Celebrating a Big Win!
So this just happened. I received the Outstanding Graduate Thesis Award for my MFA in Studio Arts Thesis Exhibition, Stories I’m Telling Myself. Time to celebrate a BIG WIN!Let's just pause and scream a little!!Ok. I'm back.
The Details
My committee chair invited me to submit my work in late July. She wrote a dazzling letter of recommendation (below). My work was selected from over 200 submissions. Yes, there is a plaque (in the mail) and a check (also in the mail)! Today I was invited to the Award Ceremony (on Zoom). See screen shot below :)I continue to digest this news and metabolize the delight of knowing that the academic community on my campus was introduced to my work.Here is the project summary I submitted to the selection committee:
My Project Summary
For my thesis l created art based on my own childhood memories. The collection of three-dimensional stories—installation and sculpture—is designed to engage viewers in ways that numbers or facts cannot, but rather in the ways that only well-told visual stories can.Using story as my medium, I revisit and reshape the stories I unconsciously told myself as a child growing up in a close-knit, but very authoritarian family. My art serves as a form of agency as I seek to understand and find the humanity in those stories—the humor, awkwardness, bravery, shame, kindness, grief. In retelling stories, I also tap into the quiet power that comes with the practice of looking intently and listening deeply to narratives that often go unexamined, unchallenged.For the exhibit, I present work that renders the internal as external. Work for this show features familiar materials or objects that evoke surprise meaning, shifted perspective, and challenged expectations. Measuring cups with marks erased. A huge mirror turned into a month-long calendar and tray that holds glasses of water that will never quench your thirst. An army of pill bottles made of solid glass that attest to the effects of adverse childhood experiences.
This exhibit is for the general public and speaks to viewers who relate to childhood trauma that breaks no laws, leaves no bruises, and often goes unnamed but that still shapes a life. The mood of the work is awkward, mind-your-step, loneliness—which is how I often felt as a child. It also implies the power of reparenting the self, and the agency of being a witness to the wounded child in each of us.
The work conveys the message: You are not alone.
Recognition Matters
Hearing the Dean of Graduate Studies read my summary was powerful and satisfying. Bringing honor to the College of Arts and Letter, so gratifying.Even better was hearing the Dean read the letter my mentor and amazing committee chair, Alison Petty Ragguette, wrote on my behalf.
It is with great pleasure that I write to nominate Rebecca Waring-Crane’s thesis project for consideration for the Outstanding Graduate Thesis Award. Her work has evolved into an assertive yet nuanced investigation of her personal familial story. With impressive courage and self-reflection, Rebecca has created an ambitious exhibition of sculptural art, entitled, STORIES I’M TELLING MYSELF, for her thesis project. This exhibition has proven to be a powerful depiction of her personal narrative as a survivor, intersecting with her roles as a daughter, mother, wife, and sister. Rebecca reclaims these sometimes traumatic memories on her own terms, as if to reclaim her power for a time in her life when she was powerless. She weaves poetic and quirky metaphors that reveal her candid self-exploration and fierce self-acceptance. Additionally, Rebecca achieved all of this during this very turbulent time while the CSUSB studios were closed due to the pandemic. With so many unknowns, she preserved and completed this artwork off campus. It is truly a testament to her tenacity and strength that she completed this important exhibition about reclaiming personal power, overcoming trauma, and locating her personal resilience. Finally, this exhibition is relevant to so many people, and especially women, who have survived trauma and struggle. I have no doubt this exhibition gives so many survivors hope and inspiration to explore their own resilience.
Savoring
This was huge. Recognition, along with this award, makes a big difference for me as an emerging artist.Support like Alison's goes a long way. Indeed, the faculty and staff of the Art Department all helped me find my way, but having one strong and steady advocate is priceless!So much of my work is about wading through uncertainty and the unknown. I embrace this, but it can be very challenging and just plain tiring.And so a pause to celebrate because the result of all of my working and wading is seen and heard feels refreshing and invigorating. I'm savoring the moment.Had to share. Thanks for cheering.