By Lian Benasuly
Video by Maxwell Wilkens
UC Santa Barbara students of all majors and years came together on Thursday to celebrate the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts’ reputation for fostering creativity, expressiveness and originality in an annual Creativity Contest, as part of UCSB’s 2023 Give Day celebrations.
“I was very impressed with all of the work that was submitted and I just wanted to thank [the students] for participating and for their creativity,” said Humanities and Fine Arts Dean Daina Ramey Berry during the award ceremony for the Creativity Contest. “That’s how we thrive in Humanities and Fine Arts.”
From music producers to poets, photographers, writers and visual artists, the Creativity Contest brought together a diverse range of students to showcase their unique artistic abilities. Over 30 students competed in the competition, with 16 students placing in one of the six categories—visual art, prose, poetry, photography, music and video.
HFA’s Creativity Contest is an annual competition devised by HFA’s 2018 web and social media intern team. The contest gives students of all backgrounds the opportunity to express themselves through art and potentially get their first piece published on the HFA website.
UCSB’s Division of Humanities and Fine Arts celebrated Give Day 2023 with a student Creativity Contest. Winners were congratulated at a luncheon Thursday by HFA Dean Daina Ramey Berry, alumnus judge and donor Alexander (Xander) Lee, and Dilling Yang, wife of Chancellor Henry T. Yang.
On Give Day this year, HFA honored the winners of the competition in the luncheon award ceremony, organized by HFA’s web and social media intern team and hosted by Nomi Morris, a UCSB Writing Program lecturer and director of the Journalism track in the Professional Writing Minor. HFA’s new dean Daina Ramey Berry congratulated the winners, alongside one of the three alumni judges, Alexander (Xander) Lee.
Lee, who graduated from UCSB in 1992 with an undergraduate degree in Psychology, is now recognized as one of the top U.S. practitioners for international tax issues. In addition to judging the contest, Lee made a generous donation for Give Day 2023. The two other alumni judges, historian and author Alexis Coe and photographer Doug Fogelson, live out of state and were not able to attend the ceremony.
Berry began her role as the Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts in August of last year, making this year’s Creativity Contest her first. She reflected on how proud she was of all of the students who submitted their pieces during the event.
“I’m a scholar at heart. I’m just not teaching this year, so it was a great way to dip my toes back into seeing the works that are produced from people across campus,” Berry said.
Alumnus, donor and contest judge Alexander (Xander) Lee, left, Dilling Yang, Chancellor Henry T. Yang’s wife, center, and HFA Dean Daina Ramey Berry, in Mosher Alumni House on Thursday for the Creativity Contest luncheon.
For some of the winners, art is not just a side hobby or passion, it is something they hope to create a career out of.
Gaurav Chakravarty is a second-year Economics student by day and music producer by night. He is the sole winner in the music category for his song, “Friend,” which he co-produced with his friend Archish Arun, who is studying Computer Science at New York University. “Friend” is their most popular song, with over 130,000 views on Spotify.
Chakravarty and Arun found a male and female singer to sing the song, which was published in May 2022. And, the two singers never met or sang together in real life.
Chakravarty and Arun hope to do music full-time post-graduation, but until they see that their music is getting enough attention, they will continue studying their respective majors, Chakravarty said.
For other winners, this competition invigorated their desire to continue creating art.
One is first-year Biology student Eric Beahrs, who submitted a photograph titled, “Dreaming,” of a hermit crab he saw in Deveraux Beach, which placed second in the photography category.
“It’s my first competition, so I’m really happy I placed at all. This competition definitely made me want to compete more,” Beahrs said.
All of the winning works will be featured on the HFA website in the coming week.
Video
First: Kate Saubestre, “NatureMan” Second: Zion Light, “Visit Santa Barbara”
Photography
First: Carmen Araujo, “Who Art In Heaven.” Second: Erik Beahrs, “Dreaming.” Third: LeeAnn Smith, “2/1 Waves”
Visual Art
First: Amanda Harris, “Days of Living Childhood.” Second: Karizma Garcia, “Round ‘Em Up.” Third: Josie Hurwitz, “August in Tuscany”
Poetry
First: Kiana Perez Granados, “Saved By Sunday.” Second: Sofia Mosqueda, “Sharp Things.” Third: Isabella Ponce, “Our Cataclysm”
Prose
First: Yan Lei, “Where is the Assistance?” Second: Grace Kimball, “Love, Lust, and Discord.” Second: Brea Spencer, “Letters.” Third: Courtney Poon, “The Confessions of Overworked UCSB Resident”
Music
First: Gaurav Chakravarty, “Friend”
Lian Benasuly is a fourth-year student at UC Santa Barbara studying Communication and minoring in Professional Writing in the Journalism track. She is also a web and social media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.
Maxwell Wilkens is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in Communication and Music Studies. He is a Web and Social Media Intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.