AWARD WINNER 2020
Congratulations to Class of 2020 Arts Management Graduate student, Tanya Dieunonné, for receiving the Erin Isabelle Edwards Gaffney Award. The award is presented to an outstanding student who exemplifies Erin's respect for self, for others, and for the power of the arts to transform.
A one time award in the amount of $2500, the Erin Gaffney Memorial Award is given to a graduating student in Arts Management in recognition for their outstanding service to the program and the field.
Selected by the Arts Management Faculty Admissions & Scholarship Committee, this award is given out every Spring semester and is named in honor of Arts Management alumna Erin Gaffney, Class of 2007.
Gaffney, who graduated with High Honors and was the first recipient of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean's Award, passed away in 2008.
2018 Award Recipient, Molly Baldovin, is pictured with the Gaffneys.
Erin was, as are all of our Arts Management students, a special human being. With a passion for the arts, for life, and concern for her fellow man, for family, for decency, and for the very best in performance and exhibition, she knew how to find joy and promote hope....
"Erin was, as are all of our Arts Management students, a special human being. With a passion for the arts, for life, and concern for her fellow man, for family, for decency, and for the very best in performance and exhibition, she knew how to find joy and promote hope. She was that lighted candle in the dark. Her beauty transcended the physical and was evident in the way she lived, the way she transacted her daily life, and the way she related to each and every one of us.
For just a moment on July 10, 2008, that candle moved to a different place and all appeared dark. Erin passed away—the victim of a tumor that overwhelmed her brain but never her spirit even to the very end. Erin’s spirit remains with all of us who were blessed to know her personally and so that candle now has done what each of us has the power to do: pass along the potential of being a light to others. So Erin lives on in the hearts of her family, friends, and fellow students, and in the Arts Management program."
—Richard Kamenitzer, Program Director Emeritus, Arts Management, July 11, 2008
Award Recipients
Tanya Dieudonné - 2020
Eric Thornton - 2019
Molly Boldovin - 2018
Gabrielle Tokach - 2017
Juliana Baioni - 2016
Julia King - 2015
Krystal Oliver - 2014
Jessica Smith Jellish - 2013
Natalie (Holmes) Churchwell - 2012
Briton Camphouse - 2011
Ji Yean Kim - 2010
Amanda Collins - 2009