As he has done for many years, department chair Jerry Austin purchased four exhibition spaces at this year's Texas Arts and Crafts Fair, sponsored by the Texas Arts & Crafts Educational Foundation, and held in Kerville, Texas. Ten UNT students volunteered to attend and compete at the fair over the Memorial Day weekend. This year we only had Ceramics students; in previous years we have had students from Fibers, Metals & Jewelry, and Sculpture attend as well. Jason Hyde (MFA) won runner-up to the top Emerging Artist award, an received $2,500. Weesun Song (MFA) and Geryn Roche (MFA) each won $1,000 Emerging Artist Scholarships. The top Emerging Artist this year was one of our undergrads, Jessica Battes (BFA), who is now in the graduate ceramics program at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
The official announcement from the TACEF will be published soon on their website. At the 2010 Texas Arts & Crafts Fair, Marty Kruk (MFA) won Best in Sculpture and Chris Melia (MFA) won Best in Ceramics and an undergrad in Fibers won Best in Fibers. UNT consistently sends students of every level and our students have won prizes and scholarships every year. Congratulations to our students!
