Kyle Meyer, a recent graduate of The City College of New York's (CCNY) Art Program, is a 2009 winner of the Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship. He plans to use the Fellowship, which carries a $19,000 stipend, to travel to Swaziland this fall to document communities affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic there.

Mr. Meyer graduated from City College on May 28 with a B.A. in Studio Art, with a concentration in photography. He is the eighth CCNY student to be named a Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Fellow since 1994. As an activist who has participated four times in the annual AIDS Walk New York, Mr. Meyer said he was tremendously excited at having been awarded the Fellowship."It offers an invaluable opportunity for me not only to document what's going on in Swaziland and also to help in the fight against the disease," he said.

The Harlem resident will be based at the Moya Center, a community center in western Swaziland where AIDS orphans who are heads of households receive assistance.Mr. Meyer chose to do his fellowship in the tiny southern African nation because its HIV/AIDS rate, around 40 percent of the population, is the highest in the world. "I've been interested in the AIDS crisis since high school and when I return I'd like to have an exhibition of my images from Swaziland to show what's going on there and to raise awareness here," he said. He also plans to start a fund or scholarship program for children affected by AIDS.

Dr. Anna Indych-López, CCNY Associate Professor of Art, described Mr. Meyer as a sensitive and motivated student whose photography projects show promise for effecting social change."Kyle is a hard worker whose passion for and commitment to art, specifically contemporary art and socially engaged issues, have been evident from his first days at CCNY," she said.

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