McKenzie Simpson Earns College of the Arts Excellence Award at VSU

McKenzie Simpson

VALDOSTA — McKenzie Simpson of Quitman, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2024 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of the Arts at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to a high-performing graduating student in each of VSU’s six colleges — Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, and College of the Arts.

Simpson will be recognized during VSU’s 237^th Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, on the Main Campus Front Lawn. She will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Art.

“I am very honored to receive this award and represent the College of the Arts,” she shared. “The professors in the Department of Art & Design at VSU truly care about their students and go above and beyond to nurture us and prepare us for the reality of being an artist and making a living out of this career. It can be intimidating to enter the workforce, but with the support of my professors, I feel ready and confident to start this new chapter in my life. During my time here I have made lifelong friendships and built relationships with both my peers and my faculty. I am excited to see where life takes me, but I never want to forget where I started — here at Valdosta State University.”

As a student at VSU, Simpson partnered with Evelyn Davis-Walker, associate professor in the Department of Art and Design, for a Blazer Summer Research Institute project titled “International Design: A Beginner’s Guide to Adapting Graphic Design for Global Markets.” Her artwork earned honorable mention at VSU’s 2023 Juried Student Art Competition, third place at the 2022 university-wide Celebration of Inclusion Student Art Exhibition, and third place at the VSU’s 2022 Juried Student Art Competition.

Simpson also earned repeated Dean’s List recognitions and was a Zell Miller Scholar.

After graduation Simpson plans to take a gap year and pursue artist residencies and internship opportunities in printmaking. She then hopes to return to school and pursue a master’s degree in art with a focus in printmaking, “which will work toward my eventual goal of becoming a printmaking professor.”  

Her supportive family includes parents Jay and Edwina Simpson and dog Remi.