art/sci student residencies
Art/Sci Student Residencies offer unique opportunities designed to encourage interdisciplinary learning and creative production by exposing students to life and work in an alternate discipline’s maker space – i.e. the artist in the engineering lab, the engineer in the artist’s studio or performance space.
Each residency comes with a $2,000 cash prize and the expectation that a work of some kind will be produced as a response to the experience.
Prize recipients will produce a final work of some kind within their discipline that reflects, builds on, explores, integrates or traces their experience in the residency. Learn more below about the current residencies being offered this academic year!
music, theatre & dance
The Chavasse Prize is for an undergraduate student enrolled in the College of Engineering, the A. Alfred Taubman School of Architecture + Urban Planning, the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, or the School of Information who is interested in developing a greater understanding about the role that interdisciplinary connections between art, design, technology, and creative expression can play in developing systems thinking and performance art and research in both a physical and digital environment. Students receiving the prize will spend approximately 24-30 hours over 12 weeks of the Fall semester participating with Professor Amy Chavasse, SMTD and her Dance 434/534 students.
Students for whom this residency would be ideal are those who:
- are interested in learning about the creative process, including physical and digital observation and composition
- are open to learning about improvisation as a performing art
- are self-directed, responsible, and eager to learn
- are motivated to explore interdisciplinary possibilities
- can attend most course meetings for Dance 434/534, TTH 2-3:30pm or MW 2-3:30pm, Dance Bldg., North Campus
The student may expect to gain through this residency:
- access to a dance studio environment and mentoring from an established and practicing artist and teacher
- the opportunity to activate their creative potential and problem-solving through observation, awareness cultivation, discussion, writing, and movement
- active engagement in conversations and a deeper understanding about interdisciplinary work
The student is expected to produce a final creative work of some kind that reflects, builds on, explores, integrates, or traces their experience in the residency through their own disciplinary focus. The successful applicant will receive $2,000 in support of their time, materials and creative work.
Past Recipients
- Jason Zhang, Computer Science & Music Composition, 2023-24
- Cameron Wilson, SMTD, 2021-22
- Kendra Kleber, Engineering, 2021-22
- Phiev MeLampy, Art & Design, 2021-22
- Elijah Richards, Engineering, Fall 2019
- Ellie Ward, Art & Design, Fall 2019
The Thompson Prize is for an undergrad or grad student in the School of Information, College of Engineering, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, or A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning. Students enrolled outside these schools and colleges may apply with faculty permission. The prize is for someone who wants to develop a greater understanding of music and sound through a study of the creative process in a musician’s environment. Through one-on-one mentorship, the awardee will be able to explore their musical interests and intersections with their own discipline. Students receiving the prize will spend approximately 24-30 hours over 18 weeks working with Dr. Matthew Thompson. Dr. Thompson’s research, scholarly, and performing interests include: opera, chamber music, performance preparation, video game music, connections between Eastern and Western music, and interdisciplinary relations between music and other fields.
- are open to learning about the musical process
- are self-directed
- are motivated to explore new lines of thought
- are interested in gaining confidence as listeners and performers
Note: The ideal candidate may have a musical background and training, but the ability to play any instrument or read music notation is not a requirement for the award.
The student is expected to produce a final creative work of some kind that reflects, builds on, explores, integrates or traces their experience in the residency and their own disciplinary focus. The successful applicant will receive $2,000 in support of their time, materials, and creative work.
Past Recipients
- Paloma Calvin, Information, 2024-25
- Ola Ifidon-Ola, Art & Design/Information, 2024-25
- Jason Zhang, Computer Science & Music Composition, 2023-24
- Jacob Hume, Engineering, 2021-22
- Jeffrey Sobieraj, Medicine, Winter 2020
- Julien Malherbe, Engineering, Fall 2020
- Tate Fisher, Engineering, Fall 2019