Colorado College Senior Awarded Watson Fellowship - Colorado College

Jody Joyner ’10, a studio art major from Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Foundation fellowship for her project, “The Art of Place: Where We Are.”
Joyner will travel to the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Canada to study how artists visually convey their perceptions of and connections to the natural world, how their artwork reflects knowledge of local geographies, and whether art cultivates a sense of place.
The fellowship provides for a year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States. During her year, Joyner will investigate pre-historic, traditional, and contemporary artistic traditions that incorporate nature. While immersed in unique landscapes – from the deserts of Central and Western Australia to the lowlands of the United Kingdom – she hopes to better understand how artists respond to the lands they inhabit and how their response reflects their community and culture.
Joyner is one of only 40 college seniors to receive a Watson Fellowship.
The 42nd class of Watson Fellows come from 23 states and three foreign countries, and will traverse 76 countries during their Watson year.
“These awards are long-term investments in people, not research,” says Cleveland Johnson, director of the Watson Fellowship Program and a former Watson Fellow. “We look for persons likely to lead or innovate in the future and give them extraordinary independence to pursue their interests outside of traditional academic structures.”