New alumna Chas (Chastine) Madla (B.A. ’20) has won this year’s summer scholarship to the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture (NYSS). The Department of Art and Art History faculty established the scholarship in 2010 to benefit a UC Davis student. 

Though originally scheduled to be an intensive two-week program in Manhattan, the course has been re-conceived as “Online Drawing Marathon: The Philosophical Weight of Drawing and The Pictorial Adventure of Space.”

In the course, students will learn the importance of drawing as the basis of understanding one’s experience of the world and the most direct route to the examination of their perceptions. Though online, the class meets daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EDT), five days a week, with evening critiques. The program was overseen by Graham Nickson, dean NYSS, and featured various guest artists as instructors.

As her work progressed in the program, Madla has been inspired by her instructors including painter Fran O’Neill.

“The advice you gave me has pushed me past a fence that I didn’t know was there and has made me better in a way that I didn’t know was even an option,” said Madla of O’Neill’s instruction. “Honestly, every time you said something that clicked, I would rush off to the nearest person and explain it to them too – it was all exciting.” 

Madla is a graduating as an Art Studio and Art History major. Her work has been informed by issues on mental illness and the idea of warring perceptions. She has been in the program all four years and has a vested interest in oil painting and drawing. She has recently picked up charcoal as a medium.