Over our long and distinguished history, SMFA has been fortunate to be the beneficiary of bequests designed to support student work. None has been as important or as enduring as the Traveling Fellowships, which were created in 1894 to encourage post-graduate work and travel. While the selection criteria have changed through the years, the awards have consistently provided support to launch individual careers through independent work, travel and exhibition opportunities. The jury met February 24 and, from 95 submissions, selected the 2012 Traveling Fellows:

Cathy Akers, BFA 1996                             Nabila Zoraya Santa-Cristo, BFA 2009
Thaddeus Beal, Diploma 1989                Ben Sloat, MFA 2005
Samantha Fields, MFA 2005                     Ellen Wetmore, MFA 2000
Randy J. Garber, Diploma 1998              Sung Won Yun, MFA 2010
Evelyn Rydz, MFA 2005                              Chen Zhang, MFA 2010


The jury was comprised of Mohamed Abla, Cairo-based artist and educator; Jed Speare, artist and Director of Mobius, Inc. and Alise Upitis, Visiting Scholar at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT.

Recipients have approximately one year to complete their travels. At the conclusion of those travels, their works will be reviewed again and one artist from this distinguished group will be selected for a one-person exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to be held in 2014.

Image: Chen Zang, Absurd Happiness, 2008. Digital C-Print.