04/29/21

AMES, Iowa — Allison Hellman, an Iowa State University graduating senior in integrated studio arts, is the recipient of the 2021 Janice Peterson Anderson Medallion Award.

Established in 1968 in memory of Janice Peterson Anderson, a 1960 ISU graduate in home economics education, this award is presented annually to an outstanding senior in graphic design, interior design or integrated studio arts who “shows the greatest potential for distinguished work in design.”

One student from each of these departments is first selected to receive the Janice Peterson Anderson Senior Award based on scholarship, creative ability, motivation and productivity throughout their studies at Iowa State. Finalists this year were Hellman, from Des Moines; Katherine Fetter, from Roselle, Illinois, graduating senior in graphic design; and Marifer Gutierrez-Perez, from Waterloo, graduating senior in interior design.

These three students then submit portfolios of work for review by an interdisciplinary faculty committee, which determines the medallion winner. Honorees receive a JPA Silver Medallion featuring Anderson’s continous-line monogram, and their names are added to a plaque displayed in the College of Design’s administrative office.

About the honoree

Hellman will graduate with a bachelor of fine arts in integrated studio arts from Iowa State in May. She has been on the Dean’s List every semester and received the President’s Award for Competitive Excellence, Cardinal Leadership Scholar Award, Jeanne L. Heidler Endowment Fund in Art and Design award and Roger Ferris Memorial Union Scholarship from Iowa State. She received the 2021 Surface Design Association Outstanding Student Award for excellence in fiber arts.

Since November 2017, Hellman has been a supervisor and team leader for the Memorial Union Workspace, where she has led people in making crafts, assisted class instructors and overseen glaze mixing and kiln loading for ceramic work. She also has served as an art intern at the Memorial Union Art Gallery, assisting with the curation and installation of exhibitions and with artwork rentals.

One of Hellman’s favorite recent experiences at Iowa State was being able to use her gallery experience to help design and install the BFA senior exhibition, “Emergence,” in the College of Design’s Gallery 181. She appreciates the warm relationships she’s developed with the art and visual culture faculty and is particularly grateful to professor Teresa Paschke, who “has instilled my love for textiles, mixed media and exploration, making me a better artist,” she said.

“To receive the Janice Petersen Anderson Medallion Award is truly an honor. To know that I and my work are recognized affirms my decision to pursue art as a career,” Hellman said. “It feels incredible knowing that I have not only my family and friends to support me but also the faculty and community of the College of Design.”

After graduation, Hellman will continue selling her work online and at art fairs. She plans to move to St. Louis, where she would like to work in a gallery setting.

Contacts

Allison Hellman, Integrated Studio Arts graduating senior, ahellman@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications director, hsauer@iastate.edu

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