Watch the video: My Fulbright Life: Brian Rutenberg (Fulbright Student to Ireland, 1997) An online video portraying artist and Fulbright U.S. Student alumnus Brian Rutenberg has been awarded a Silver Telly Award for 2013 in the ‘Government Relations’ category.

The Telly Awards are the premier awards honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, web commercials, videos and films.

The video was produced by Our Town Films, Inc. in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education. In the film, Brian discusses his experiences as a Fulbright student in Ireland in 1997 and how they have helped to shape his career as an abstract painter.

“Because the world is so interconnected now, one's consciousness is more global because of technology,” Brian said. “Fulbright is a way to really get back to the human element of that. To actually seek out, to go to a place, and to immerse yourself in that experience and that culture and to exchange ideas and communicate yourself to people of a different culture.”