May 30th 2014

CoA Grad Wins Art Institute of Chicago Fellowship

Ryan Gann (B.Arch 2014) has been awarded the Schiff Foundation Fellowship in Architecture by a jury of scholars and architects on behalf of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). Gann was selected for his “Waterhub” project, a visionary regional urban planning and architectural proposal to revive water transit on Lake Michigan, test feasibility and investigate the positive effects of using natural infrastructure to facilitate regional connectivity. The annual fellowship cash award ranges from $5,000- $15,000. Some students have used the money to travel, pay for college expenses, prepare for state licensing exams, or purchase equipment needed for practicing the profession.

IIT Landscape Architecture graduate Lara Rivera (MLA 2014) was also cited for Special Mention for her “City Delta” project. Special Mention is a non-monetary award category that recognizes up to two distinguished projects in each award cycle of the Schiff Foundation Fellowship for Architecture, in addition to the first prize winner. The Schiff Foundation Fellowship, first granted in 1989 and administered by the Department of Architecture of the Art Institute, is given annually to one student from either the University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, or The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The winning student’s portfolio becomes part of the permanent collection of architectural drawings housed within the Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings. Zoë Ryan, the John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design at AIC, announced the winners via email shortly after the jury completed its deliberations on May 23, 2014. The distinguished members of the 2014 jury included Tatiana Bilbao, founding partner of Tatiana Bilbao S.C. in Mexico City; Michael Darling, chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Ralph Johnson, design principal at Perkins+Will; and Steve Wiesenthal, associate vice president and university architect at the University of Chicago.