and silliness. Through her art, she endeavors to cultivate spaces of visibility, affirmation, and inclusion while exploring the multifaceted intersections of identity.

Originally from California’s Central Valley, Michelle has called Portland home for the past seven years. She sees her work as a joyful rebellion against objectification while celebrating the undeniable beauty of all bodies. She is pursuing a BFA in Art Practice at Portland State and expects to graduate in the spring of 2025.

crampycupcakes.com
Instagram: @crampycupcakesart

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Through their work, Olivia DelGansio asks intimate questions about vulnerability and human connection. They look for ways to memorialize moments and relationships, often focusing on themes of daily life, grief, memory, queerness, and untold histories, With collaboration at the center of their practice, their work has taken on many different forms, such as working with a group of queer teens on a fashion show, spending time at a senior center talking about alternate forms of family, and making a community newspaper celebrating queer history.

Olivia is a socially engaged artist based in Portland, Oregon. They received a BA in Sociology and Gender Studies from New College of Florida and an MFA in Art + Social Practice from Portland State University. They recently developed and taught Queer Art: History and Practice, was an artist in residence at Sou'Wester Arts Week, and exhibited their work, Queerness is a Portal, in MK Gallery at Portland State University.

olivia-delgandio.com
Instagram: @liv__bliss

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2024 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Jury

  • Lis Charman, Director, Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, Professor of Graphic Design
  • Kate Bingaman-Burt, Associate Director, Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, Professor of Graphic Design
  • Alison Heryer, Sue Horn-Caskey & Charles F. Caskey Professor of  Textile Arts + Costume Design
  • Taravat Talepasand, Assistant Professor of Art
  • Kat Richards, Assistant Professor of Art
  • Dr. Kiara Hill, James DePreist Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History
  • Maryanna Ramirez, Director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU
  • Kathleen Murney, Exhibitions + Program Manager at the  Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU
  • Kelsey Snook, Freelance Creative Director and Designer
  • Kyra Watkins, 2023-24 Artist-in-Residence at PSU
  • Jordan Hoagbin, Graphic Designer and Art Director at Nike, Global Brand Creative, Brand Defining in Portland, OR, and 2013 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize recipient.
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About the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design

Driven by a belief in the power of art to shape society, Portland State University's Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and its dynamic faculty provide a place where emerging artists, designers, and art historians can question, create, reflect, and learn. With over 1,100 undergraduate majors, a vibrant and growing graduate program, and a faculty of internationally recognized artists, designers, and scholars, the Schnitzer School brings students from various backgrounds together to exchange ideas and cross conventional aesthetic boundaries. Whether in the studio, computer lab, lecture hall, or working in the community via internships, service projects, exhibitions, and collaborations, our students forge connections between visual art traditions and their developing expression.

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