Virginia Tech professor Eric Standley received a Jacob A. Lutz III Award for Eminent Scholars in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences category at the university’s awards ceremony on Oct. 29, Virginia Tech said in an announcement published Oct. 29.
Virginia Tech said Standley, a professor of studio art, has spent more than two decades developing an internationally recognized art practice combining art, design, technology, and science. The university said he uses drawing, hand assembly, digital design, and laser fabrication to create intricate, multilayered paper sculptures.
Standley’s work draws on Gothic architecture, Islamic geometry, mathematics, optics, and the natural sciences, and explores subjects including consciousness, memory, mortality, and the architecture of the cosmos, according to Virginia Tech. The university reported that his work has appeared in 157 exhibitions, including 18 solo exhibitions, and received 36 exhibition awards.
Virginia Tech said Standley’s work is held in permanent collections in the United States, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. The university also noted his 2025-26 Visual Arts Professional Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and his participation in the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program.
The award, established in 2024, recognizes long-term contributions to research and creative scholarship, Virginia Tech said. Four faculty members are selected annually through a competitive process, and each receives $10,000 in unrestricted funds and recognition as a Lutz Eminent Scholar, according to the university.
