Announcing the Mary Lum Scholarship for Undergraduate Study
Bennington College announced today a new scholarship fund in honor of Faculty Emerita, Mary Lum. The Mary Lum Scholarship for Undergraduate Study will be awarded to incoming students matriculating in fall of 2023 with strong academic preparation and creative thinking within any discipline, and also demonstrate high financial need.
The one-time scholarship fund has been created in honor of Mary Lum’s dedication and service to Bennington College as a long standing visual arts faculty member from 2005-2022. The fund will facilitate exceptional students in meeting their total cost of attendance and enrolling at the college.
Mary Lum is an internationally recognized artist and educator who has taught at Bennington as a professor of painting and drawing for more than 17 years. As a visual artist, Lum creates intricate collages, installations and photographs that use the urban environment to explore the margins of city life, geometric abstraction, and the use of text as image. Her work has been exhibited in numerous institutions and publications internationally including Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA; The Drawing Center, Modern Artifacts (Esopus and MoMA); deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum; and Oxford University, UK. Lum has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (2010), the Radcliffe Fellowship for Advanced Study (2004-2005, 2022), and a McDowell Fellowship (2018), among others.
Interdisciplinary in her own practice and approach, as an educator Lum has worked with students across disciplines to accelerate their own critical inquiry, curiosity and sense of wonder within our world.
“The impact Mary has had on the lives of her students over the past 17 years has been nothing short of transformative,” said President Laura Walker, “and I am so pleased that the new scholarship in her honor will continue to make it possible for some of our most creative students to thrive at Bennington beginning next fall.”
Reflecting on the creation of the new scholarship fund, Lum remarked “I am pleased that the creation of this scholarship recognizes inventive teaching that encourages students of all backgrounds to learn together, from teacher-practitioners, and from one another. The Bennington faculty as a whole are exceptional in their creative brilliance and willingness to respond to the times we live in, and I am honored to be seen and recognized in this light.”
The Mary Lum Scholarship for Undergraduate Study will be enacted immediately, and awarded to eligible students at time of admission. To learn more about the scholarship, please contact admissions@bennington.edu or 802-442-540. Inquiries to support the fund may be directed to institutionaladvancement@bennington.edu.