The first recipient of the Wanda Ewing Memorial Scholarship at UNO, Megan Kreigler

by Megan Kreigler

I was immensely honored to receive the Wanda Ewing Memorial Scholarship in May of 2015. I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a Minor in both Art History and Marketing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and was the first person in my family to earn a college degree.

Installations don’t hang confidently in galleries: neat, crisp white labels a respectful distance to the bottom-right whispering the price of removal to entryways or museums. Putting oneself through school, without guidance, isn’t easy: a slow, cyclical process of work and study, night shifts and morning classes, late nights in the studio and pre-dawn opens, day to week to month to year(s). How gratifying then, to receive a lifeline for a “portfolio of work deemed to reflect the artistic and professional standards and ideals of the late Professor Wanda Ewing” in recognition of a passionate pursuit of installation as a means of artistic expression, connection to others, and lifelong learning and inquiry. Not to mention the support given in my earning a degree – a very powerful foundation for empowerment of myself and others that I will always have. That these were similarly valued by Professor Ewing and her family enough to support folks they’ve never met leaves me altogether awesomely grateful for entrusting me, like Wanda, to strive to make a difference in this world.

I endeavor to make good on that invested confidence and trust. As a student, I graduated cum laude in May of 2016. As a Program Assistant for the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, I’ve helped to launch an ambitious new fellowship and residency program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As an artist, I strive to push both my artistic and professional practices forward despite the lure of inertia. As an academic, I’m exploring the who, what, when, where, and why of potential graduate studies. And, as someone with immense respect and admiration for Wanda’s dedication to the arts, to her own art, and to her students, I hope to continue ever progressing, creating, learning, and advocating – striving to honor her legacy in so doing. Thank you for this opportunity on behalf of myself and my fellow Wanda Ewing Memorial Scholarship recipients.

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Wanda Ewing Scholarship
If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund established by Wanda’s family, please donate here. Thank you.

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