Candy Rong-Rong Wei, born on August 5, 1980, began making art at an early age, with creative interests that spanned drawing and painting, printmaking, photography, digital art, sculpture, graphic design, poetry, and short story writing. Diagnosed with schizophrenia at fifteen, Candy’s work is inseparable from her struggle with mental illness. After a relapse in her sophomore year of college, Candy committed suicide on January 16, 2001.

In Candy’s memory, her mother, Jing Wang, established two funds to support student international travel at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design: the Candy R. Wei International Travel Award, a scholarship that support international travel for art students; and the Candy R. Wei Prize for International Studies in Art and Design, an award that recognizes the exemplary work influenced by students’ international experiences. “It was Candy’s dream to travel abroad to study art, so these funds are a natural way to remember her and to help students fufill their dreams of international study,” said Professor Wang.