AUSTIN, Texas—Melisa Gerecci has been awarded a Beinecke Scholarship worth $32,000 in support of her graduate education. She was one of 18 awardees selected from a pool of 87 nominations. Each scholar will receive $2,000 prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school.
Gerecci, from Houston, is a third-year student majoring in Plan II Honors. She plans to pursue graduate work in museum studies and a doctorate in art history at the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a European curatorial intern at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston and will return as a curatorial assistant this upcoming summer. Her thesis topic examines the work of contemporary Texas artist Julie Speed and focuses on how Speed’s modern paintings continue in the tradition of 16th century Flemish and Dutch portraiture. She also has served as the Plan II Students’ Association academic co-chair and art show director.
The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the board of directors of The Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick and Walter Beinecke. The board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young men and women of exceptional promise. The program seeks to encourage and enable highly motivated students to pursue opportunities available to them and to be courageous in the selection of a graduate course of study in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
For more information contact: Michelle Bryant, College of Liberal Arts, 512-232-4730.
