Alison Wong
(Uncut version, as submitted for 6/4/2003 Tech Talk)
Eight students and student groups received awards for their accomplishments in the arts at MIT at the Awards Convocation on Tuesday, May 13.
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Alison Wong, a senior in mechanical engineering from Chesterfield, Mo., received the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, presented to a graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence or the highest standards of proficiency in music, theater, painting, sculpture, design, architecture or film. The prize is made from a fund established by Louis Sudler, a performer in the arts and an arts patron from Chicago. While at MIT, Wong has created comic strips for The Tech, printed 2,000 copies of an original comic book that was distributed freely to the MIT community, produced a video about MIT which was one of the winners in an Admissions Office contest, designed departmental and program t-shirts and drop posters. Her senior mechanical engineering thesis is a graphic novel conveying the product design process, aimed to be an educational tool for design students. According to Woodie Flowers, Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering, “Alison is a wonderful source of beauty and entertainment for MIT. She adds beauty to everything she does, not only through her personality, but through her art. …Because of Alison, our aesthetic environment is improved.” |
| Four Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Awards, presented to students (graduate or undergraduate), organizations and/or living groups for achievement in the creative and performing arts were bestowed. Senior Daniel Katz (mathematics and theater) from Newtown, Penn., won for his work and commitment to MIT theater. Sangita Shresthova, a Czech Nepalese international graduate student in humanities, was awarded for her skills as both a dancer and new media artist (video and computer). Gamelan Galak Tika, MIT's Balinese music and dance ensemble was praised for its high level of skill, musicianship and creativity. The Bhangra Club, dedicated to sharing the traditional folk dances of Punjab, was recognized for its efforts to not only entertain the audience, but to educate and emotionally involve them. |
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While at MIT, Katz has been a member of Dramashop, Musical Theatre Guild, Plush Daddy Fly (sketch comedy troupe), Roadkill Buffet (improv), Shakespeare Ensemble and the Songwriting Club. “There is no one in recent memory who has had so wide and deep an effect on the theater community at MIT as Dan,” wrote Senior Lecturer Michael Ouellette, Director of Theater. “As actor, director, technician and writer, he has been indispensable to almost all the theater groups on campus.” |
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Sangita Shresthova, an accomplished dancer and choreographer of Indian classical, Nepalese and modern dance forms, co-directed and choreographed “Bollyspace,” presented at the May 2002 Media in Transition Conference. “She embodies what I admire about our best students — an immense range of talent, a commitment to put those skills to public good, a willingness to think across media and to bridge the gap between theory and practice,” wrote Henry Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies Program, where Shresthova is working towards her master’s degree. |
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Gamelan Galak Tika, founded and directed by Professor Evan Ziporyn, is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary. “It is a wonderful time to recognize the artistic beauty and cross-cultural opportunities it has brought to our campus,” wrote Professor Ellen Harris. “To watch the concentrated, almost meditative quality these musicians bring to their task is deeply moving,” said Music Lecturer Charles Shadle. “They play from memory, executing musical tasks with focus, intensity and precision,” he continued. “They are a community, and the commitment they bring to the musical task embraces the listener in a world of sound and color that provides solace and a model for cooperation at a troubled time.” |
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The Bhangra Club, originally formed with six member in 1991 as the MIT Punjab Club, currently attracts 50-70 students to each dance class. Performances feature over 20 dancers and bhangra activities occur on campus every week. “In a characteristic MIT fashion, the students’ common love for the art brings them closer to each other,” wrote Sumer Johal (S.B. 1996), one of the founders of the Punjab Club and a member, dancer and teacher with the group until 1999. “The club has … always taught the human lessons of love and inclusion,” he continued. “It has always been a constant reminder for us to celebrate life, and perhaps most importantly, it has created a context for both the artist and the audience to understand each other.” |
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| Paintings by Schnitzer Prize winner Moneta Ho |
The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts recognizes artistic talent and creative concepts based on a body of work and written personal statements. First Prize was won by humanities graduate student Moneta Ho from Brookfield, Wisc., for her paintings; humanities graduate student Nadya Direkova from Pleven Bulgaria won second prize for her photographs and architecture junior Joyce Wang from Atherton, Calif., won third prize for her paintings.
The Schnitzer Prize-winning works are on view through Friday, June 27 at the Wiesner Student Art Gallery on the 2nd floor of the Stratton Student Center.
In a separate ceremony held on Tuesday, May 20, students who have made outstanding contributions to the cultural life of MIT were recognized by the Music and Theater Arts Section.
Professor John Harbison, Anne Epstein (widow of David Epstein, former MIT Symphony Orchestra conductor),
Professor Lowell Lindgren, Romy Shioda (recipient of the Epstein Award) and electrical engineering and
computer science graduate student Ole Mattis Nielson (recipient of the 2001 Epstein Award)
Romy Shioda, graduate student in Operations Research from New York, N.Y. won the Epstein Award in recognition of distinguished service and musical contribution to the MIT Symphony Orchestra.
The Gregory Tucker Memorial Prize in recognition of exceptional ability in composition, performance, or music-historical studies and overall contributions to the Music and Theater Arts Section went to two graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science: Jonathan J. Lee, from Salt Lake City, Utah and Amanda Wang, from Timonium, Md.
Philip Loew Memorial Awards in recognition of creative accomplishment in music went to Ethan Fenn, a junior studying mathematics from Painted Post, N.Y.; David Greenhouse, a senior majoring in music and theater arts from New York, N.Y.; Andrew McPherson, a junior in electrical engineering and computer science from Woodbury, Minn.; and Regaip Sen, a senior in electrical engineering and computer science from North Oaks, Minn.
Ragnar and Margaret Naess Award in recognition of exceptional talent and commitment to private performance study went to Mary Farbood, a graduate student in media arts and sciences from Cambridge, Mass.; Bogdan Fedeles, a graduate student in bioengineering and environmental health from Cambridge, Mass.; KaiWing Fung, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering from Apleichau, Hong Kong; Stavroula Hatzios, a sophomore majoring in chemistry from Blacksbury, Va.; Catherine McCurry, a freshman from Northampton, Mass.; Sonali Mukherjee, a senior in biology from Yorktown, Va.; Jacqueline O'Connor, a freshman South Windsor, Conn.; and Daniel Stein, a sophomore studying physics from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Melissa Edoh, who grew up in Togo and Zimbabwe and graduates this year with a degree in political science is the recipient of the Brad and Dorothea Endicott Award in recognition of distinguished service and musical contribution to the program in World Music at MIT.
Theater Arts awards winners: from left to right: Evan Davidson, Amy Mueller, Deb Lui, Bushra Makiya.
Two Edward S. Darna Award, presented to a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in theater arts and made a substantial contribution to the health of theater life on the MIT campus were awarded: to Amy Mueller, graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science from Mequon, Wisc., for being, “in a variety of positions, the unsung heroine of so many Theater Arts productions” and to Evan Davidson, a senior in management from West Simsbury, Conn., “for insuring, by hard work and dedication, the continued smooth operation of Dramashop, especially as President for 2002-2003.
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Joseph D. Everingham Awards, which recognizes a single creative outstanding performance or notable creative accomplishments in theater arts by a graduating senior, went to Bushra Makiya, a senior in materials science and engineering from Cambridge, Mass., for the creation and successful launching of The Dance Theater Ensemble and to Deb Lui, an architecture senior from Great Neck, N.Y. for the “singular achievement of being Deb Lui, an inevitable part of almost every Theater Arts project during her five years here.” |
The 2003 Vera List Prize in Art and Writing, presented by the List Visual Arts Center in recognition of exceptional expression on some aspect of contemporary art was won by chemistry junior John Wallach from Santa Monica, Calif., for his essay titled, “Artistic Vision as key to Kafka's ‘The Trial’ and Woolf's ‘To the Lighthouse.’” Second prize went to architecture junior Evan Pruitt from Largo, Fla., for his essay titled, “Transcending Time.”
The Austin Kelly III Essay Prize awarded to MIT undergraduates for scholarly or critical essays judged to be outstanding in one of the humanities fields or some interdisciplinary combination, went to David Foxe, senior in architecture and music from Sussex, Wisc., for an essay titled, “Instrumental Liminality: A Study of the Interludes in Britten’s Opera ‘Peter Grimes’”; Lynn Punnoose, senior in chemical engineering from Bellerose, N.Y. for an essay titled, “Searching for the Truth in ‘Arden of Faversham’ and ‘The Alchemist’”; and Morgan Sonderegger, senior in physics from Berkeley, Calif., for an essay on “La Société Gallomane: The Use of French by the Nobility of Imperial Russia.”
The Richard Douglas Traveling Fellowships, presented to MIT juniors for travel which supports study in the humanities or arts were awarded to Christen Gray, biology major and political science minor from Marietta, Ga.; Sean Leonard, electrical enginering and computer science major with minors in Comparative Media Studies and urban studies and planning from San Diego, Calif.; Arthur Musah, electrical enginering and computer science from Sunyani, Ghana; Tao Qiu, economics and electrical engineering major from Nanjing, China; and Tae Won Kim, chemistry major and anthropology minor from Tenafly, N.J.
Freshmen Ed Platt and Patrick Boyle have been named 2003-2004 Ronald H. Cordover Scholars in the Arts by the Creative Arts Council. The award, given to those who have financial need and are active in the arts, was established in 1996-97 by Ronald H. Cordover (S.B. 1964). Platt, a visual artist and photographer from Royal Oak, Mich., is active as a photographer for The Tech and Technique. He participated in this year's Freshman Arts Seminar and Advising Program. Boyle, from Wasilla, Alaska, was in the Media Arts and Sciences Freshman Year Program and is web designer for Special Programs in the MIT Office of the Arts.
Two students were named winners of the MIT Symphony Concerto Competition: Insoo Kim, violin, a sophomore in management from Korea will perform Glazunov's Violin Concerto in A minor and Arshan Gailus, a freshman studying economics from Somerville, Mass., will perform the solo tenor saxophone in Villa-Lobos’s “Fantasia” with the orchestra, both under the direction of Dante Anzolini during the 2003-2004 academic year.
