Four CSU programs received fall 2014 grants from the University’s Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment. The endowment supports programs that contribute to a flourishing environment for the arts and culture at CSU.

The fall 2014 grant recipients are:

• Scrimmage: Football in American Art from the Civil War to the Present, Aug. 28, 2015-Dec. 18, 2015, University Art Museum, $13,000. This exhibition, organized by the University Art Museum, will be the first comprehensive survey of work by prominent American artists that examines the quintessentially American sport of football. Thanks to the enthusiastic response of curators, historians, researchers, and private collectors throughout the country, the CSU Art Museum has been able to secure the loans of key works of art from institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Yale University Art Galleries, Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, the George Eastman House, the Warhol Museum, and the New Public Library special collections. Artists represented will include Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, George Bellows, John Steuart Curry, Thomas Hart Benton, Andy Warhol, and Robert Rauschenberg, along with a number of noted contemporary artists.
• 32nd Annual CSU Pow Wow, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, $2,000. This major annual event hosted by the Native American Cultural Center and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society annually draws about 3,000 people to participate in a showcase of the cultures of First Nations people at CSU.
• 2014-15 Creative Writing Reading Series, English Department, $2,500. The Reading Series seeks to expand public understanding of literary art and its relevance to a range of human endeavors by bringing writers to CSU whose work encompasses diverse subject matter and fields of study. This grant helps to support the fall 2014 Gary Snyder visit and the Feb. 5, 2015, appearance by Peter Heller.
• Observations and Collections — National Juried Exhibition, Feb. 6, 2015-March 6, 2015, Clara Hatton Gallery, CSU Art Department, $2,500. This national juried exhibition, organized by faculty in the CSU Art Department, will help promote and encourage diverse and new ways to create work that crosses boundaries, highlighting the interdisciplinary approach to making art. San Francisco-area artist and educator Jennifer Kent will serve as guest juror.

Fostering rich arts, cultural expression

The Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment for the Arts was created by the family and friends of CSU’s late President Emeritus William Morgan and his wife, Lilla, to help foster a vibrant, rich, and evolving environment for the arts and cultural expression at CSU.  The Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment provides grants to support projects in art, music, humanities, literature, and the performing arts, including but not limited to:

• visiting/guest lecturers and artists;
• purchase of art, rare books, or landscaping;
• exhibits and performances;
• scholarships and awards; or
• any use that would showcase the breadth of human cultural endeavor and enhance the cultural awareness of the CSU community.

Make a contribution to the Lilla B. Morgan Endowment to help support the arts at CSU.

Grant funds are awarded during two awards cycles each year, with the application deadlines of April 1 and Sept. 30. All university departments are welcome and encouraged to apply for grant funding. Applications are evaluated on the significance of the project and its impact on the campus community. Projects/programs of a major impact, smaller projects, and multi-year projects may all be considered for funding. All proposals will also be reviewed for demonstrated responsibility and thoughtfulness in project planning, budget development, and potential for successful implementation.

Members of the Lilla B. Morgan Endowment Grants Committee include Kristi Bohlender, College of Liberal Arts Development Office; Jean Jenes, Office of the President; Katie Kalkstein, Office of the President; Leif Sorensen, Faculty Representative; Cara Neth, Office of the President; and Lance Wright, Campus Activities.