I Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Fine Arts Graduate Award

The deadline for Student Submissions is February 26, 2024.

The I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Fine Arts Award is offered in the spirit of inspiring new arts-related creative activity that will stimulate thoughts, insights, and ideas. A primary goal is to help talented graduate students realize an ambitious and influential project that may not otherwise be possible due to financial restrictions. Funding may be used for, but is not limited to, international research; solo/collaborative performance; public engagement projects; travel to an on-location project site; to build, purchase, or rent equipment; etc. The award provides project support as well as funding to increase the public impact and dissemination of outstanding projects through marketing/public relations/social media to connect with communities beyond the School and College.

Each School within the College of Fine Arts (Art + Design, Dance, Film, Interdisciplinary Arts, Music, Theater) will identify one nominee to put forward for consideration for this award at the College level. One of these nominees will be selected by CoFA to receive the $5000 I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Fine Arts Award. The remaining Billman nominees will receive a $1,000 Project Development Award. Funding will be dispersed before the end of the semester in which the award was received.

Eligibility:

All degree-seeking graduate students enrolled full-time in the College of Fine Arts are eligible to apply for this award.

The student must be pursuing their graduate degree at the time of project completion.
While projects of individual graduate students are common, proposals that involve collaboration between 2 or more graduate students are also encouraged.
Although they are not required, cross/trans/interdisciplinary or community collaborations are encouraged, both within the community and externally (for instance, collaborations with OU’s entrepreneurship, fashion merchandising, advertising, engineering, and healthcare programs, as well as with Passion Works, ARTS/West, Athens Photographic Project, Dairy Barn, Kennedy Museum, Athena Cinema, O’Bleness Hospital, and other organizations could all yield fruitful partnerships).

Proposal Components

Project Narrative (4-page limit):

The project narrative will be comprised of a clear and detailed description of the project, no more than 4 double-spaced pages in length. It must include the following:

The purpose of this project as it relates to the student’s pursuit of their graduate degree at Ohio University must be explained.
The project’s significance, aims, originality and overall contribution to the fine arts must be discussed. If appropriate, the student’s methodologies should be addressed.
The student must demonstrate an understanding of how this project relates to similar creative projects or past research by others within this specific field.

Budget Outline & Description

Clearly outline anticipated expenditures and financial details related to the project, such as, materials, equipment, travel, lodging, personnel, etc. In addition, the budget must specify how at least 5% of the budget will be devoted to a public-impact/marketing plan, with a brief justification of why any particular amount is appropriate for the needs of the project. The above percentage allocated to public impact can be increased if appropriate for certain projects. The budget should also identify potential external sources of grant funding, should the total budget exceed the amount of potential funding.

Public Impact Statement

Describe how the project will have an impact beyond the School and College. Identify who the anticipated audience will be and a marketing plan for the projects. A public-impact statement may include everything from a plan for marketing, social media, community engagement, festivals, conferences, websites, lectures, to performances. Firm and well-articulated plans for public impact that address specificity, methods, range, and dissemination goals will strengthen the application. Please attend the CoFA Events Marketing Team presentation for assistance with this.

Draft Press Release

In anticipation of the project’s completion and presentation to the intended audience, write a draft version of the public announcement. Please attend the CoFA Events Marketing Team presentation for assistance with this.

Timeline

Create a clear timeline directly related to the research that will be conducted and/or the creative activity undertaken. The expected date of completion must occur while in pursuit of the graduate degree. Note that award funding will be dispersed in mid-April.

Audio-Visual support materials

This can include sketches, reference imagery, diagrams, hyperlinks to recordings/videos, scores, transcriptions, schematics, charts or other materials that will assist the committee in more fully understanding the intent of the project. Please provide image captions with brief context as to the reason for their inclusion.

CV/Resume

Limit of 1-2 pages.

DARS

A copy of your DARS report.

External letters of support (if applicable to the project)

Although not required, brief letters of support from potential partners, collaborators, galleries, venues, publications, conferences, organizations, etc. will make a stronger proposal.

Nomination Letter

A letter of nomination and support from the student's primary advisor must be included.

Some Examples of Possible Projects:

A proposal to work with a local arts organization or the local schools to create a work of public art with supporting letters from the organization as well as the City of Athens and/or the school.
A proposal to complete research in a particular area of the arts at some offsite location and then to create a public symposium or website around the completed research.
A proposal for a series of performances at regional museums, schools, theaters, historic buildings, etc. accompanied by supporting letters from the museums.
An interdisciplinary engagement with a student from another artistic field or from a business field, such as entrepreneurship or marketing.
A proposal for a work of art that will be displayed by a particular gallery, museum, public building, with a support letter from said partnerships.
A proposal for a project that requires on-site work and a list of festivals/conferences where the project will be submitted and a public-relations plan to support the project.

Deadlines and Details Regarding Student Proposals

February 26, 2024: Deadline for Student Submission to School Director*

Each student's proposal must be submitted to the School Director in a single PDF.
Letter of Support: The student's principal advisor (the faculty member who best understands the nature of the student's project) submits a letter of support separately to the Director to accompany the completed proposal.
*Notes to School Director: When received, submissions should be forwarded to your School’s award committee for review and selection of your School’s Billman nominee. Once these decisions have been made it is highly recommended that the student’s thesis advisor, the School award committee, and/or the Director work with the students to help make final edits to their proposal prior to the CoFA submission deadline. Based on past winning submissions, it is clear that this guidance considerably strengthens proposals. Similarly, each of these students will benefit from faculty assistance in preparing their 5-minute oral presentation to the CoFA Billman Award committee.

March 8, 2024: Deadline for submission of Schools’ Billman nominee to the CoFA Billman Fine Arts Award Committee (hackenmi@ohio.edu). Schools should also notify all applicants of their decisions by this same day.

March 25–March 29, 2024: Required 5-minute ‘Pitch’ to the CoFA Billman Award committee to orally present their project. Guidelines and specific scheduling will be sent to each nominee by one week prior.

April 5, 2024: Award Recipient Selected by the CoFA Billman Award Committee.

April 8-12, 2024: Award Recipient Notification by CoFA in writing during the 2nd week of April. The remaining nominees will also be notified this week regarding the results of this process.

Requirements for the Awards

Requirements of the Billman Fine Arts Award Recipient Upon Completion of the Project:

The I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry/Billman Fine Arts Award recipient and the Project Development Award recipients must attend a luncheon with members of the Billman family, the CoFA Dean, and their School Director in late April.
After the Billman Fine Arts Award recipient has completed the project or research as described in the student’s winning proposal, the award recipient must send a summary of the results to the Dean of the College of Fine Arts. These results will then be forwarded to the Billman family.
The student may also choose to occasionally update the Billman family on the progress of the project, although this is optional.
The award-winning proposal will be used as an example for the benefit of future applicants.

Requirements of the Project Development Award Recipients:

These funding recipients are not expected to complete the full project that they initially proposed. Instead, they will be asked to submit a revised budget and short description of some aspect of the initial project they wish to pursue or a scaled-down version of this project that will be undertaken with this smaller award. This must be approved by the Dean’s office prior to disbursement of the award. All proposals that receive funding will be used as examples for the benefit of future applicants.

2024 Award Winning Proposals

2024 Billman Award Winner

The "Dance4yourlife" project, designed by Fedra Tavia Hunte, aims to bridge the gap in dance education on the Caribbean Island of Antigua by offering young performing arts students and professionals an immersive experience to enhance their skills and prepare them for higher education. Through a 5-day workshop at the University of the West Indies Open Campus, participants will engage in diverse dance sessions, discussions on dance education, and community-based activities. Hunte will collaborate with local organizations and leverage social media influencers to maximize outreach to aspiring dancers aged 16 to 25 in the region. Hunte hopes this workshop will lay the groundwork for a longer-term, transformative initiative that fosters mental, physical, and intellectual growth in Caribbean dancers, empowers tomorrow's dance leaders, and redefines the possibilities of dance education within the Antiguan community.

—Fedra Tavia Hunte (Dance)

Michael Binder - Art + Design ($1000)

TBD

Jordan Spayd - Film ($1000)

First Night Out is a short film about a bisexual man who is married to a woman and part of his journey figuring out how he fits into the queer community. The film was shot at the local Athens bar, The Union, and was produced by a cast and crew from the greater Athens and Columbus communities. The funds from the grant will be used to hire an editor to put the film together, a composer to create an original soundtrack/score for the film, and a sound designer to do a final sound mix. The film was written and directed by me, Jordan Spayd, and I graduated this Spring with my M.F.A. from Ohio University's School of Film.

Sam Sernavski - I Arts ($1000)

TBD

Papa Kojo Essuman Yamoah, Bernard Agorsor, Nina Asiamah - Music ($1000)

TBD

2023 WINNERS

Guidance Regarding Your Proposal:

Copies of all previous winning proposals are available for review in person in Jennings House. Keep in mind that many of these proposals do not completely match all of the current guidelines. Please contact Paula Morrison (morrisop@ohio.edu) to review these proposals.

Students are highly encouraged to work with their principal advisor when developing and writing this proposal. In addition, there will be general Q&A sessions scheduled with the CoFA Billman Award Committee; as well as with the CoFA Events Marketing Team to address the public impact statement, budget advice and the draft press release. Contact hackenmi@ohio.edu for info about scheduling.

Proposal Review Process

Each School will identify a small committee to review proposals and determine their School’s Billman Award nominee. This top proposal will then be forwarded on to the Associate Dean, hackenmi@ohio.edu. The CoFA Billman Award committee, which consists of a representative from each School offering a graduate degree program, will evaluate these proposals.

Additionally, students need to orally present a 5-minute pitch to this committee. Based on a combination of this presentation and the written proposal, the committee will select the $5,000 I. Hollis Parry/Ann Parry Billman Award winner. School-selected Billman nominees who do not win the Billman Award will receive a $1,000 Project Development Grant.

Questions?

There will be open Q&A sessions scheduled with the CoFA Billman Fine Arts Award Committee and the CoFA Events Marketing Team. Specific questions can also be directed to: Karla Hackenmiller, Associate Dean, hackenmi@ohio.edu.

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