School of Art Holds 2024 Kimberly D. Iles Awards Ceremony
The UT School of Art held its annual Kimberly D. Iles Scholarship awards on September 19th, honoring nine students from the School of Art and two from the College of Architecture and Design.
Kimberly D. Iles was known for her vivacity, generosity of spirit, and passion for the arts. She graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1990, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a graphic designer, she poured her talent and energy into her work for clients ranging from Oak Ridge National Laboratories to the White House tech corps, and started her own very successful design firm, Ilesnet Design. She designed a web-based textbook – the first of its kind – for the Computational Science Education Project, a K-12 program introducing the principles of high-performance computing. She later transitioned into a full-time career in fine art, exhibiting her paintings and photographs internationally.
Iles and her husband, Dr. James J. Hack, established the Kimberly D. Iles Art Scholarship Endowment in 2015. Since then, the endowment has supported dozens of hard-working and talented students studying different areas of art and design.
The 2024 awardees, who were selected for the competitive scholarship by faculty nominations, each gave a short presentation discussing their projects and their growth as artists during the ceremony. They were quick to express their gratitude for the award.
“I want to thank Kimberly Iles, James Hack, and the School of Art, for continuing to provide momentous opportunities for us students,” said senior Sara Caoile, a fine arts major with a painting/drawing concentration. “I also want to thank the School of Art painting and drawing faculty, who are very insightful and amazing, and are an inspiration to me.”
Elle Hoyt, a senior and cinema studies major, was also grateful.
“I want to thank everyone so much – those who arranged this ceremony, and Kimberly Iles,” she said. “This scholarships allows me to continue doing work that I really love.”
Watch an abridged recording of the ceremony and student presentations here, and explore the gallery below to read about the eleven awardees and see examples of their work.