Prize created to honor Adam ’07

Now, just over a year after his death, the Lewis Center for the Arts has announced the Alex Adam ’07 Award, made possible by a gift from his family. The award will provide up to $7,000 to undergraduates who want to spend a summer pursuing a project that will result in the creation of an original work of art in any medium, according to a statement from the Lewis Center.

“We want his name to be remembered. For it to be associated with creativity is really meaningful to the rest of the family,” his brother, Nick Adam ’08, said.

Though the main impetus for the award was to honor her son’s memory, Eleanor Adam added that she wanted to recognize and help Princetonian artists. “This was a way for the University to honor and recognize people on a more creative path in a tangible way, irrespective of grades,” she said.

Eleanor added that she hopes the award will allow students to explore their creativity without monetary concerns. She said that she is looking forward to meeting the winners and views the award as a way to keep in touch with the University community.

Though Alex spent only three semesters on campus, he impressed professors like Joyce Carol Oates and Alan Hollinghurst right away with his humorous and touching creative writing pieces. Hollinghurst said in an e-mail shortly after Adam’s death that “his pieces made me laugh out loud.”

In a statement, Oates said that when she taught Adam as a freshman, she told him “he could have a career as a playwright or writer of first-rate television scripts,” something that she said she had never told “another student in such circumstances, before or since.”

Laszlo Adam ’73 recounted his son’s character and love for the arts. “Life with Alex was fascinating, often chaotic, funny and mostly beautiful,” he said in an e-mail. “He was always creative and interestingly complicated. He viewed his world not as flat, but in many dimensions.”

Alex, who loved writing and acting since high school, was deeply involved in the University’s theater community. He performed in productions by the Princeton Shakespeare Company, Theatre Intime and the Program in Theater and Dance.

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“We always thought he was going to be a playwright, but he never had the chance,” Nick said. “We wanted to give others the opportunity to be creative.”

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors of all majors are eligible to apply for the award. The award will be given to two students in 2008 and three students each year thereafter.

P. Adams Sitney, director of the Program in Visual Arts, lauded the creation of the prize for its promotion of creativity and its potential to make a long-term impact on students’ lives. “I’ve been at Princeton for 29 years, and I can think of a great many student artists who could have benefited enormously from such an award,” he said. “Careers could be significantly aided from such a thing.”

Already, many artistic students are considering applying for the award.

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“I’m really excited about the doors that the Alex Adam ’07 Award will be able to open for fellow artists,” Elizabeth Cooper ’11 said in an e-mail. “I’ve already planned to go to Tanzania this summer, but I will definitely apply for the award sometime in the future. Being able to immerse myself in photography would be absolutely amazing.”

Masha Shpolberg ’10, a painter and former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian, said she was impressed that the family wanted to give back to the University community. “Usually people want to recoil from the world [after the death of a child],” she said.

Shpolberg is not sure what project she would use the money for if she were to win. She said she does believe, however, that many other students will apply for the award due to the Lewis Center’s publicity efforts.

Several of Alex’ friends were pleased about the award.

“I think it’s a really great way to honor his memory because he was such a great writer and he, himself, was so creative,” Nikki Federman ’07 said.

“I’m glad he’s going to be remembered,” fellow actor Jon Miller ’07 said.

Friend and former hallmate Raleigh Martin ’08 said he was less familiar with Alex’ creative side, but his memory of his friend is of a “generous, soft-spoken, easygoing, nice person to be around.” Federman, Miller and Martin all recalled his humor and eagerness to help others.

Alex died on Jan. 25, 2007 at his family’s home in New York City after a two-year battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer usually found in or near bone. He was 23.

Applications for the Alex Adam ’07 Award can be found on the Lewis Center for the Arts website and are due by March 1, 2008. Recipients will be announced on April 1, 2008.