Yoakum senior art student Lucille Coleman, left, has been selected as this year’s Charles D. Jones Art Scholarship recipient at Stephen F. Austin State University. The award is presented by the Friends of the Visual Arts. Pictured with her are SFA School of Art Director Christopher Talbot and FVA President Crystal Hicks.
Neal Cox, associate professor/printmaking coordinator, nominated Coleman for the scholarship. In his nomination letter, Cox noted: “Though Lucille’s major concentration is drawing, she spends most of her time in the printmaking studio. She would be a printmaking major had she discovered the media earlier in her academic experience. As it is, she graduated in December with 15 credits in printmaking, exceeding the required course load for a minor concentration. She plans on pursing printmaking in her graduate level studies.”
Cox described Coleman as “my hardest working student by far,” adding she gets to class every morning before everyone else, “including myself, and just gets to work.”
“She has grown by leaps and bounds in the year since she enrolled in her first printmaking course,” Cox wrote. “While her skill level continues to grow, her ideas are also developing nicely. She completed much of her B.F.A. final project many months before she was due to have a show.
“While her work ethic, alone, qualifies her for the scholarship, Lucille possesses that rare ability to get along with all her classmates,” he said. “She politely avoids any conversation that degrades anyone, and in some cases, has spoken up when she feels others have gone over the line, as so many students often do. She offers and receives critical feedback with required objectivity.”
The FVA has established scholarships in the name of retiring SFA School of Art professors who were employed in the School of Art for a minimum of 10 years before retirement and who contributed in a significant way to the mission of the Friends of the Visual Arts board and its fundraising activities, such as consistently donating art for fundraisers, by providing monetary assistance, or by serving on FVA committees or board.
The Jones scholarship is awarded on an annual basis to a junior, senior or graduate level student with drawing or printmaking as his/her major study area. Students must show initiative and a broad appreciation of all of the fine arts with a concentration on printmaking, according to the eligibility criteria established by Jones.
Jones is professor emeritus in the SFA School of Art where he taught printmaking, drawing, Mexican art history and the “Art of The Book” from 1971 to 2011. During that time, he was named a Regents Professor and received a Distinguished Professor Award from the Alumni Association and a Teaching Excellence Award from the university.
