Professor Kate Mondloch examines attention and artistic experience in the contemporary era; here an example with museum-goers in front of the 'Mona Lisa' at the Louvre

Two College of Design faculty members are some of the first recipients of the Presidential Fellows in Humanistic Studies awards, the UO announced this week. 

Kate Mondloch, professor and head of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, and Associate Professor of Art Rick Silva are two of the ten recipients who will each receive $13,000 to support research and creative projects. 

“I am thrilled to support these outstanding faculty members and their contributions to our understanding of the world through their creative and research endeavors,” UO President Michael H. Schill told Around the O. “The humanities and arts are essential to the University of Oregon and its ability to create knowledge and prepare students to be leaders and critical thinkers. I look forward to seeing what these great scholars do with these awards.”

Kate Mondloch, Professor and Head of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture

Mondloch’s research interests include late 20th- and early 21st-century art, theory, and criticism in the fields of screen-based media art and theory, installation art, contemporary craft, feminism, digital culture, science and technology studies, and the digital humanities.

“It’s fantastic to have a new UO award devoted to the humanities, and I’m delighted that my research was recognized,” Mondloch said. “I’ll be using the funds to support research travel for my new book on attention and artistic experience in the postwar era.”

Rick Silva, Associate Professor of Art, School of Art + Design

Silva is an internationally exhibited artist whose work focuses on art and technology. His research examines how video, websites, and images are used to explore notions of landscape and wilderness in the 21st century. 

“I’m honored to receive this award. The fellowship support will greatly facilitate my current research,” Silva said. This autumn, Silva will be taking his sabbatical in Vancouver, B.C., where he will create new work with his collaborator artist Nicolas Sassoon for SIGNALS, their ongoing project featuring immersive audio-visual renderings of altered seascapes (see photo below).

“The work we generate in the fall will premiere in the Spring of 2020 at 150 Media Stream, an immersive 89-LED public installation screen in downtown Chicago,” Silva said.

Read more about the 2019 Presidential Fellows in Humanistic Studies awards at Around the O.