The Will Eisner Scholar honors Will Eisner who was one of the most influential comic artists of all time. On behalf of the Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation, the Society is honored to seek in his name the best of the JUNIOR class and to financially assist with supporting his/ her/ their SENIOR year. The winner of this award will receive $5,000 towards their senior year tuition. This year the jury included cartoonists Caroline Cash, Bianca Xunise, Adam de Souza, Andrew MacLean, and Publisher Andrew Alexander (CRAM Books). The jury chose as semi-finalists Carly Plante (California College of the Arts), Lee Truman (Rhode Island School of Design), and Jimmy Li (Pratt Institute). After online interviews and a review of their body of work, Jimmy Li was selected as this year’s Will Eisner Scholar.

Through this scholarship, Jimmy will continue working on his webcomic NIGHTHAWKS, though hopes to distribute it in a printed form. Jimmy is interested in expressing repressed emotions and the beauty in the mundane on a large scale and hopes to connect to others out there through the medium of sequential art.

The Society of Illustrators proudly presents the Zankel Scholar named in memory of Arthur Zankel, whose generous bequest has made this scholarship possible. Mr. Zankel was a firm advocate for higher education. This year, the jury included artists Dominique Ramsey, Colete Martin, Jeremy Nguyen, Elliot Lang, and Art Director Chelsea Beck. The jury chose as semi-finalists Emelia Feldman (Ringling College of Art and Design), Sue Kim (School of Visual Arts), and Rachel Genito (Pratt Institute). After online interviews and a portfolio review, Rachel Genito was selected as this year’s Zankel Scholar.

Rachel has a deep passion for storytelling and her work delicately and deliberately uses the line to show the art and craft of drawing she has spent years refining. Living and working in New York City, Rachel finds continual inspiration in the city’s energy, a relentless rhythm she seeks to reflect in her work. She is profoundly grateful to be part of a place that fuels her artistic vision and deepens her commitment to using illustration as both personal expression and cultural dialogue.

This year marks the first time that a student from Pratt Institute has won either the Eisner or Zankel scholarships.

About the Society of Illustrators

Founded in 1901, the Society of Illustrators is America’s longest-standing nonprofit organization dedicated to the art of illustration. The Society of Illustrators’ mission is to promote the art of illustration, to appreciate its history and evolving nature through exhibitions, lectures and education, and to contribute the service of its members to the welfare of the community at large.