Each year, SGC International awards two student fellowships;
one undergraduate ($500) and one graduate ($1000).

And due to the generosity of our friends at Awagami Paper Mill and Gamblin Artists Colors, we are able to offer a number of sponsored awards. 

We are proud to announce this year’s awardees for Puertográfico 2020:

Undergraduate Fellowship: Lu Colby
Murray State University

All of these pieces, both independently and as a whole, explore gendered ideas about domesticity; repetition and multiplicity speaking to the methodical and repetitive ways women conduct tasks in their home. These strategies play out in a variety of ways. Pushing the idea of what a print can be, the iron marks act as individual monoprints and give a violent and tense feel to my pieces that addresses the tension and stress attributed to the domestic expectations of women in today’s society. Correspondingly, the use of white is symbolic of purity and sterility found in a clean home.

Graduate Fellowship: Juana Estrada Hernandez 
University of New Mexico

The human figure and traditional Mexican devil masks are common symbols that metaphorically represent the “un-said” transformation of how people are perceived once they cross the Mexican border into the United States. Artistic expression and Printmaking provide an exploration of processes and techniques that are executed in detailed and thought-provoking compositions. I find the Mezzotint process conducive to expressing some of these issues because of the intense velvety black that can be achieved through this process. The color black creates a sense of mystery and the unknown. It is a powerful color that is serious and carries weight. My motivation has always been to raise awareness about immigrants and their realities. These prints attempt to emotionally impact people in ways that invoke independent thought and understanding for those that used to live in the shadows. 

Awagami Award

Mirela Malimban, Emily Carr University of Art & Design

The award of 100 sheets of ‘Awagami Editioning’ washi papers will be shipped directly to Mirela by Awagami Paper Mill in Japan.

Gamblin Awards

Gamblin Undergraduate Award: Maria Alfaro, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

Gamblin Graduate Award: Erin Wohletz, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Gamblin Emerging Artist Award: J. Leigh Garcia, Assistant Professor at Kent State University

Gamblin presents awards to SGCI members who use their materials in their standard practice; the awards are given in the amount of $150.

Image credit:
Lu Colby
Shame, Shame!
144” x 144” x 42”
French paper, lithograph on mulberry, stool
2018