Associate Professor of Art and Art History Tulu Bayar has been named a recipient of the 2017-18 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant. Bayar plans to travel to Istanbul and document the growing shift towards living in between developed cities and rural areas of Turkey. Her research project is slated to begin September 2017 and will be completed the following June.

A Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant provides funding to allow graduates to complete a research project in another country, furthering both cultural exchange and an appreciation of diverse global perspectives. Recipients involve themselves in the international community and participate in daily activities to better understand a different way of life.

Bayar is an interdisciplinary artist who uses diverse forms of media to ask complex questions about social and political issues that are present around the globe. Some of her artistic focuses are photography, video, sound, sculpture, and installation. With this scholarship, Bayar is composing “Suburbs of Istanbul,” a “web-based interactive documentary” that will take place in Turkey, where she was raised.

“I find the idea of making art in and being part of Istanbul, submerged in its history, culture, nature, and architecture, a very exciting prospect,” Bayar said.

Bayar plans to study how people, place, and space are produced, experienced, and seen in the context of an area that is changing based on social relations in urban planning. Istanbul has recently developed new areas of suburbia, which Bayar wants to document, study, and explain.

Associate Professor of Art Janice Mann was responsible for writing a letter of recommendation for Bayar’s application for the grant.

“The whole department is proud of Tulu’s accomplishment and we wish her all the best with her work during her Fulbright year,” Mann said.

Denver Freeman ’17, a student who has taken three photography courses with Bayar and also contributed a letter of recommendation for Bayer’s application, expressed his pride in Bayar’s endeavors and accomplishments.

“It is one thing to hear or read about things like this, but looking at it through the point of view of a scholar who is also a visual artist with decades of experience gives you something you don’t see enough of,” Freeman said.

Bayar’s ambitions are twofold: not only does she want to empower local residents of suburban Istanbul through her research, but she also wants to bring the knowledge she obtains from her travels back to the University.

“I am confident that this new experience will benefit my own studio practice and my classes as I incorporate this process into my future creative projects, class lectures, and demonstrations,” Bayar said.