University of Georgia professors will use inspiration found in the archives to create art and scholarship with the help of the UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards. The grant funding will clear the path for creative performances, storytelling, and teaching materials related to two famed 20th-century Georgian artists.
Two $5,000 grants have been awarded to projects proposed by faculty members in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences:
- Christina Hanawalt, associate professor of art, working with Caroline Young, senior lecturer of English, and Jane McPherson, associate professor of social work, and
- George Contini, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and head of performance in the theater department, who is working in partnership with assistant professor Raife Baker.
Contini and Baker’s project explores the collection of Edward Crouse, the founder of the UGA theater department. Through their research, the professors will produce a theatrical performance based on the 50-year relationship Crouse shared with his partner Edward Wormley, a famed mid-century furniture designer.
Contini, who is an alumnus of the Special Collections Libraries Teaching Fellows program, and Baker, a member of the inaugural class of the Creative Engagement Wing Fellows, plan to document their scholarly and artistic work on this project through a podcast which will highlight reflections of the student research assistants being funded through the award. They will also use 3D printers at the UGA Libraries Makerspace to create replicas of Wormley’s furniture.
Hanawalt, Young, and McPherson’s project is centered on the life and work of author and activist Lillian Smith. All alums of the Special Collections Libraries Teaching Fellows program, the team has designed a series of courses for students to engage in artistic inquiry with archival materials through Risograph workshops led by Courtnie Wolfgang, an Associate Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Taking inspiration from Smith’s activism as a writer, educator, and civil rights advocate, students will create original works of art, small books, and zines for public distribution. Additionally, some students will develop learning kits modeled after Smith’s arts pedagogy at her girls’ camp. The kits will be used by students in the higher education prison program in Hartwell, Georgia at Whitworth Women’s Facility.
“These projects reflect the remarkable creativity of our faculty and the rich potential of Special Collections as a catalyst for teaching, scholarship, and artistic expression,” said Katherine Stein, associate university librarian for special collections. “I am particularly excited to see how Faculty Fellows are pairing archival discovery with the tools and technologies of the Libraries' Creative Engagement Wing to support diverse student engagement and active learning.”
UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards for Innovation in the Humanities were established to support research projects involving the Special Collections Libraries or conducted in association with Libraries resources, such as the Creative Engagement Wing. The awards are funded through an endowment established by Jennifer Fairchild Holcomb and Gregory Holcomb, emeriti members of the UGA Libraries Board of Visitors, to support faculty, scholars, and students in the pursuit of new knowledge in the humanities. The awards are administered in partnership with the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
“These projects go well beyond the campus. A podcast will share the research with the public, and the learning kits will reach students in the Hartwell prison education program,” said Sara Wright, associate university librarian for learning services and academic engagement. “We’re grateful to Jennifer and Gregory Holcomb for an endowment that lets faculty use the Libraries’ collections and spaces to do work that matters to the people they serve.”