04/24/19
By Randy Gonzales
University Relations and Marketing
HAYS, Kan. – Rayvon Lewis might have been the most surprised person in the room when his name was announced as the 2019 Pencil Project Award winner Monday evening at the 25th annual Leo Burnett Portfolio Review.

Lewis, a Fort Hays State University junior from Blue Springs, Mo., was ready to clap for the winner. Instead, all the applause was for him. That, and a $10,000 check.

“I was getting my hands ready to clap for somebody else,” sais Lewis, a graphic design major. “Then they said my name. Is this real right now? This is amazing.”

Lewis was recruited to play football for the Tigers and was not even aware of the graphic design program. He planned to be a studio artist. But after he started taking classes, he learned how he could create his art on a computer, which intrigued him. And a graphic artist was born.

After three years in the football program, Lewis had to make a tough decision, choosing between his two passions. When he met the requirements for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Portfolio Review in Graphic Design, he chose the artistic path.

“I feel like everything happens for a reason, by the grace of God,” Lewis said.

Leo Burnett Worldwide, an advertising company with its headquarters in Chicago, has had a relationship with FHSU for the past 25 years, ever since a Fort Hays graphic design student, Micah Walker, walked through the doors one day to have them take a look at his portfolio. The company liked what it saw and has since provided scholarships and internships to Fort Hays State graphic design students.

The Pencil Project Award highlighted an evening of $25,000 in scholarships and support to the program handed out at the Robbins Center. Erin Pascal, Wichita senior, was one of three winners of last year’s inaugural Pencil Project Award. She received $6,000 and $2,000 each went to two other recipients. Pascal also landed an internship in Chicago last summer.

“It’s an opportunity for students to tell their stories,” Pascal said of the Pencil Project. “You have to describe your personal life and your story through graphic design. Everyone’s is completely different.”

Kerri Soukup, executive creative director at Leo Burnett, said there was no difficulty in choosing this year’s Pencil Project winner. She said it was a unanimous decision.

“We were all impressed with this individual,” she said.

Lewis, who has a small business license, said he can put the scholarship money to good use.

After graduating from FHSU in spring 2021, he plans to return home to the Kansas City area. He might do graphic design work for a friend who wants to start his own church, or he might teach art.

“In the inner city we have a lot of black kids who don’t have a leader,” said Lewis, an African American. “They all choose basketball or football. I can be the example: You don’t have to just play football, you don’t have to play basketball. You can be an artist. I have my motto: Be free.”

Lewis said he got his artistic talent from his grandmother, Gertie Lewis.

“My grandmother is the artist,” he said. “She’s an amazing artist.”

Wichita junior Parker Cyrier was amazed when her name was called as the recipient of the first place junior overall portfolio, and received a $1,000 scholarship. She shed tears of joy while posing for a photo.

“I didn’t expect to get any scholarship,” Cyrier said. “I was so nervous. I was kind of shocked. It overwhelmed me a little bit.”

Newton senior Angelica Chavez was nervously awaiting the news of award winners while sitting in the lobby at the Robbins Center before the program started. Chavez submitted a project last year, but did not receive a scholarship. She admitted to being nervous during Monday’s interview.

“Once you hit the door, you have to shake it off,” she said. “It went well.”

Indeed, it did. Chavez learned later she was awarded a Leo B. scholarship for $250.

Chaiwat Thumsujarit (chye-WHAT TUM-sue-jair-it), professor of graphic design, has taught at FHSU for 37 years. He said the Leo Burnett Company chooses FHSU students because of their Midwestern values.

“The first generation and second generation of students who work at Leo Burnett, they call our students the Kansas kids, because they love their work ethic,” Thumsujarit said.

The department also received funding as part of the Pencil Project, receiving $5,000 both last year and this year. That money will be put to good use, said Karrie Simpson Voth, chair of the Department of Art and Design and professor of graphic design. She said the Leo Burnett funding will aid recruiting efforts in diversity and inclusion initiatives, not just ethnic and socio-economic, but also diversity in thinking, etc.

“We now have $10,000 to do a design camp we have been planning,” she said. “In the fall, the department wants to bring in high school sophomores and juniors “to see what it’s like to be a designer.”

Students will continue to dream big. Someday, Leo Burnett and FHSU will produce another Erin Paschal, another Rayvon Lewis. And many more like them.

A career in the arts was not on Lewis’ radar in high school, when he was banking on his athleticism to get him ahead in life.

“If somebody would have told me in high school my junior year, ‘You’re going to be pursuing art,’ I would have said, ‘You’re lying. I’m going to the NFL,’ ” he said.

Lewis was still in disbelief hours after the announcement. 

“This,” he said, shaking his head, “is an amazing opportunity.”

A complete list of the scholarship award winners:

Leo Burnett Pencil Project ($10,000)
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (64015): Rayvon Lewis, junior.

Leo B. $250 winners
BLOOM (67865): Angelica Chavez, freshman.
DUBLIN, Ohio (43017): Xinghong (Michelle) Yang, junior.
EMPORIA (66801): Tessa Kriss, senior.
GREAT BEND (67530): Maddy Otter, junior.
HAYS (67601): Morgan Choitz, sophomore.
Savannah Wiens, sophomore.
HILL CITY (67642): Annalise Albrecht.
RUSSELL (67665): Tim Krug, sophomore.
SAINT MARYS, Ga. (31558): Christopher Johnson, sophomore.

Senior overall portfolio
BENTON (67017): First, Thomas Giebler, $1,500.
GARDEN CITY (67846): Second, Caitlyn Frazer, $750.

Junior overall portfolio
ANDOVER (67002): First, Parker Cyrier, $1,000.
TOPEKA (66614): Second, Aric Zillinger, $500.

Cutline: Fort Hays State University junior Rayvon Lewis, right, with Chaiwat Thumsujarit, professor of graphic design.