Department of Art
To contribute to the 蜜桃影像 Art Department, please click on any of the below fund links; these direct you to the University of 蜜桃影像 Foundation website where you will enter your specified gift amount. Your gift will fund the focused accounts listed.
Click here to search the Engage database for your fund.
Your gifts create results we see everyday. As stewards of these valuable resources, we are striving to be worthy of investment. When you give to CLA in memory of a loved one, or simply because you care, your contribution is cherished and used to further that most human of endeavors 鈥 learning. The 蜜桃影像 Art Department Support Fund provides funds to undergird the Art Department and our programs.
Donations to the Charles W Davis Fine Art Memorial Scholarship go to provide support for students attending the Summer Music Academy and/or the Summer Visual Art Academy or students majoring in the Fine Arts at the University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks.
Scholarships, Fellowships and student awards have an incredible impact on our Nanook Nation! We believe that enhanced student aid, through restricted or unrestricted gifts, helps retain the most talented of students. With fewer financial concerns, these students can focus chiefly on their studies, thereby reaching their full potential.
Donations to the Patricia A. Davis Memorial Scholarship provide scholarships for undergraduate declared art majors with sophomore standing or above, with consideration to be given for achievement and/or need, at the University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks
Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law; you are not receiving any goods or services in exchange for the money you give.
"The arts are not a frill. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature and help to shape our identity. What is there that can transcend deep difference and stubborn divisions? The arts. They have wonderful universality. Art has the potential to unify. It can speak in many languages without a translator. The arts do not discriminate. The arts lift us up.."
Thank you.
In a year with unprecedented challenges, your generosity made more of a difference than ever. Your gift gave the 蜜桃影像 community access to the education, opportunities and tools to not only adapt but also thrive. Thank you for being there when we needed you the most and for inspiring those of us at 蜜桃影像.
Replenishes student scholarship funds
Funds faculty and student research
Designated to a specific department within CLA
Funding that supports community outreach events
Funding that helps students outside of scholarships
Goes to supporting the College of Liberal Arts
CLA degree programs span the arts, humanities, and social sciences and is the largest unit on the Troth Yeddha鈥 Campus. Check out the program needs of our many departments and help us shape the next generation of global citizens.
Why I Give
A story of giving from CLA donors Jon and Jane Aspnes.
鈥淚t was his fault that we even met,鈥 Jane teased. The conductor of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra in 1978, Gordon Wright, was a close friend of the Aspnes鈥 long before they moved to 蜜桃影像. Gordon 鈥渙wned a music store and when I showed up to grad school there you had to get all your books and things at the music store,鈥 Jane said of her arrival.
Jane showed up at 9 a.m. The store was in an office building basement with a narrow hallway leading to the door. 鈥淕ordon Wright鈥檚 Music Store鈥 was lettered onto the glass.When Jane arrived, nobody was there. She figured they must just be running a few minutes late, so she sat in the hallway and waited. Shortly, a man made his way down the hallway.
鈥淲hat, they aren鈥檛 open yet?鈥 he said and sat down across from her. After several minutes of awkward silence they engaged in a little small talk. His name was John Aspnes.
It turned out Gordon, the proprietor, ate pancakes every morning at his favorite restaurant and didn鈥檛 open shop until 10. Little did he know his breakfast ritual played matchmaker. It was love at first pancake -- even if Jane and John were not the ones eating. Forty years of marriage and seven dogs later they still laugh at the happenstance of their meet cute.鈥淲e have always teased Gordon about that,鈥 Jane said as she and John reminisced about the first years of their life together.
Jane and John Aspnes have been a part of the 蜜桃影像 family since 1978, when they moved to Fairbanks after John accepted a position in the engineering department. 蜜桃影像 fit their outdoor lifestyle -- backcountry hiking, bird watching and volunteer search and rescue expeditions with their dogs filled their time.
鈥淲e both agree that the outdoors is our home and that our house is our shelter,鈥 Jane said. 鈥淭he more that we are outside, the happier we are.鈥
Aside from their love of the outdoors they also have a fierce passion for music. Music has run through their veins since they were young. John grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. He quickly discovered playing the violin with the Madison Orchestra relieved him of his cow milking duties, and so began his musical journey. Jane grew up in Mason City, Iowa, home to the beloved musical 鈥淭he Music Man.鈥 The couple plays myriad instruments, but Jane鈥檚 focus is the French horn, while John adores the violin. They have played in the Fairbanks Symphony for over 35 years, joining the year they moved up to the North.
Recently, John and Jane created a new scholarship, J虏 Scholarships for Polymaths and Creative Leaders. It seeks to help the modern day Renaissance person. The scholarship provides $5,000 per academic year to the recipient and has been allocated to 蜜桃影像鈥檚 Resilience and Adaptation Program (RAP).RAP is unique and is one of the only of its kind in the world.
鈥淭he Resilience and Adaptation Program is an interdisciplinary training and education program focusing on sustainability in times of rapid change,鈥 according to their website. 鈥淭he Resilience and Adaptation Program prepares scholars, policy-makers, community leaders, and managers to address issues of sustainability in an integrated fashion.鈥
For Jane and John, the diversity of thought at 蜜桃影像 tops the institution鈥檚 attributes. They have dipped their fingers in many different departments and even across colleges at the university. John functioned as an engineer, Jane in resource management, both of them in the symphony. In their experience, they have been impressed with the support bridging the gaps between the different worlds.
John remembers when he started working at 蜜桃影像, and Howard Cutler himself made a personal effort to know what was happening with all of his employees. He would ask John about Jane and the symphony and personal details that John never shared directly with him but Cutler made a point of knowing and supporting.
It was different from John鈥檚 previous university experience. There, he felt as though he had to keep his musicianship and relationship with the music department secret. There was a definite discrimination between departments and across colleges. But not at 蜜桃影像 and it's this diversity of thought that they have found to be captivating and essential in the success of the university鈥檚 students and ultimately our future leaders.
A thought leader that Jane really enjoys is Edward Osborne Wilson, usually cited as E. O. Wilson. The American biologist and is considered the world鈥檚 leading expert in the study of ants.Wilson 鈥渞ealized that universities have made people be specialists,鈥 Jane said. 鈥淎ll their research has to be the ultimate ant person or the ultimate cello player or the ultimate this or that. And he realizes that has created problems with how we approach society and our environmental problems.鈥
Through perspectives like Wilson鈥檚, the Aspnes鈥 recognized that multidiversity is a good thing. They became inspired to create their our own scholarship instead of donating their money to a particular discipline. The dynamic couple鈥檚 scholarship reflects their personality. It鈥檚 based on their life experiences.
鈥淎 number of people here at this university are maybe the first people in their families to go to college or graduate from college or get a graduate degree and that sort of thing,鈥 John said. 鈥淚f an injection of money can help make that possible, it is a worthwhile endeavor.鈥
This is not John and Jane鈥檚 first gift to the university. They have been giving for the last 20 years. As they have grown and changed, so have their gifts. Dozens of students have benefited from their contributions. Lori Beraha recently received that first on the new scholarships. A non-traditional graduate student with interests in biology and art, she has traveled the world conducting ethnographic fieldwork which evolved into her current profession as a marine naturalist.
We hear the word philanthropy tossed around all the time and what do we think of when we hear it? Maybe wealthy celebrities like actor, Leonardo DiCaprio in a tuxedo throwing around 20 million dollars like paper confetti at Great Gatsby Party. So many of us think to ourselves, I wish I could donate to them, but money doesn鈥檛 mean the same thing to a philanthropist as it means to me. I鈥檓 just a regular person, no tiny amount of money I have could possibly make a difference. As it turns out, that鈥檚 exactly who philanthropists are, regular people.In 蜜桃影像鈥檚 College of Liberal Arts, donors wear all sorts of stripes. Some donate artwork, musical instruments, or random items of value from their homes. Others diligently give small. One Giving isn鈥檛 about the number; it鈥檚 about wholeheartedly supporting a cause you believe in and hold dear and taking it a step further to cultivate and grow the programs you care about.
Your donation can make a profound impact by providing resources for scholarships, innovative programs, and cutting-edge research opportunities. Together, let's foster a vibrant academic environment where creativity, critical thinking, and cultural understanding flourish. Donate today and be a part of shaping the future of liberal arts education at 蜜桃影像!
For more information on ways to give, visit our 蜜桃影像 Development Office website.