Betty Hensellek recently received DAAP's one and only scholarship reserved for art history majors. She won the award based on her academic excellence even while pursuing two majors as well as advanced language studies.

The Jonathan Riess Scholarship, established in 2006, made history as the first tuition scholarship ever established at the University of Cincinnati to specifically assist art history undergraduates. As such, it's making history - just as former UC art history professor Jonathan Riess did as a celebrated scholar of Italian Renaissance art.

Upon his death in 2006, one former student noted that it was as though an entire library had been lost. His books, essays and articles on the art of the Italian Renaissance had routinely received worldwide acclaim. In addition, Riess was a caring teaching who often surprised his students in UC's internationally ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) by bringing boxes of doughnuts or cookies for all to enjoy while probing and discussing the art of 15th-century Italy.

Betty Hensellek works on an art piece in her home.

Hensellek, a double major in art history and fine arts - with a minor in German thrown in for good measure, has long taken advantage of her exposure to two cultures to acquire language abilities and more varied experiences with art.

She said, "Art was actually a means for forming a strong connection with my family in Germany. When I would spend time with my grandparents there, my grandfather would buy me supplies, and we would work on individual art projects while being together."

Hensellek continued pursuing art and was encouraged by her Vandalia-Butler High School art teacher to seriously pursue art as a life's vocation. She recalled, "He said I had a great deal of potential, enough that I could pursue art and eventually get a job that I would love."

Her interest and aptitude in art first brought Hensellek to DAAP, and while she considered other art programs - such as the Art Institute of Chicago - she eventually opted to attend UC because of the greater variety of classes offered within a university setting - classes like foreign languages and English.

And, she added, even other universities couldn't match the sheer depth and variety of art offerings available at DAAP. "Here, I can pursue any art media or method, including welding and ceramics and all the other forms. No other program had that, and I really investigated other programs," she said.

And it was here that she found she also loved art history. "I fell in love with art history in a survey class. I declared it as my second major during the spring quarter of my freshman year," she stated.

The two majors might seem almost identical, but not so, according to Hensellek. They are as distinct as the two cultures in which she has grown up. Art history, she explained, is lecture- and research oriented. It requires a great deal of writing. Fine art, on the other hand, requires hands-on creative work in studio to a much greater degree.

The $1,000 Riess Scholarship will help offset Hensellek's tuition costs during this coming academic year. She hopes that will mean less time working her almost-full-time job and more time pursuing her art and her art-related volunteer efforts. For instance, Hensellek volunteers every Sunday at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Beyond graduation, Hensellek plans to work and study abroad. First, she would like to enter the Peace Corps to contribute, live, learn and create art in the Third World. Eventually, she hopes to pursue advanced study and degrees in Europe.

"My ultimate goal is to become a curator in a museum of contemporary art. That is a goal that has been fostered by my time in DAAP," she stated, adding that in her first contemporary art classes, she couldn't quite connect with the course content. But, now, she loves contemporary art.

"I guess that's the most important thing I've learned at DAAP. There will be art that you like and don't like. And even if you don't like it, it's important to still learn about it. You may or may not change your mind but at least you'll be making an informed judgment," she stated.

That said, the choice of Hensellek as the 2008-2009 recipient of the Riess Scholarship seems a well-informed decision to Theresa Leininger-Miller, associate professor of art history. She said, "We were all favorably impressed by Betty's excellent grade point average, her double major, other scholarships, facility with several languages and extracurricular activities at art history and history-related institutions. She is continually on the Dean's List. She represents the best our program has to offer."

In spring quarter of next year (2009), the art history program will accept applications for the 2009-2010 Riess Scholarship. Any art history undergraduate may apply. For more information, contact Theresa Leininger-Miller, associate professor of art history, at theresa.leininger@uc.edu

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