The College of Creative Arts and Media Exhibit of Mentored Research and Creative Activity demonstrates the exceptional mentored research work in the arts and media at WVU.
The awards are open to full-time and part-time faculty or staff and all currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Creative Arts and Media.
The 2025 winners are as follows:
Undergraduate
First Place — $750 awarded to the student and to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Isaac McCarthy from the School of Music and faculty mentor Joshua Swiger for their recording research project “Everywhere You Were.”
Honorable Mention — $250 awarded to the student and to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Ava Furlow from the School of Art and Design and faculty mentor Michael Sherwin for their photography research project “Microscopic Self-Portraits: Exploring Identity Through Scientific Imaging and Cyanotype.”
Graduate
First Place — $1,000 awarded to the graduate student and to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Clayton Heath from the School of Music and faculty mentor Katelyn Best for “More Than a Man: Interpreting Representation of Identity and Belonging in Living Folklore,” an ethnomusicology, folklore, commission, educational outreach and performance research project.
Honorable Mention — $250 awarded to the student and to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Kendyl Bostic from the School of Art and Design and faculty mentor Heather Harris for the master’s thesis “Engaging Preschool Children in Art Museums Through Interactive Programs.”
Collaborative Project
First Place — $1,500 total awarded to the students, split evenly between each student, and $1,500 to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Jenna Stewart, Mary Roush and Zebulon Meyer from the Reed School of Media and Communications and faculty mentor Julia Daisy Fraustino for their digital media research project “In a Complex World We Can’t Stand Alone: The PIC Lab’s RMG Hoyer Portfolio.”
Honorable Mention — $250 awarded to each student and to the faculty mentor for professional development.
Kelsey Clodfelter and Claire Davis from the School of Art and Design and faculty mentor Megan Leight for their database and AI program research project “Artful Algorithms: Annotating Ancient Maya Vases for a New AI Detection Model.”
Congratulations to all students, faculty and staff who participated in this year’s Exhibit of Mentored Student Research and Creative Activity.