Nicole Lalonde and Arianna Richardson were recently named the winners of the 2012 Roloff Beny Awards.
The duo was selected from a group of high quality and competitive applications, earning scholarships of $5,000 each.
Lalonde is in her fifth year of an art degree program and is excited about the opportunity the scholarship affords.
"Although I typically work with video, both photography and video/film share similar histories and technologies; thus, the distinction between the two is often blurred," she says. "Additionally, while the moving image offers a medium for my explorations, it builds upon slow transitions – durational in nature – of a fixed image. As I am already working within the realm of photography, I would like to explore this medium further."
Her project will take place in a Red Deer swimming pool, where she will practice different methods used to save a drowning victim.
"These maneuvers can appear both serene and hostile. Consequently, the interaction can be seen as both an act of violence and a rescue. This scenario is how I envision a video and photographic work of my twin sister and me," says Lalonde.
Richardson, in her fifth year of an art degree program, has an interest in national, provincial and regional identities. With these interests in mind she is in the process of constructing a personal archive entitled The Hobbyist.
"I want to travel to and document nine of the 14 annual fairs occurring in Alberta and Saskatchewan. As an inhabitant of the region, I feel it is necessary to discover how The Hobbyist relates to such goings on," she says. "To ensure a variety of representation, the locations range from small townships to capital cities. In each location I will attend the opening day parade or the closing day fireworks as well as explore the fairgrounds. The final product is the creation of a travel-guide type document where all my findings will be recorded and published alongside the release of a photo collection. This will make a significant addition to the archive, adding greatly to the expertise and dynamism of The Hobbyist."
In 2005, the Roloff Beny Foundation endowed $860,000 to the Department of Art to generate ongoing funding for student scholarships and infrastructure costs in traditional and digital photo-arts. In recognition of excellence in art instruction and research, the University of Lethbridge was one of five institutions across Canada selected for such an endowment. Since then, more than $70,000 in scholarships have been awarded to fine arts students, providing research based travel opportunities in conjunction with their studies in photo-arts.
The Roloff Beny Foundation Photographic Awards in the Fine Arts provides outstanding fine arts students who have a concentrated interest in photo-arts with a travel opportunity in relation to their photographic activity. Any new or continuing students enrolled full-time in any BFA degree program who have a focused interest in photo-arts are eligible to apply for this competitive award.
This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.