 "Photo: Kim Espinosa")
Hope Hasbrouck, a UT graduate adviser and assistant professor in the School of Architecture, is a recipient of the 2008 Rome Prize, one of the most prestigious awards given to emerging scholars and artists in the early or middle stages of their careers.
The annual national competition, hosted by the American Academy in Rome, awards 30 deserving applicants working in the arts and humanities - such as in landscape architecture, design and modern Italian studies - with a $25,000 stipend and living accommodations for an 11-month fellowship at the Rome Academy in Italy.
Hasbrouck won the Garden Club of America Rome Prize, an award given to an American landscape architect that expresses special interest and knowledge in gardening. Additionally, she has displayed a dedication to restoring, improving and protecting the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvement.
"I was a little surprised when I found out that I got it," Hasbrouck said. "I must confess I thought it would take a couple of applications and a couple of years to get it. I was pretty overwhelmed, but my dean is a fellow, and so I went immediately to go chat with him about it."
Hasbrouck's most recent project involved the design of an archeological park in Ukraine. She said her fellowship proposal, "Interpreting Cultural Territories Through Prospect and Passage," will focus on the definition of place and the personal geometries of historic imagination of the
cultural landscape of Rome while incorporating ideas from her work in Ukraine.
Situated on the Janiculum, Rome's highest hill, the academy was established in 1894 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1905. According to the academy's Web site, it is a center that sustains independent artistic pursuits and humanistic studies. Hasbrouck said though she will be away from her family she is excited about being immersed in the Italian culture for a year.
"I've set up key visits with my family," she said. "Sometimes fellows bring their families, but it wouldn't work for everyone's jobs, so we planned certain visits to see each other. We've planned to celebrate Christmas and New Year's in Rome, which I hear you shouldn't miss."
Hasbrouck is the fourth UT faculty member in the School of Architecture to receive the award. She will report to Rome and start her fellowship in early September.
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