Image by Ken Aschliman

A Fine Arts senior from CCAD has been selected as a grand prize finalist in the 2011 Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts (EVA).

Ken Aschliman is one of six Ohio students competing for the grand award in the EVA competition. The winning finalist will receive $2,500 and will be announced April 13 at a reception at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Aschliman’s competition portfolio is available for online viewing. He joins alumni Heather Lynn Kyle (CCAD, ’08), Kyle McMahon (CCAD, ’09), Mark Bush (CCAD, ’09), and Erica Podwoiski (CCAD, ’10) as EVA award winners.

CCAD is one of only two colleges with students being awarded an EVA each year of the competition, which recognizes outstanding senior artists from Ohio’s independent colleges.

Artwork by Erica Podwoiski is on display through January 30, 2011.

A portion of the proceeds from alumna Erica Podwoiski’s (CCAD 2010) solo exhibition will be donated to Metavivor, an organization that provides funding for research on metastatic breast cancer.

“The show features never-before-seen drawings, new paintings, and my latest venture into the wild world of wearable art,” Podwoiski said. “I chose to donate part of the proceeds from my bra collection, Bling 4 Boobs, to Metavivor because it’s one of the few organizations that supports and funds research for women with Stage IV breast cancer.”

“My mom is now living with Stage IV breast cancer and is an active member of Metavivor’s online community,” Podwoiski said. “Unfortunately, 90% of cancer deaths result from Stage IV cancer, but only 2% of research funds are devoted to stage IV. I wanted to support an organization that puts almost all of its donations into innovative research for metastatic breast cancer.”

Investigating female identity in her art is nothing new for Podwoiski. Her first solo exhibition pc4pc <333333 was a visual case study of women and girls on MySpace and Facebook, which explored boundaries, notions of privacy and self, female stereotypes and sexuality in the millennial age.

Podwoiski’s work has been featured on the cover of Columbus’s Alive Magazine and was shown at the historic Belle Isle Conservatory in Detroit.

Coming of Age in an Era of Celebrity Worship is on display December 11–January 30 at the Lido Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan. For more information about the exhibition, visit the Lido Gallery website.

Podwoiski was one of two valedictorians for the class of 2010 and also was recognized as one of 10 outstanding seniors at graduation.

Ohio Theatre

Columbus College of Art & Design presented 233 diplomas during the 131st annual spring commencement on Saturday, May 15, at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus.

The commencement speaker was Author, Editor & Illustrator Michael Rosen. The 2010 class had two valedictorians, Stacey Lawless-Gibson and Erica Podwoiski, and 10 outstanding seniors:

• Susan Burke, Advertising and Graphic Design, New Knoxville, OH
• Tyler Mele, Animation; Wellington, OH
• Elizabeth Munn, Fashion Design; Aurora, OH
• Ian Horn, Fine Arts; Hyde Park, OH
• Erica Podwoiski, Fine Arts; Garden City, MI
• Jacob Murray, Illustration; Fort Wayne, IN
• Shawn Fortner, Industrial Design; Canton, OH
• Kimberly Priestman, Interior Design; Lansdale, PA
• Matthew Dickerson, Photography; Columbus, OH
• Joseph Lombardi, Media Studies; St. Louis, MO

A copy of Rosen’s commencement address is available here (pdf).