Ames Library Student Awards
Each academic year, The Ames Library selects one student for each of the following awards:
Scholarly and Artistic Research Proposal Award
The Ames Library Scholarly and Artistic Research Proposal Award provides one $500 award for an IWU student, under the supervision of a faculty sponsor, to propose a significant research or creative project in their specific fields of study. More details and application instructions are available online .
Congratulations to the 2023 award winner, Cynthia Castro, '26 for Digital Humanities Project, Exploring Photography in Pilsen. Previous award winners include 2022 winner, Chloe Xu, '24, "Exploring Peer Pressure Influences on Body Images and Disordered Eating" and 2021 award winner, Katie Fata, '22, for: "__Plath: confronting the tone policing of Sylvia Plath".
Student Art Purchase Award
Since 1996, the Ames Library has purchased a piece of artwork selected from among works exhibited annually by Bachelor of Fine Arts students in the School of Art. The Student Art Purchase Award is presented during the opening reception of B.F.A. show held each April. The winning artist receives $500 and their work is displayed on the entry level of Ames Library for one academic year, after which it is relocated to the Ames Library second floor where the entire collection of student artwork is permanently displayed. All of the award winning pieces are also included in our online IWU Art Collection.
Recent Student Art Awards
Lifelines
Rogers, Gabriella
27th Annual Student Art Purchase Award
A slightly cupped, ceramic left hand created with three glass vines and leaves of varying shades of green rising above the palm. There are round objects at the bases of the vines are colored yellow, blue and red.
Self Portraits
Abenroth, Caroline, '22; Palczynski, Julie, '23; Ekinci, Erin, '24
26th Annual Student Art Purchase Award
The works are three-dimensional silhouettes of each artist, rendered in glass.
For Those Who Can't Even
Hussein, Raya, '19
24th Annual Student Art Purchase Award
A three-dimensional portrait of a male wearing a collarless shirt and a jacket and a headband decorated with small flower blossoms. His head is tilted to the his right and he is holding a piece of paper that obscures the right side of his face.
janet echelman's 1.8
Bui, Ania, '18
23rd Annual Student Art Purchase Award
Set of six 10 x 8 inch individually framed ribbon-like fractal images in red, purple and blue on black background.