Richard Metzgar (at left) received the 2016 Provost’s Award for Mentoring in Scholarly and Creative Activity.
Richard Metzgar, a SUNY Oswego art faculty member for 15 years and a frequent collaborator with students working on projects, will receive the 2016 Provost’s Award for Mentoring in Scholarly and Creative Activity.
Coordinator of the department’s program to prepare students with a strong foundation for visual art and design, Metzgar often sponsors student artists for grants and helps them find outlets for their creative endeavors.
David Owens, an artist who graduated in 2015, wrote in a letter of nomination that even though Metzgar was not his assigned adviser, he went out of his way to clarify information about the college’s bachelor of fine arts program. “He treated me with a special care and respect that typify him in all of his student relationships,” Owens wrote.
Metzgar also sponsored Owens for a college Scholarly and Creative Activity Committee (SCAC) grant; recommended Owens’ resulting “Twelve in Oswego” project for display at SUNY’s Innovative Exploration Forum in Albany; and later nominated Owens for a 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
“I personally felt as if Professor Metzgar deserved the real recognition, considering my resume was scattered with items that were directly made possible through his continual support,” Owens wrote.
Last summer, Cody Doran and two other SUNY Oswego students worked with Metzgar and the professor’s frequent collaborator, Paul Bartow, on a Faculty-Student Challenge Grant proposed by Metzgar and Bartow. The project involved the creation of two ceramic wall drawings currently hanging at the Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome.
“I was able to gain experience in a number of digital and analogartmaking practices. This experience has both emboldened and prepared me for future creative endeavors,” wrote Doran, who aims for a career in medical illustration. Doran is working on another project with Metzgar, to produce posters detailing creation of dry, odorless specimens of organs as teaching tools.
Art department chair Cynthia Clabough also supported Metzgar, who frequently exhibits as a painter and experimental artist, for the mentorship award.
“Over the years, Professor Metzgar has supported dozens of students applying for and receiving SCAC grants,” she wrote. “When students don’t receive the award, he will often find other ways for working with them. In addition to SCAC, he has also supported students through Summer Challenge grants, the McNair Scholars Program and the Honors Program.”