This year, five Studio Art majors from Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts have been awarded prestigious IDEA Grants through the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement (CRE), making up 14% of the total awardees and contributing five of the 33 funded projects (15%). This Studio Arts third year having multiple winners from university wide competition. These honors reflect the exceptional creativity, initiative, and research excellence emerging from FSU’s Department of Art.
The 2025 IDEA Grant recipients in Studio Art are:
- Alex Davidoff
- Joanna Godfrey
- Audrey Lendvay
- Antonia Pretelt
- Raven Watkins, Tyler Fellow
These student artists join a competitive cohort of scholars across the university who have proposed ambitious projects to be completed over the summer under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The IDEA Grant provides funding and support for original research, creative activity, or entrepreneurial innovation, encouraging students to pursue self-designed work that makes a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge.
Administered by FSU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, the IDEA Grants program is supported by the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows (HSF) House, which fosters a collaborative environment for interdisciplinary research and creative inquiry. As Latika Young, Director of CRE, affirms:
“Engaging students in research, innovation, and scholarship is the hallmark of a great research university. Through their participation in research and creative endeavors, undergraduate students become better thinkers, innovators, and problem solvers, cultivating a depth of understanding needed to make a positive difference in the world.”
Professor Carrie Ann Baade, who has served as a faculty mentor, recruiter, and reviewer for the IDEA Grant program since 2009, emphasizes its value for students in the arts:
“This program provides our students with a vital first experience in grant writing and professional practice. It allows them to fund their creative vision while learning the real-world processes that support a sustainable studio career.”
The selected projects span a wide range of themes, from cultural hybridity and game design to personal identity and regional iconography. This fall, their work will be showcased at the President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, held at the FSU Student Union Ball Room—a capstone celebration of undergraduate achievement across disciplines.
Additionally, the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House hosts a blog platform to highlight student experiences. Readers can explore the creative journeys of this year’s Studio Art IDEA Grant recipients:
Congratulations to all five winners for demonstrating the power of art to ask big questions, cross boundaries, and change the world.
