On Tuesday, UW ceramics students, alumni and community members came together at the UW 3D4M Studios located southeast of U. Village to raise money for students at the Scholarships for Scholars celebration. The event coincided with the opening of the First Year Graduate Exhibition and consisted of open studios, a silent auction and raffle drawings. The funds raised pay for partial scholarships for UW graduate students studying ceramics.

A $25 entry gave visitors a free cup of their choice made by a UW art graduate student, catered hors d’oeuvres, beverages and parking. A local group, Monarch Duel, provided entertainment throughout the evening. Students who attended also had a chance to see undergraduate workspaces, the foundry and the metal shop.

Arun Sharma, a second-year graduate student in the interdisciplinary visual arts program, said students started preparing for the event months ago.

“Graduate students are asked to start putting together art pieces for this event about three to four months in advance,” Sharma said. “Actual set-up doesn’t take place until two or three days before because classes are held here.”

About 4,000 people were invited to the event this year.

Scholarships for Scholars was first held in 2000 when a committee sanctioned by the Smithsonian visited the UW ceramics and metal arts building and took an interest in supporting the program. Doug Anderson, a member of that committee, worked with the UW administration to set up the first event.

Jamie Walker, a UW professor of art, said that although the event is mostly organized by the faculty, staff and the development office of Arts & Sciences, the event could never happen without the full participation of graduate and undergraduate students.

One community member, Elana Lemar, said she found out about the event through her mother, who graduated from the ceramics program a few years ago.

“I enjoy coming back each year because it makes me feel a bond with a community of art,” Lemar said. “The expression here doesn’t exist in the real world... the artists just show exactly what they think and feel.”

Aside from showcasing art, the event also increases graduate support, which helps the program compete with other Master of Fine Arts programs across the country.

“Some schools offer full scholarships and full TA-ships,” said John Taylor, an instructional technician in the arts program. “That’s hard to compete with. Through this program we can support our students.”

The celebration, in its ninth year, has distributed approximately $150,000 to 28 graduate students and has attracted support and donations from around the country.

Emily Hannan, a senior in the UW School of Art, said this was the first year she was involved with the event.

“A lot of people came to this,” Hannan said. “I even ran into someone from Harborview who was looking for new pieces for their contemporary art gallery.”

This year, the School of Art developed a new consortium called 3D4M, which merges the previously separate programs of ceramics, glass, public art and sculpture. According to the program’s Web site, the mission of 3D4M is “to explore interdisciplinary exchanges ... that reflects and supports the nature of contemporary art in the context of a leading research university.”

This year’s event was the transition from a ceramics program event to 3D4M. Walker said that next year, scholarships will be directed to all graduate students in 3D4M.

“I think this is a great event,” said Meredith Bihler, a junior in the School of Art and a volunteer at the event. “It’s likely to make students want to come to the program.”

Reach reporter Chris Paredes at news@dailyuw.com.