Spencer Museum announces 2021 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients

LAWRENCE — The Spencer Museum of Art announces the 2021 recipients of the Jack & Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards. Established by benefactor Lavon Brosseau in 2011, the awards honor thought-provoking creative work in the categories of writing and diverse media from University of Kansas undergraduate students in any area of study.

Recipients were selected from 12 submissions, which included painting, poetry, essays, creative-nonfiction, film, music and performance. They represented a range of disciplines, including film and media studies, music theory, visual art, psychology, architecture and creative writing.

In the writing category, Aroog Khaliq, of Overland Park, was recognized for her collection of poetry, “Extrema,” which combines confessional themes with formal precision in over 25 poems. Khaliq called her project “an exercise in sifting and revising” in which a reductive editing approach and sense of play yield dynamic works in conversation with one another. Khaliq is a senior in English and psychology.

In the diverse media category, Arabella Schwerin of Sioux City, Iowa, was recognized for her sound installation “Parallel Play.” Her collaborative performance combines experimental music composition with video and light installation elements, which sometimes work in harmony and sometimes create tension. Shwerin said “Parallel Play” mimics the overlapping but varying experiences of children at play to “encourage the audience to look at the world with a new perspective.” Schwerin is a senior in the School of Music with a focus on cello performance.

More information about the awards and excerpts from the recipients’ projects are available online.

Image: Process image from “Parallel Play” by KU senior Arabella Schwerin.