The College of Creative Arts Mentored Research Awards demonstrate the exceptional mentored research work being conducted in the arts at West Virginia University. Research in the arts can take many forms: exhibitions, performances, publications, scholarly research and more.
“These awards highlight the high-level of creative research that our students are engaging in across the disciplines in the College of Creative Arts,” said Associate Dean of Artistic and Scholarly Achievement Mikylah Myers. “Undergraduate dance choreographers created an entirely new work for public performance; a graduate student brought together traditional Ghanian drumming with jazz drumset concepts; and an undergraduate art therapy student explored ways that art can be used in mental health diagnoses.
“With expert guidance from their mentors, these students are engaging in research and creative activity with enthusiasm, purpose and creativity. We are excited to celebrate them and their artistic contributions to humanity.”
The winners of the 2023 College of Creative Arts Mentored Research Awards are:
Undergraduate Student 1st Place
The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) Digital Archival Project by Emily Budik, School of Art & Design
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Annie McFarland and Dr. Linda Gantt
Art Therapy Research, April 2022 – Present
Abstract: The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) Digital Archival Project is something that I am confident will change the worlds of mental health and art therapy understanding to a point that we cannot comprehend just yet. Because art therapy is a new form of therapy, there are small amounts of research done in the field and an even smaller amount that have been repeated to see reliable results that can be replicated. Using a PPAT (Person Picking and Apple From a Tree (art diagnostic assessment)) and FEATS in combination has created outcomes that show objective outcomes within diagnoses and demographics. The FEATS scales are a way to create quantitative data out of something that was initially qualitative. This will result in a database that can be used to do further research upon, as well as added onto if external art therapists and psychologists adhere to the same guidelines for their results. There are so many things to be said about this project, and I am just excited to be able to be a part of something with people such as Dr. Linda Gantt and Dr. Anne McFarland who are pioneers in the field. To be learning under them as well as creating the database with them, it has simply confirmed the passion that I always knew I could find in a field of study. I foresee this research to be another landmark case of research in the ever growing field of art therapy.
Graduate Student 1st Place
Jazz and West African Aesthetics: Traditional Ghanaian Drum Ensemble Concepts Applied to Jazz Drumset by Joseph Boulos, School of Music
Faculty Mentors: Prof. Brian Wolfe and Dr. Michael Vercelli
Research document - Method/work book, April 26th, 2022
Abstract: Much of the pedagogical scholarship of non-Western percussion ensembles applied to the drumset focuses on condensing the polyvocality of sounds and textures performed by multiple players and instruments down to one player and a set of drums. Specifically, when applied to West African drum ensembles, this sonic approximation applied by one player leads the learner to emphasize more technical components surrounding rhythmic dexterity. While this approach effectively emulates the sound of multiple players being carried out by one, an understanding of these traditional polyvocal textures as applied to the movements performed by a single player has remained an overlooked component within this recontextualization. When examining an approximation of rhythmic structures employed within Ghanaian drum ensembles to the jazz drumset, the original aesthetic and musicality found within Ghanaian traditions are often left behind and superseded by technical aspects This study provides readers with a comprehensive guide to connecting the aesthetic traditions of West African drum ensembles to the drumset in the context of jazz. An understanding of the traditions of jazz, the influence of Africa in the United States, the basic construction of a traditional West African drum ensemble, and the analysis of three drummer; Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Ed Blackwell, will lead to a more comprehensive application of non-Western musical concepts applied to jazz. Although this study is specific to West African drum ensembles, the contents can be applied to the research of other non-Western percussion ensembles and their link to the drumset.
Collaborative Award 1st Place
Audacious Women: Societal and Environmental Impacts on Women through Dance by Elena Maddy and Bec Hyde, School of Theatre & Dance
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yoav Kaddar
Performance, February 18, 2023
The Collaborative Award is sponsored by the WVU Research Office.
Abstract: Throughout time, women have borne their children along with the brunt of society’s pressures, changing with each decade’s new rules, including those that define who does and does not qualify as a woman. We are adding our voices to the researchers and dissenters of these societal rules and creating a space for women to feel seen and heard, while also educating those who do not identify as women on the daily struggles women face. We are contributing our findings and experiences through our own medium: dance. Audacious Women is a choreography project that analyzes societal rules imposed upon women and how those rules impact their sexuality, sensuality, and sense of self using modern dance. Modern dance is a genre of dance that focuses on storytelling through organic and abstracted movement. We chose this style of dance because it can be free of gendered movement and possesses theatrical elements, enabling us to utilize our training that combines a BFA degree in Musical Theatre and a BA in Dance. Our research on gendered movement and the female narrative is intended to create a performance that will empower all women in the West Virginia University community. We hope to continue the performance outside of WVU to spread this empowerment to a broader audience. We acknowledge that these issues are a worldwide experience and strive to make a difference in our own community, in order to plant the seed of change.
Learn more about the award winners and other participants, visit https://ccarts.wvu.edu/students/cca-mentored-research-awards/2023-cca-mentored-research-projects.