1.  Katherine Fennelly, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, Humphrey School of Public Affairs

The Erasure of Women Artists in the Hungarian Holocaust

Stories abound in films, academic journals and the popular press about art stolen by the Nazis during WWII and attempts at restitution. However, the bulk of attention has been paid to famous collections, and to world-famous male artists. Much less is known about lesser-known artists, and least of all, women artists of the mid-20th century. In this project I focus on Hungary to investigate the life and art of a locally renowned Jewish painter who was murdered in the Hungarian Holocaust at the end of WWII. That artist was my great aunt, Boriska Noti Kálnay . I plan to conduct a literature review on the lost art of Hungarian Jewish women artists in the 20th century, to evaluate the “erasure” of female Hungarian artists between 1910 and 1964, and to write a case study based on my great aunt’s life and art. To do this I will collaborate with an art historian in Budapest and will conduct research online and at the Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art before traveling to Hungary to visit museums, libraries and archives there. Contributions of the project will include a summary of the visibility of Hungarian women artists before and after WWII, a thorough literature review on stolen and recovered Jewish art in Central Europe, and a strategy for researching the lives and work of lesser-known Jewish artists.
 

2.  Wayne Potratz, Emeritus Professor, Art Department

Support for Participation in Two National Art Conferences

Professor Potratz received funding to travel to and make a presentation at the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practice, Sloss Furnaces, National Historic Landmark, Birmingham, AL, April 2-5, 2025.
 

3.  Mark Bohnhorst, J.D. Senior Associate General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel

More New Thinking about Presidential Elections

Mr. Bohnhorst's received a second award to support his program of research and publication concerning election systems and the rebuilding of American democracy and the rule of law. Some of the funds will be used to travel to Denver to attend a symposium at the University of Denver.
 

4.  Madelon Sprengnether, PhD. Regents Professor Department of English, College of Liberal Arts

Ventriloquizing Shakespeare in Poetry and in Life

I am requesting funds to support travel to the annual meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America, to be held in Boston Massachusetts, March 19-22, 2025, where I will participate in a seminar titled “Shakespeare’s Other Selves: Cultivating the Creative Life.” Participation in the seminar is by invitation from the organizers and involves an original paper presentation by each of its members in addition to formal responses to one another’s work. This seminar is unusual in its departure from the research essay format typical of the Shakespeare Association, which was founded in 1972 to provide a forum for Shakespeare studies. The meeting consists of plenary sessions, panel presentations, workshops, and seminars on special topics. The organizers of “Shakespeare’s Other Selves” describe their session as follows: “In this seminar, participants will discuss their ‘other self’ as a creative artist outside academia. The seminar aims to target creative activities distinct from a public-facing academic work. Seminarians will share a creative project: creative writing, fine art, film making, digital media, acting, directing, music, and/or performance art. Then they will comment on the creative process of the project specifically and on creativity generally.” The title of my paper for this seminar is “Ventriloquizing Shakespeare in Poetry and in Life.”