The Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award - to be presented to an eligible upper level undergraduate or graduate student from the states of Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma in History, Art History, Education, or other related fields to pursue original academic research related to the history of early Texas art and artists. Curatorial staff at any art museum located in Texas and independent curators/researchers working on projects related to early Texas art are also eligiable to apply.  This award carries a monetary award.

 In the fall and spring semesters and the summer session of the academic year a detailed proposal is sent from CASETA to art departments at Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma universities; university libraries; curators at Texas art museums; and any interested independent curators or researchers.  There is a rolling deadline and submissions are accepted any time of year.  All proposals are reviewed by the CASETA Research Awards Review Committee.  Anyone submitting a proposal are notified within two weeks if they have been chosen for an award.  Monetary awards are mailed wtihin a reasonable time after notification.  Award winners also receive a complimentary CASETA membership and registration to the next CASETA Symposium.     

 Criteria: Promote and reward original research on early Texas art and artists by young and emerging scholarship in public and private institutions of higher learning in Texas,Colorado, Louisiana, and New Mexico, as well as curators in Texas art museums, and independent curators/researchers.  Promote the development of curriculum materials related to early Texas art and artists for use in public schools throughout the State of Texas. Contribute to the literature on early Texas art and artists.

2019 - 2020 NANCY AND TED PAUP CASETA RESEARCH  INITIATIVE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Congratulations to the 2019-2020 Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award recipients
$2000 Award 

Rebecca J. Martin, Fort Worth, Texas
Adjunct Professor, Art Education, Fine Arts, Texas Christian University

Rebecca J. Martin was awarded the Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award, for the research to prepare an expanded biography on Harold Arthur Roney (1899-1986) who was noted for dignified portrayals of nature and in his early career, he was dubbed “The Painter of Texas Skies.” 
Loving the Land: Early Texas Artist Harold A. Roney and the Legacy of the Leon Springs Art Colony tells the story of Harold Arthur Roney, which is "ripe to explore and savor as he had a significant place in the early Texas art movement and his affiliation with the Leon Springs Art Colony between 1929 –1931 contributes to understanding his commitment to en plein air practice."

 

2018 - 2019 NANCY AND TED PAUP CASETA RESEARCH  INITIATIVE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Congratulations to the 2018-2019 Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award recipients
$2000 Award 

Rae Pleasant, Dallas, Texas

Rae Pleasant was awarded the Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award, “for her project to transcribe the Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection that is part of the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, Hamon Arts Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The transcriptions will be put in bound books and disseminated to relevant repositories such as libraries, universities, and museums. This project received support from the Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative which includes CASETA donor funds. Ms. Pleasant will also produce a five page research paper on African American film and cultural history and in particular examining the ways African American Vernacular English, which weaves through the TTBFC films, is crucial to this understanding.

This project received support from the Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative which includes CASETA donor funds.”

 

2016 - 2017 NANCY AND TED PAUP CASETA RESEARCH  INITIATIVE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Congratulations to the 2016-2017 Nancy and Ted Paup CASETA Research Initiative Award recipients
$2000 Award

Jenna Cooper, Austin, Texas

Brush Square Museums (O. Henry Museum, Susanna Dickinson Museum)

For recognition in the advancement of scholarship and our understanding of early Texas art
through her original research in an article entitled, Where Neoclassicism Meets Romanticism:
The Sculptures of Elisabet Ney, which will be submitted for publication in a scholarly journal.

Wendy Earle, Midland, Texas

Curator of the Museum of the Southwest

For recognition in the advancement of scholarship and our understanding of early Texas art
through her original research and curating of the exhibition, Three Millennia of Art in West Texas,
to be shown at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, Texas, July through September, 2017.
The exhibition includes components on Ancient Rock Art, Texas Regionalism, and contemporary
art in West Texas since the 1970s.

Read the Three Millenia of Art in West Texas Exhibit Catalog

 

2015 - 2016 CASETA RESEARCH AWARD RECIPIENT 

Congratulations to the CASETA 2015-2016 Research Award recipient 
$1,500 Award

Linda East, Denton, Texas

2016 MA, University of North Texas

Ms. East’s thesis focuses on Texas architect O’Neil Ford (1905-1982) and Texas artist Thomas M. Stell, Jr. (1898-1981) and the work they completed for Texas Instruments in Dallas. The thesis is entitled, “Semiconductors and Symbolism: Thomas Stell’s Ceramic Murals and the Story of Texas Instruments.”

Read Linda East’s thesis

 

Congratulations to the CASETA 2014-2015 Research Award recipients 
Awards were funded through the 2014-2015 CASETA Matching Grant and additional gifts from CASETA supporters

2014 - 2015 CASETA RESEARCH AWARD RECIPIENTS

$1500 Award 

Carmen M. Champion, Houston, Texas 

2015 MA, University of Houston 

Thesis: The Greater Texas and Pan American Exposition: An Early Staging of Texana Identity
Thesis examines the Catalogue of the Exhibition of Art of the Americas: Pre-Columbian and Contemporary, which stems from the Greater Texas and Pan-American Exposition held in Dallas, Texas in 1937.

Read abstract of Champion's thesis

 

 $1000 Award

Susannah Aquilina, El Paso, Texas

PhD Candidate in History, 2016

The University of Texas at El Paso

Dissertation: Biography of Manuel Gregorio Acosta
Dissertation examines the iconic El Paso artist, whose prolific career began in the1940s and included paintings, drawings and sculptures depicting people on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read abstract of Aquilina's dissertation

 

$250 Award

Hannah Joan Wilson, Denton, Texas

Junior, Honors College 
University of North Texas, Denton

Research project examining the State of Texas Building within Fair Park as a functioning monumental object in hopes of illustrating Texas identity through visual analysis and historical memory.