UA Art Student Wins Prestigious Windgate Fellowship

Adam Hill

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama senior Adam Hill of Douglasville, Ga., has been awarded a $15,000 Windgate Fellowship from the University of North Carolina at Asheville Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.

Hill is one of only 10 students in the country to receive the fellowship, which is awarded to those whose work demonstrates artistic merit, future promise and the potential to make significant contributions to the field of craft.

“The Windgate Fellows are the best and brightest in emerging craft,” said Stephanie Moore CCCD executive director. “The funds generously provided by the Windgate Charitable Foundation are essential as these artists consider the practice of their work outside of the university environment, and the application of their talents in the future.”

“Catch” by Adam Hill

More than 70 universities from across the country were each invited to nominate two graduating seniors with exemplary skill in craft for the fellowship, which represents one of the largest awards offered to art students nationwide.

The online application process required that students submit images of their artwork along with a proposal outlining how their career would be enhanced by receiving the monetary award.

A panel of distinguished artists, educators and industry experts reviewed the 114 applications and advanced 21 students to the final round of consideration, which included an in-person meeting with the selection panel. The panel then selected the 10 fellows, who each received a $15,000 award to complete a proposal supported by the Windgate Charitable Foundation.

“My work as a sculptor began when I came to college, but my need to create things has been evident for as long as I could hold a pencil,” said Hill, noting that he had only worked in two-dimensional art prior to his enrollment at UA.

“I was never exposed to sculpture until I was given a tour of our metal shop at the University of Alabama. I immediately became fascinated with tools and the processes involving metal work.

“Fine craftsmanship, a fading value in our culture, can be preserved by awards like the Windgate Fellowship. I intend to express my efforts through my craft and hope to influence the creative patterns of others,” Hill said.

Hill said his work is inspired by human personalities and interactions. “When making sculpture, I think about what makes people tick. An individual’s thought pattern and psychological motives are highly interesting to me and inspirational to my sculpture.”

Contact

Kristi Payne or Linda Hill, media relations, 205/348-8325, lhill@ur.ua.edu

Source

Rachel Dobson, department of art and art history, 205/348-1893, rdobson@bama.ua.edu