Spencer Museum announces 2025 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients

LAWRENCE — The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has announced the 2025 recipients of the Jack & Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards. Established by benefactor Lavon Brosseau in 2011, the awards honor innovative and risk-taking creative work in the categories of writing and diverse media from KU undergraduate students in any area of study. 

Submissions included sculpture, dance, music, painting, photography, poetry, fiction and essays. Students represented a range of disciplines, including visual art, theatre and dance, computer science, jazz studies, film & media studies, physics & astronomy, journalism, Spanish and chemical engineering.

In the writing category, Jake Makela of Lindenhurst, Illinois, was recognized for his poetry project “Trans*figurations.” Makela described his text as an experiment across the categories of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and prayer. “Overall, these pieces speak to the ever-ongoing development of a subversive, transdisciplinary approach towards creative release,” he said. Makela is a senior in English and women, gender & sexuality studies and will begin a doctorate in sexuality studies at KU in the fall.

In the diverse media category, Tara Burgat of Spring Hill was recognized for her capstone choreography project “Choices?” While most students choreograph work to be presented on a stage, Burgat created a site-specific piece within the Spencer Museum’s “Empowerment” exhibition, performed by theatre students. She said the project was inspired by her first visit to the Spencer Museum. “I incorporate my interest for interdisciplinary performance and my belief that the scope of what we call ‘dance’ is a much wider net than proscenium-based athletic performance,” she said. Burgat is a senior in dance with a minor in theatre.

There were two honorable mentions in the writing category. Joohye Oh, a senior from Lawrence in English and Spanish, was recognized for her multilingual poetry collection “good orchard,” which includes elements of American and Korean culture and myths. Wyatt Vaughn, a sophomore from Olathe in English and chemical engineering, was recognized for his chapbook “Divine,” which explores common divination systems.

An honorable mention in the diverse media category went to Eliana Rundus, a senior from Lawrence in dance with a minor in English. Her dance project “structure & proportions” prompts viewers to reconsider traditional assumptions about women’s bodies and dance in the context of classical ballet.

Spencer Museum Deputy Director Celka Straughn, who leads the Brosseau Awards committee, said this year’s awards had a record number of applications. 

“It is a delight and honor for us to get a glimpse into some of the amazing creativity across campus,” Straughn said.

More information about the awards and excerpts from the recipients’ projects are available online.