MFA, Mount Royal School of Art

Class of 2004

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation recently awarded a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship to Eric Dyer '04 (Mount Royal School of Art) in the film-video category.

Created in 1925, the foundation has granted more than $298 million to 17,300 men and women who have either displayed exceptional scholarship skills or displayed creative ability in the arts. The program provides fellows with blocks of time in which they can work creatively and freely.

"I am going to use the grant to take leave for one year from University of Maryland, Baltimore County and focus on a large, immersive, animated installation project," said Dyer, who was selected in part for his efforts in resurrecting the zoetrope, a 19th-century device that creates an illusion of motion.

"I'm driven to invent unique ways for audiences to experience moving images, ones that are profoundly engaging both emotionally and physically," he said.