Cynthia Marris Awarded the first Covington Rhode Senior Prize in art

Cynthia Marris was awarded the prestigious Covington-Rhode Senior Prize at the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts Convocation on May 10, 2019.

All art studio faculty participated in rating each of the applicants.  The top six students were selected as finalists and were given a group exhibition on April 29, 2019 in the John Sommers Gallery to show their work.  A committee made up of three art studio faculty, the Chair of the Department of Art and Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts then met on May 9, 2019, to view the work in person at the finalist exhibition and select the winner.  Cynthia Marris  earned her BFA in Studio Art, and will continue her studies next year at the Tamarind Institute at the University of New Mexico in their Printer Training Program in 2019 – 2020.

Cynthia Marris’s artist statement:

Since 2006, I have been experimenting with printmaking to share stories. Most of my work is made using lithography and screenprinting techniques. These process-based mediums allow me to create multiple narratives from which to choose. During the proofing stage of creating a print or a printed edition, I am able to draft visual information by experimenting with color and composition. I often print color proofs to see what color palette works best for any given story. I also use multiplicity within images or via installations of similar prints in order to evolve perceptions of stories about the unnoticed and underrepresented.

The Covington-Rhode Prize was established in 2018 by Patricia Covington and Shari Rhode.   Dr. Covington earned two degrees, a BA in Art and a BA in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in 1968.  She worked at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL for 33 years: as Assistant Director in the School of Art, Associate Director of Admissions and Records, and Director of Academic Programs under the Provost.  Shari Rhode was legal counsel and chief trial attorney at Southern Illinois University for thirty years, and is now the sole owner of Rhode Law Firm in Carbondale, IL.

For more information:  http://art.unm.edu/covington-rhode-senior-prize/

image: Covington-Rhode Senior Prize winner Cynthia Marris (center) with Mary Tsiongas (left) and Chair of the Art Department Justine Andrews (right).