Former art professor’s support for students and alumni continues through memorial endowments
This week, the Department of Art & Art History celebrates the biennial Roderick MacKillop Memorial Alumni Art Exhibition with a reception on Oct. 22. “Another Other,” on view in Rowe Lower Gallery through Nov. 2, features work by two art alumni: ceramic artist Sara Catapano ’12 and fiber artist Jen Clay ’10. Their brightly colored, fantastical and exquisitely complex pieces have transformed the gallery into a wonderland, transporting visitors to “another other” world.
Connection with UNC Charlotte art alumni and recognition of their talent was what inspired MacKillop, a beloved painting professor from 1973 until his retirement in 2003, to launch a biennial alumni exhibition in 1988. In 2017, MacKillop’s family, led by his sister, Carrie MacKillop Stein, established an endowment in MacKillop’s memory that would fund the exhibition in perpetuity.
Concurrently, the family endowed two scholarship funds, which have supported dozens of students since their inception. The 2026 biennial show offers an opportunity to acknowledge those talented student artists and hear from some of them about the impact of the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Art Merit Scholarship and the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Painting Merit Scholarship. Eleven students are currently MacKillop Scholars.
Fall 2026 recipients of the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Painting Merit Scholarship: McKenzie Edmund, Finlee Asher, Morgan Hayes, Leilani Jones, Ali Thiam.
Fall 2026 recipients of the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Art Merit Scholarship: Alissa Davis, Travis Dawson, Josue Herrera, Heather Lynn, H Martin, K Tran.
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Finlee Asher
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Alissa Davis
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Ali Thiam
Finlee Asher, who will graduate in December with a B.F.A. in Art, painting concentration, came to UNC Charlotte as a transfer student from Central Piedmont Community College. An internship with the Airy Knoll Arts Project introduced Asher to teaching and has launched an aspiration for a career in academia.
In the meantime, Asher says the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Painting Merit Scholarship “has been a boon to me in my final semester at UNC Charlotte. This scholarship has allowed me to pursue more creative avenues in my work and allowed me to feel more free to explore different mediums as I continue the creation of my pieces for my upcoming senior thesis exhibition.
Alissa Davis will graduate in December with a B.F.A. in Art, concentrating in digital media. She has had two internships with local cultural institutions while at UNC Charlotte.
“I did a website research gig for the Harvey B. Gantt Center, where I helped them organize their past exhibitions,” she says. “I’m currently working with the McColl Center as an external affairs intern, working with the fellowship artists while preparing for their upcoming events.” Davis, who plans to pursue a career in motion graphics and video art, received a Roderick MacKillop Memorial Art Merit Scholarship. “It means a lot to me, especially as I finish up my degree. It’s like a final push forward.”
Ali Thiam is combining a B.F.A. in Art with a painting concentration and a minor in geology. Upon graduation in 2028, Thiam says he’d “be ecstatic to obtain a career where I could explore those two fields, combining artistic expression and scientific research.” He is also interested in creating public murals.
“Over the past few years, especially, painting has become one of my favorite and most compatible mediums, and I’m honestly so glad that the painting concentration exists here at Charlotte, allowing me to explore it more deeply. I am honored to have received this scholarship to continue my progress in this concentration, as well as to honor the legacy of artist and painting professor Roderick MacKillop.”
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Leilani Jones
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Josue Herrera
For Leilani Jones, “art is a language that allows me to be loud about what I hold inside.” As a student at UNC Charlotte, she has had opportunities to demonstrate her talent broadly across the community.
“I helped design the T‑shirts for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), a museum block party that helps artists connect with one another. The shirts were sold at the Harvey B. Gantt Center, where I also connected with high school students and showed them what different artistic processes and practices can look like. I’ve also created art pieces for a fashion show, contributed work to the group exhibition To Be Consumed at Goodyear Arts, and shown work in the 58th Annual Juried Student Exhibition.”
Jones says the Roderick MacKillop Memorial Painting Merit Scholarship “has helped relieve a lot of financial stress and given me more room to put my funds toward art supplies for my senior thesis.”
Josue Herrera, who has received a Roderick MacKillop Memorial Art Merit Scholarship, will graduate in May 2027 with a B.F.A. in Art and a concentration in illustration. He says he hopes to become a storyboard artist or a concept artist in media.
“The MacKillop scholarship has helped financially, but it has also motivated me to push forward toward my creative and career goals by acknowledging my skills and recognizing my potential.”
Written by Meg Whalen. Exhibition photos by Toby Schuetze.