UCSC students Lena Jackson and Claire Miyamoto have each been awarded a 2013 Princess Grace Foundation Honorarium in the category of documentary film.
A second-year student in the Arts Division’s Social Documentation master’s program, Jackson received the award for her project on the shuttering and privatizing of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles.
Miyamoto, who will be a senior this fall in the Film and Digital Media undergraduate program, earned her award for a film exploring the formation of solidarity between native Hawaiians and the U-wa tribe in Colombia as they struggle against extinction.
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a public charity that was created to continue the legacy of Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, who anonymously helped emerging artists pursue their goals throughout her lifetime. It awards scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships to assist artists at the beginning of their careers.
The Foundation has cultivated a diverse group of over 600 artists to date who continue to advance the field of performing arts with cutting-edge theater, dance, choreography, film, playwriting and design.
Jackson is a filmmaker who has focused her work on media literacy and documentaries, specifically on youth and community-based issues.
She is the recipient of several other awards, including a UC Regent’s Fellowship, a UCSC Porter College Fellowship, and a Florence French Scholarship. Jackson is also a graduate fellow with the UC Center for New Racial Studies.
Miyamoto has written and illustrated articles for Women’s Surf Style Magazine in Hawaii and the Third World and Native American Student Press Collective (TWANAS) in Santa Cruz.
“Alongside my responsibility as a young Native Hawaiian woman, this film adds to my dedication to use art for social justice,” said Miyamoto. “This film is the union of my long term artistic, personal and career goals.”
UCSC's master's program in social documentation was established in 2005 and was a first in the University of California system. The graduate program is designed to teach students to translate academic knowledge into visual, audio, and print media that will have an impact on the world.
