SUNY honors recent Oswego art grad, displays her illustration in Albany

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State University of New York Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson has announced that recent SUNY Oswego graduate Rachel Futterman is among seven scholarship winners across the 64-campus system in this year’s Best of SUNY Student Art Exhibition.

SUNY Oswego's art department submitted Futterman's piece, "Flourish," for the annual competition, and jurors selected it for Honorable Mention. Student artwork will be on display at the State University Plaza in Albany through Thanksgiving of this year.

“Such creativity from our students is something we not only embrace, but take pride in sharing across New York state,” said Chancellor Johnson. “The art presented today (June 25) is a reflection of the richness of talent and genius you will find on all 64 SUNY campuses. Today’s ceremony and scholarships for the award winners is one way we show our appreciation for their work.”

Futterman -- who in May earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphics design with minors in illustration and art -- was thrilled with the recognition.

"This award was important to me, because it felt like all of my hard work over the past few years had paid off, and it was an honor to be recognized amongst so many other talented artists from across SUNY," Futterman said. "I currently volunteer as a graphic designer for a nonprofit called Project Consent, and am soon planning on moving to Manhattan to further pursue a career in graphic design and illustration."

Student artists Bjorn Bauer of University at Albany, Nic Phelps of Mohawk Valley Community College and Hannah Tremblay of Hudson Valley Community College earned Best of Show awards, $1,000 scholarships each.

Besides Futterman, Honorable Mention winners of $500 scholarships were Durell Baxter of Purchase College, Amanda Brooks of SUNY Old Westbury and Hannah McCasland of SUNY Plattsburgh.

The traditional areas of drawing, ceramics, painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking are included in the Best of SUNY exhibition, as well as mixed media, graphic design, and digitally produced works. This year, 129 works by 120 students from 27 campuses were submitted.

Jurors included Jill Cozzy and Mehna Reach, both state museum senior exhibit planners; David Schillinger, director of design and printing services at SUNY System Administration; Todd Behrendt, associate dean of the art department at Mohawk Valley Community College; and Cynthia Clabough, art professor at SUNY Oswego.

The exhibit is made possible by Joe Hildreth, professor emeritus from SUNY Potsdam, who curates and hangs the pieces over two-day period; as well as Sara Saplin, who facilitates the exhibition. Links to photos of each winning piece are at suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/6-19/6-25-19/.

The SUNY student art shows were initiated in 2001 so that the work of SUNY’s most talented student artists could be seen by a wider audience. SUNY student art is on display year-round at State University Plaza, and at Chancellor Johnson’s State Street residence, as well as SUNY Global Center in New York City, and Governor Cuomo’s Washington, D.C., office. Student artwork also will be shown at the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government and Policy in Albany, following the exhibit’s opening on July 9.

For more information on the many offerings in art at SUNY Oswego, visit oswego.edu/programs/undergraduate/art-ba-bfa, email art@oswego.edu or call 315-312-2111.