Jan Lopez Wood Fellowship 

With the generous support of long-time benefactors, Jan and Bill Wood, Whittier College has established The Jan Lopez Wood Endowed Fellowship. 

The Woods have created this fellowship to financially support the efforts of talented students in their first year, sophomore, or junior year who undertake a creative project through Whittier College's Art Program . The existence of this fellowship is a statement by the Woods and the College that the visual arts are important in the realm of human endeavor and consequently worthy of support. 

Eligibility

  • First years, sophomores, or juniors in good academic standing 

  • Open to students majoring or minoring in any of the tracks within the Department of Art & Visual Studies including: 

    • Art History & Visual Culture Track 

    • Balanced Curriculum Track 

    • Graphic Design Track (with optional Animation and Game Art concentrations) 

    • Studio Art Track 

    • Visual Culture & Visual Media Track 

  • Open to Whittier Scholars Program students with an approved Educational Design that includes at least six studio art classes. Please note: A copy of the Educational Design must be included in the application package. Upload to the Application Documents section of the Fellowships Application if applicable.

Selection Criteria

  • Demonstrate academic excellence
  • Demonstrate artistic merit
  • Merit of proposed project

Benefits

An award of $7,000 will be given to one student annually. Typically, the award will go to a new student each year, but past recipients are eligible to apply. The distribution of the fellowship award funds will be as follows: 

  • A stipend of $6,000 to be awarded to the student as a stipend to support project-related expenses, including supplies, relevant travel, and, if needed, living costs. Any unused portion of this stipend may be applied toward the student's tuition. 
  • A scholarship of $1,000 to be awarded to the student to offset tuition expenses incurred during the Fellowship term. Any unused portion of this amount may be redirected to support project-related costs, including supplies or travel. 
  • The faculty mentor will receive $500 upon completion of the project in recognition of their guidance and support throughout the Fellowship.

The most likely departure from this division of funds is reducing the tuition scholarship and allocating those funds to project-related costs. An applicant's project proposal may include a budget adjustment of this type.

Timeline: Applications are submitted, a selection is made in the spring, and the project is completed the following academic year. It is possible, however, that the project will be conducted during the summer following the selection of the recipient.

Application Documents

Apply using the Whittier College Fellowship Application

Please include images that are pertinent to your project proposal.

Whittier Scholars Program students must include their approved Educational Design with at least six art classes. (If applicable) 

Selection Process

After reviewing all applications, the selection will be made by a committee consisting of all full-time studio faculty members in the Department of Art and Visual Studies.

Past Fellows

Gwen Park-Markert (2025)
Lucy Jane Campbell (2024)
Estasia McGlothlin (2023)
Sophie Fudim (2022)
Elisa Marshburn (2021)
Gabriella Rodriguez (2020)
Priscilla Hernandez (2019)
Priscilla Jimenez (2018)