BOSTON – Today, Mass Cultural Council celebrates the 92 Massachusetts artists selected to receive Fiscal Year 2022 Artist Fellowship awards in Drawing/Printmaking, Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, and Painting.
Since 1975, Mass Cultural Council’s Artist Fellowships have recognized and uplifted the creative abilities of Massachusetts artists across a range of disciplines. These highly competitive awards provide financial assistance, crucial validation among artistic peers and the public, catalyze artistic advancement, and pave the way for creative innovation of enduring cultural value.
“I marvel at the innovation and brilliance of artists and the work they create,” said Mass Cultural Council Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt. “It is an absolute pleasure to recognize and congratulate these Fellows and Finalists who demonstrate such creativity in their chosen fields."
Today’s recipients include 34 Fellows and 58 Finalists. In FY22, Fellows receive a monetary award of $15,000, while Finalists receive $5,000. These unrestricted funds help support Massachusetts artists as they build their practice.
Fiscal Year 2022 represents the Agency’s largest investment in the Artist Fellowships Program over the program’s 47-year history.
Traditionally the Agency makes these awards in two separate cycles, covering six different artistic disciplines. In January, Mass Cultural Council celebrated 58 Massachusetts artists honored for their work in Choreography, Poetry, and Traditional Arts.
In total, Mass Cultural Council’s FY22 Artist Fellowship Program awarded a total of $1.3 million to 150 Massachusetts artists.
“One of my first challenges to the staff was to find a way to make more awards to creative individuals,” said Bobbitt. “I am so pleased Mass Cultural Council was able to prioritize this vision and double our investment in Artist Fellowships, and I hope we’ll continue to increase the support offered to Massachusetts artists moving forward.”
A complete funding list for the FY22 Artist Fellowship awards across the six disciplines of Drawing/Printmaking, Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, Painting, Choreography, Poetry, and Traditional Arts is online.
Artist Fellowship grant applications (in all disciplines except Traditional Arts) are anonymously judged by panelists and readers and are awarded solely on the artistic quality and creative ability of the work submitted. This grant round was highly competitive, with 1,414 applications (326 in Drawing/Printmaking, 606 in Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, and 482 in Painting) received.
The Artist Fellowship Program helps Mass Cultural Council achieve progress towards meeting a key tenet of its Strategic Plan, Growing the Economy, by supporting the economic health of communities through targeted investments in artists. Further, the Agency’s new Racial Equity Plan lays the foundation for Mass Cultural Council to invest financial, programmatic, and informational resources equitably across the cultural sector. Seventy-six (76) of today’s ninety-two (92) Fellows and Finalists, or 82.6% of the award recipients, are first-time Mass Cultural Council grantees.
To learn more about Mass Cultural Council’s Fellows and Finalists, visit the Agency’s online Gallery (please note that FY22 Fellows and Finalists will be added to the Gallery over the coming months), review our ever-growing list of Notable Fellows, and check the monthly ArtSake Fellows Notes blog post celebrating the honors, achievements, and news of these talented Massachusetts artists. |
|
沒有留言:
發佈留言