Zachary Russell

This is a photo of me and my partner on a walk around our neighborhood. We love to go for walks by the river to clear our heads after a long day.

Degree: BFA, Painting

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2022

2021-2022 Scholarship
David John McCosh Memorial Scholarship in Painting

I Am Originally From Eugene, OR

WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
I chose UO because Eugene is my home town and I wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree, so it made sense to go to UO. I love College of Design for its faculty. Every art teacher I’ve had so far has been phenomenal and incredibly knowledgeable and encouraging!

I’ve always been an artist and I wanted to pursue painting. I have a background in graphic design, and have always enjoyed painting as a medium, so expanding my painting skills was my main goal.

UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
I have several years of experience in the design field and have been painting in my free time along the way. I feel that my experience as a queer person is also reflected in my studies. I’m genderqueer and pansexual and my identity as such finds its way into my art frequently.

MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
I’ve had a few incredible professors! Sylvan Lionni, Derek Franklin, Jack Snell-Ryan, and Ty Warren have all been amazing to work with. They all taught me something different, and one of the most important lessons they each seemed to bring to the table was to trust myself, which as an anxious artist, is hard to do.

MY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
I’m not involved in student organizations, but now that covid is finally more-or-less over, I’d love to join some!

MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
The greatest learning experience I’ve had at UO would have to be learning from Sylvan Lionni and Derek Franklin. Both of their teaching styles really helped me push out of my comfort zone and take risks on painting ideas I had that definitely paid off and shaped the way I think about painting.

AFTER GRADUATION
My ultimate goal is to be able to work for myself doing freelance design and selling paintings. I would love the opportunity to have a child and be able to stay home with the child as often as possible. If an independent career doesn’t work out, I’d like to use my education in a design firm or working for a gallery.

YOUR GIFT
This scholarship will help me obtain supplies and maintain my life through the last year of school.

Thank you so much! I’m incredibly grateful. This was completely unexpected and came as quite the surprise to me but I can’t put into words how appreciative I am! I hope to one day be in a position to provide a similar scholarships to an art student in need.