The University of Pittsburgh Center for Creativity is proud to announce the recipients of its inaugural Unleashed Wonder grant initiative.
Designed to support creative work and encourage cross- and interdisciplinary exploration, these grants empower Pitt undergraduate students in any major or school to pursue ideas that communicate a sense of curiosity and wonder through a creative project.
The Center for Creativity selected three proposals to share a total of $10,000 for work to be undertaken in summer 2024:
- Inwardly Celestial: An Exploration of Soul through Cosmic Identities (Carrington Bryan ’27, Architectural Studies) will explore “the beauty and mystery of the universe through the creation of mixed/multimedia and fashion garments.” Bryan wants the project to be received as a “conduit to curiosity.”
- Memoriam (a team led by Oscar Mailman ’25, Digital Narrative and Design, and including DNID students Erin Dougal, Rafael Hollero, Kyra Schultz, Samuel Wang, and Grace Ward) is a “psychological horror game about the trauma of familial bonds and breaking the cycle of abuse. Getting old and seeing your loved ones get old is a universal fear” that the team hopes to explore in their game.
- An untitled project by Ty'Mariya Moss (’25, School of Social Work) using “unleashed wonder” as a thematic starting point and engaging other students in developing a script, identifying a cast, and mounting a production of an original short work of theater.
The Center for Creativity, according to its founding director Jeanne Marie Laskas, is “thrilled to be able to support these projects from students who truly do seem inspired by a sense of curiosity and wonder--the thing that sits at the heart of everything we do at the C4C!"
In addition to financial support as outlined in the student’s budget submission, Unleashed Wonder awardees will receive access to Center for Creativity resources throughout the summer and will exhibit their work at the University’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression Fair in fall 2024. University faculty or staff will serve as mentors on each project.
Center for Creativity Unleashed Wonder grants are made possible through the support of the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of the Provost.