CCAM Announces Mentored Research and Creative Activity Winners

Acoustic music composition, folklore interpretation and public interest communication were the focus of the faculty/student winners of the inaugural West Virginia University College of Creative Arts and Media Exhibit of Mentored Research and Creative Activity. 

The CCAM Exhibit of Mentored Research and Creative Activity recognizes exceptional work conducted by the College’s students under the guidance of faculty members, such as exhibitions, performances, publications and scholarly research.  

“The winning projects exemplify the creative and collaborative spirit that is the backbone of research in our College, from Isaac's original EP of bluegrass, old-time, and folk music and Clayton's commissioning and performance project bringing together ethnomusicology and American folklore, to Jenna, Mary, and Zebulon's digital media project that creates a platform for storytelling by a leader in our West Virginia veteran community,” said Mikylah Myers, Associate Dean of Research and Creative Activity for the College.   

The winners, which are listed below, were selected by a jury panel including the College's dean, vice dean, associate deans, and directors of the four schools and Art Museum of WVU. Prizes of up to $1,000 were awarded to each.  

Undergraduate Winners 

First Place: “Everywhere You Were”  
Student: Isaac McCarthy 
Faculty Mentor: Josh Swiger  

“Everywhere You Were” is an original EP that showcases McCarthy’s ability to shift between bluegrass, old-time and folk styles of acoustic music. For the project, he wrote more than 40 original compositions, five of which are featured on the EP, which will be released this summer.  

Honorable Mention: “Microscopic Self-Portraits: Exploring Identity Through Scientific Imaging and Cyanotype”  
Student: Ava Furlow 
Faculty Mentor: Michael Sherwin 

“Microscopic Self-Portraits" is an exploration of scientific photography and self-portraiture. Using photomicroscopy, each image contains samples of Furlow’s biological material, including skin, sweat, tears, blood, and hair. The final images were printed in a circular format, using the cyanotype printing process to reference early microscopic photography and historical photographic printing methods.  

Graduate Winners 

First Place: “‘More Than a Man’: Interpreting Representation of Identity and Belonging in Living Folklore”  
Student: Clayton Heath 
Faculty Mentor: Katelyn Best 

Utilizing literary, psychological and social theoretical frameworks, this research presents an analytical summary of landmark works within the canon of American folk hero John Henry, positioning their representational and ideological ties. It also seeks to highlight embedded meanings and identity markers evident within Shanyse Strickland’s “More Than a Man,” commissioned by Heath in 2024.  

Honorable Mention: “Engaging Preschool Children in Art Museums Through Interactive Programs”  
Student: Kendyl Bostic 
Faculty Mentor: Heather Harris  

This research explored four pedagogical approaches to preschool programming at art museums: Guided Play, Visual Thinking Strategies, Social and Emotional Learning, and Storytelling. Inductive coding was used to identify themes common throughout the data, namely creating stories, acting things out, and meaning making through personal connections. These themes, along with analysis of the participant experience, led to the conclusion that the pedagogical strategy chosen for a program must match the program goals. 

Collaborative Winners 

First Place: “In a Complex World We Can’t Stand Alone: The PIC Lab’s RMG Hoyer Portfolio”  
Students: Jenna Stewart, Mary Roush, and Zebulon Meyer 
Faculty Mentor: Julia Daisy Fraustino 

In partnership with a student team from the WVU Public Interest Communication Research Laboratory (PIC Lab), Retired Major General James Hoyer uses his social media channels and a statewide radio show to tell the stories of West Virginia leaders at every level, ultimately creating a digital space where veterans, West Virginians, and others can come together and realize their shared goals and common purpose. This work is grounded in research and driven by data, highlighting issues through storytelling led by a trusted messenger who can help audiences find their commonalities while understanding and coming to appreciate each other’s differences. 

“Artful Algorithms” utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to developing an artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of recognizing and segmenting hieroglyphic blocks from scanned images of Maya vessels. WVU undergraduate researchers in Technical Art History manually annotate the images by marking the boundaries of each hieroglyphic block to produce a high-quality dataset serving as a “gold-standard,” allowing the model to learn the distinct characteristics of each hieroglyphic block, enhancing its segmentation capabilities. 

The full College of Creative Arts and Media Exhibit of Mentored Research and Creative Activity was featured during WVU Research Week, April 7-11. To view the 2025 exhibit, visit http://creativeartsandmedia.wvu.edu/exhibit-of-student-research-and-creative-activity-2025.