Dr. Elizabeth Ferrell, associate professor of Art History, was awarded the 2022 SECAC Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarly Publication for her new book titled About the Rose: Creation and Community in Jay DeFeo’s Circle. 

In the book, Ferrell examines the creative exchange that developed with and around The Rose, a monumental painting San Francisco artist Jay DeFeo worked on from 1958 to 1966. 

“Ferrell gives us a wholly new understanding of The Rose not just as an important presence in the lives of her protagonists, but as a site for working out the dichotomies between self and other, autonomy and collaboration, and art and the everyday in postwar America,” Kirsten Swenson, author of Irrational Judgments: Eva Hesse, Sol LeWitt, and 1960s New York, wrote in a review of Ferrell’s book. 

The SECAC Award for Excellence in Scholarly Research and Publication is awarded for outstanding research shown in the recent publication of a book, article, or series of articles. 

SECAC is a non-profit devoted to education and research in the visual arts. It was founded in 1942 and provides advocacy and support for arts professionals. It also creates opportunities for the exchange of scholarship and creative activities through an annual conference and publications.