Rebecca Glenn and Carlos Mendivil, New Mexico Highlands University media arts student, received fellowships from the Seabury Foundation with a match from the New Mexico Highlands University Foundation. Mendivil shows his Web site to Glenn and Deborah Seabury Holloway of the Seabury Foundation.
Seabury Foundation, NMHU Foundation Award Media Arts Fellowships
New Mexico Highlands University media arts students Rebecca Glenn and Carlos Mendivil will each receive $2,000 fellowships this semester thanks to the Seabury Foundation and the university’s foundation.
Deborah Seabury Holloway, board trustee from the Seabury Foundation, said: “I find this Media Arts Program and the work of its students so compelling and exciting. I think their work is phenomenal, professional and fresh.”
Holloway’s grandfather established the Seabury Foundation in 1947 in Chicago. She said since then the largest percentage of its funding has gone to education. This is the first time the Seabury Foundation has awarded fellowships to Highlands University students.
Holloway, who lives in Santa Fe, heard about the university’s Media Arts Department because of the collaborative work media arts students and faculty conduct with New Mexico’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
“Rebecca and Carlos are really exceptional students, and it’s wonderful that they’re being honored this way through these fellowships,” said Miriam Langer, chair or the university’s Visual and Performing Arts Department.
Glenn, a junior, said she was very surprised and happy when she got the letter notifying her of the fellowship award.
Mendivil, a senior who will graduate this semester, said that it felt rewarding to be acknowledged by such a large foundation as Seabury.
Media arts professor Megan Jacobs said the fellowships are a great way to empower students to do the kind of work that can enhance their portfolios. In addition, the fellowships give the students more time to focus on their artwork instead of putting in so many hours at outside jobs.
The Seabury Foundation will also fund spring semester fellowships for two media arts students with a match from the New Mexico Highlands University Foundation.
“We’re extremely grateful for the Seabury Foundation’s generosity and its awareness of how these fellowships help our students,” said Sharon Caballero, the university’s executive director for advancement. “I want to give our NMHU Foundation board member Joe McCaffrey credit. He helped write the Seabury grant proposal and followed through to the award. Then he convinced our university’s foundation to make the 100 percent match.”