MSU Federal Credit Union and the Michigan State University Residential College in the Arts and Humanities are pleased to announce the winner of the first MSUFCU RCAH Dean’s Choice Award for Innovations in Civic Engagement.
At the RCAH’s commencement luncheon on May 4, Emily Nott, a RCAH student pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree in art education, was recognized for fostering innovation using the arts and humanities in community settings.
MSUFCU has given more than $10 million to support the long partnership between the credit union and MSU to serve students, faculty and staff and the greater Lansing community, said April Clobes, MSUFCU executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“The student submissions for the award were outstanding examples of the innovative ways in which the RCAH and its students engage with our community, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute toward this project,” she said.
Nott was awarded $2,500 and is planning to contribute a portion of the funds to Lansing’s REACH Studio Art Center to support a capacity-building technology purchase and a tent for the summer art truck program.
Through the award application process, Nott detailed her two years of work in coordinating the summer art truck and community art programming within the Teen Open Studio at REACH. Teen Open Studio Community Art Projects, or CAPS, connect students with community members to create public art that develops a sense of place in Lansing.
“Emily has really made Teen Studio,” said Jeana-Dee Allen Rogers, education coordinator at REACH. “It has been amazing to watch how she integrates the teens together and with Lansing as a whole.”
As a result of the Teen Open Studio programming in 2011 to 2012, seven community art projects across mid-Michigan chosen by the teens were implemented by students and other local artists. Murals were created at The Avenue Cafe, Just B Yoga and the Information Technology and Empowerment Center; a rhinoceros sculpture was installed at Potter Park Zoo; and photographs “popped-up” in a vacant storefront in Lansing.
“I believe in the arts and in this community, and that together they can flourish,” said Nott, who plans to continue her role as the studio coordinator for the next two years.
The REACH Studio Art Center and award review teams have been impressed by Nott’s ability to engage in community as a means of affecting change.
“Emily has taken the essentials of the RCAH’s model for civic engagement to work with teens to reimagine the places they inhabit for themselves and their community,” said Stephen Esquith, dean of the RCAH.