Loeb Fellowship

An innovative collaboration between Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Morris Museum, fueled by the vision of the Loeb Family, will help to increase diversity in the fields of arts management, animation, filmmaking and graphic design by providing scholarship support to a Black FDU student studying at the University’s School of the Arts. In addition to a scholarship that provides full tuition for a year, recipients of the Marianne S. Loeb Fellowship will intern at the Morris Museum. Through the Fellowship, the Loeb Family hopes to help create a pipeline for persons of color in arts and arts administration and to provide the recipient with real-world experience in arts programming, community engagement, and entrepreneurship.

“We are very grateful to have alumni with the vision to provide this kind of broad access to unique learning experiences for our students,” said Christopher A. Capuano, Ph.D., president of Fairleigh Dickinson University. “We are also very pleased to be able to strengthen the connections between the University and the Morris Museum through innovative partnerships such as this.”

The recipient of the inaugural fellowship, Janine Brown, who is majoring in film with a concentration in directing and minors in entertainment management and musical theater, says that she is looking forward to assisting the museum in continuing to engage the community in the arts. “It is my goal for kids and their families to find programming that inspires them, challenges them, and gives audiences a little piece of joy and happiness,” she said. Brown added that she hopes to use the arts to facilitate conversations about difficult subjects, including race.

The mission of the Morris Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, dovetails with the University’s in many ways, according to Cleveland Johnson, Ph.D., the museum’s executive director. Both institutions create opportunities for lifelong learning, discovery, and creativity, he noted.

“We are honored and delighted to elevate our longstanding relationship with FDU with this opportunity to support the experiential education of the Marianne S. Loeb Fellow. We look forward to expanding and deepening our programming for people of color in our community and we believe our Loeb Fellow will assist us in this fundamental goal, ” said Johnson.

The Loeb Fellowship is particularly well-suited to students studying in FDU’s School of the Arts, a robust center of learning for students who seek arts training grounded in a real-world framework according to Todd Rosen, the School’s director. “This partnership between FDU and the Morris Museum will further our mutual goal to make the arts accessible to all residents of Morris County and surrounding areas. FDU students reflect the diverse populations we serve, and we hope this partnership will enhance our ability to build bridges within our community and propel students from diverse backgrounds directly into leadership roles in the arts,” said Rosen.