- Six recent NIU graduates have been selected for an innovative fellowship program that recognizes promising new alumni in the arts and provides financial support as they launch their careers.
The Simpson Schatzle Fellowship supports two graduates from each of the three schools that make up the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Applicants were selected based on their academic achievement and their artistic promise. Each applicant was asked to provide five artistic goals and to explain how receiving the fellowship will enable them to meet those goals.
The fellowship is made possible by the generosity of donors who have dedicated their lives to philanthropy and the arts, inspired by their deep appreciation for music, theater, dance and visual creativity. Their passion for the performing and visual arts inspired them to establish the award to ensure that future artists have the resources to pursue their creative aspirations.
NIU School of Art and Design
Edwin Perez-Hernandez, Master of Arts, Photography
Perez-Hernandez will spend his first year after graduation developing his portfolio, and choosing a Master of Fine Arts program to continue his studies. His photography revolves around the topic of immigration and the effect it has on families on both sides of the border.
Jimmy Panagopoulos, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration
Panagopoulos will focus on continuing to create his comic series The Sleeping Debt, the story of two protagonists who stay up far too late and find themselves trapped in a dream realm to pay off the sleep debt they have accumulated. He will also continue his charity campaign, Comic Fight!, which is a 24-hour event streamed on Twitch.TV where participants create a 24-page comic in 24 hours to help raise money to benefit creatives in need.
NIU School of Music
Segun Owele, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Music Performance, Flute
Owele is working to establish an organization that provides mentorship, performance opportunities, development programs and industry advocacy to support the needs of Nigerian classical musicians, who remain underrepresented and under-supported.
Mikayla Chin, Bachelor of Music, Music Performance, Saxophone
Chin says she experienced firsthand the challenges of being an Asian American female jazz musician and plans to share her successes by mentoring and serving as a role model for young Chicago-area jazz musicians from diverse backgrounds, like her own, through a program that provides them with support.
School of Theatre and Dance
Jahan Pierre, Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Studies
Pierre plans to work as a multi-dimensional artist, storyteller and creative force, building original projects through a production brand of their own creation. Pierre strives to develop works that go beyond entertainment by moving people.
Chance Lira, Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Studies
Lira is working to earn an internship with Tyler Perry’s Dreamers project. Lira created short films at NIU through the School of Theatre and Dance’s annual 72-Hour Film Festivals. Lira also plans to use his fellowship to enable him to create short films and enter them in film festivals.