A Port Lambton resident, artist and Wallaceburg District Secondary School graduate has been recognized by Western University.
Last week, the London university named second-year Studio Arts student Kate Murphy its inaugural Liu Shiming Scholar for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Murphy said her passion for the visual arts has thrived, with the guidance of dedicated professors in the Studio Arts program at Western.
“There are so many talented students that I get to study and create with at Western,” Murphy said, in a media release.
“I was absolutely surprised and honoured by this award. The scholarship funds will be a big help as I work to complete my degree.”
As a WDSS graduate, Murphy was also the 2021 recipient of the Glen and Orville Gold Fine Arts Award selected by the Lambton-Kent District School Board.
Upon entering university, Murphy also received a Western Scholarship of Distinction and a Faculty of Arts and Humanities Entrance Scholarship of Excellence.
The Liu Shiming Scholar Award is a non-recurring prize of $3,000, to be awarded annually to one full-time undergraduate student in the Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Arts and Humanities based on academic achievement.
Western University’s Office of the Registrar selects the recipient.
The award is offered through the Liu Shiming Scholars Fund donated by the Liu Shiming Art Foundation.
Recipients of this award are recognized as Liu Shiming Scholars by the Foundation.
The Liu Shiming Art Foundation acts to support students of the arts at distinguished universities and hopes to expand the global arts discourse to embrace the diversity of art.
When the foundation’s namesake, Liu Shiming, was selected to study at China’s Central Academy of the Arts in the late 1940s, it was with the help and support of his community.
He was able to begin creating works of art that would become recognized throughout China and internationally.
For more information on the work of the foundation, visit www.lsmartfund.org.
