PAFA Announces 2016 Winners of Prestigious Travel Scholarships and Museum Purchase Prizes

Over $170,000 in scholarships competitively awarded to students each year

PHILADELPHIA (May 16, 2016) -- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is pleased to announce the 2016 recipients of its most prestigious travel prizes and museum purchase prizes.

PAFA awards more than $170,000 in prizes and scholarships annually, including travel scholarships, exhibition nominations, and purchase prizes. The award-winning works are included in the 115th Annual Student Exhibition (ASE), on view through June 5 at PAFA, located at 128 N. Broad Street in Philadelphia.

The 2015 recipients are:

Gavin Bartlett (Certificate '17) of Miami, Florida, is the winner of the 2016 William Emlen Cresson Memorial Travel Scholarship. First awarded in 1902, the scholarship recipient receives funding for European travel and full-tuition to PAFA for the two terms after completing his or her travels. Bartlett was also awarded The Robert and Alice Carlen Memorial Endowment, The John Anthony Capuzzi Memorial Endowment, and The Lambert and Emma Wallace Cadwalader Prize for Landscape.

Joseph Rha (PAFA/Penn BFA '16) of Linwood, New Jersey, is the recipient of the 2016 Richard C. von Hess Memorial Travel Scholarship. The von Hess Travel Scholarship is a one-year, full-tuition and travel scholarship for a third or fourth-year student exhibiting competitively in the ASE, on the basis of merit and financial need, and is selected by PAFA's appointed faculty.

Christina Ergemlidze (Certificate '16) of Philadelphia is the winner of the 2016 Lewis S. Ware Memorial Travel Scholarship. First awarded in 1938, this scholarship affords recipients funds dedicated to European travel. Ergemlidze was the 2015 winner of the Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize for PAFA's permanent collection.

Elise Broadway (PAFA/Penn BFA '16) of Dallas, Texas, and Ryan Tillman (BFA '16) of Philadelphia, are the winners of the 2016 J. Henry Schiedt Memorial Travel Scholarships. First awarded in 1949, this scholarship is awarded to two students based on outstanding merit and faculty recommendation. The scholarship grants recipients the ability to travel abroad. Broadway is also recipient of The Lance Roy Lauffer Memorial Prize and the Fine Arts Venture Fund Award; Tillman is also winner of The Janet Fleisher Prize.

Casey Matthews (PAFA/Penn BFA '17) of Marlton, New Jersey, is the winner of the 2016 Women's Board Traveling Scholarship. First awarded in 2006, the Women's Board Travel Scholarship is awarded to a third-year Certificate/BFA student for travel and related expenses in the summer months of the year of the award, plus a partial tuition scholarship for the subsequent academic year. In addition, there is a flexible component of the award that the student can choose to spend toward the summer travel, or apply toward additional tuition funding. Recipients are required to return full-time in the following year to complete the Certificate/BFA requirements. Matthews is also a winner of The Elena and Will Barnet Prize for Abstract Art, andthe PAFA Fellowship Juried Prize.

Kimi Pryor (MFA '16) of Los Angeles, California, is the winner of the 2016 Murray Dessner Memorial Graduate Travel Prize, PAFA's first travel prize at the graduate level. A noted Philadelphia artist, Dessner served as a PAFA faculty member for over 40 years. Dessner received his Certificate from PAFA, and was the recipient of a Cresson Traveling Scholarship and a Scheidt Prize, as well as a Philadelphia Art Museum Purchase Prize and a PAFA Purchase Prize. First presented in 2014, this prize honors Dessner's legacy and ensures that PAFA's Master of Fine Arts students of outstanding merit benefit, as Dessner did, from domestic or international travel. The award is presented in consideration of the quality and originality of the student at graduation, as well as achievement over the two-year program in both classroom and studio.

Omid Shekari (MFA '16) of Tehran, Iran, and Jonathan Lyndon Chase (MFA '16) of Philadelphia, are the winners of the 2016 Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize for PAFA's permanent collection. First awarded in 1999, this prize is given annually to one or more recipients whose artwork is identified as being of special significance, and therefore worthy of inclusion in PAFA's permanent collection. The work is chosen from the ASE with the selection made by PAFA's President, Dean of the School, and Director of the Museum. Both Shekari and Chase are also 2016 recipients of the Woodmere Museum Purchase Prize.

Since PAFA's first travel scholarship was awarded in 1902, recipients agree that the opportunity to travel internationally has enriched their perspectives and artistic practices in profound ways. Former winners of PAFA's travel awards include Edna Andrade, Bo Bartlett, Moe Brooker, Vincent Desiderio, Billy Blaise Dufala, Barkley Hendricks, Orit Hofshi, Alex Kanevsky, Elizabeth Osborne, and the late Ellen Powell Tiberino.

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Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the 2005 National Medal of Arts, PAFA is a recognized leader in fine arts education with a world-class permanent collection of American art.