Brief History of the Artist Fellowships - Massachusetts Cultural Council

"I used the money for supplies to expand the figure drawing series for which I received the award." - Anthony W. Lanier (Drawing & Printmaking Fellow '02). Image: AT THE POST (1999), graphite, 16x19 in

After his award, Barry Goldstein (Photography Fellow '07) traveled to Iraq as an embedded photographer with an infantry battalion. He used a portion of his grant to purchase body armor.

"The award allowed me to be in the studio full time which gave me the opportunity explore the structures I had been building more thoroughly." - Angela Zammarelli (Sculpture/Installation/New Genres Fellow '11). Image: ALL THE TRAPPINGS: THE BEST LAID PLANS (2011)

"It had a huge positive impact... it helped me fund the costs of research, travel and photography for my first book, Art from Intuition, now in its 7th printing. My second book, Creating Abstract Art, came out in October of 2014." - Dean Nimmer (Drawing Fellow '96, '00)

"Receiving a Mass Artist Fellowship - twice - was a major reason I made my home in Massachusetts. I wanted to be in a state that supports artists not only through project grants (which I also received and appreciated), but as fellows, respected artist-members of the community." - Deborah Henson-Conant (Music Composition Fellow '84, '87). Photo by Jake Jacobson

Maxine Yalovitz-Blankenship (Drawing Fellow, Painting Finalist '83) had recently moved to Waban from New York, and "The awards gave a vote of confidence and a boost to my career... starting over in a new environment." After that, she received prestiguious Fellowships from Radcliffe Institute and Guggenheim Foundation.

"The time afforded by the grant (grant money = childcare) allowed me to continue revisions on a short story that later appeared in Best American Short Stories 2014. I was also able to make crucial early progress on a novel, which is now under contract with a publisher." - Brendan Mathews (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '12)

"After applying and coming close for many years, I felt a level of endorsement that has served me in future dance-making." - Dawn Lane (Choreography Fellow '10). The award went toward a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The picutre is from the resulting production, ONE POTATO TWO POTATO.

Carrie Gustafson (Crafts Fellow '11) used her grant to purchase new materials and tools, and the funds also helped cover the costs of an artist’s residency. Carrie would go on to be featured in the Smithsonian Craft Show and on the program "This Old House." Images: (left) NEST (2008), glass, 5x8.5 in; (right) Carrie on "This Old House"

"I went around the country turning major, iconic structures into temporary sundials. Either getting permission or not, I would lay out Roman numerals so that the structure's shadow would tell the time." - Mark Favermann (Sculpture Finalist '77), on the type of work he was creating when he won his award. Image: Saint Louis Arch as a Sundial (1975)

The award helped Joy Ladin (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Finalist '12) complete her poetry collection IMPERSONATION. In 2016, she was awarded a prestigiuos $25,000 NEA Creative Writing Fellowship.

"When I first learned I had received the award, I was on location at the Dead Sea in Israel photographing the bathers, who travel to the region for health treatments. These photographswere part of a solo exhibition at the B'nai Brith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C." - Leslie Starobin (Photography Fellow '95). Image: SULPHUR BATHER from THE DEAD SEA: MIRROR OF TIME series (1992-2002)

"Enabled me to complete a new series of gouache paintings for an exhibition, and gave me a new understanding of permanence and the function of art within a community." - Carleen Sheehan (Painting Fellow '04). Image: CASBAH, gouache and mixed media, 10x8 in

Kate Leary (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '14) used her grant to pay for childcare so she could redouble efforts on her novel - which then garnered a Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant.

"Allowed me the funds to study Meso-American art in Guatemala and Mexico, and I have been making my own art about the current Guatemala every since." - Laura Blacklow (Photography Fellow ’78). Image: MOPS AGAINST RED WALL, SANTIAGO ATITLAN, GUATAMALA

"The works I developed (due to the fellowship) helped me win a grant at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and afterwards a Fulbright Grant to Italy." - Alston Conley (Painting Fellow ’78). Image: WE WISH TO CREATE WORLDS ANEW (1978), acrylic plaster collage

Eric Hofbauer (Music Composition Fellow '09) called his fellowship his "jazz bailout." Financial pressures during the recession threatened his various music projects, but the grant helped keep them alive. Image: (left) Eric Hofbauer, photo by Angela Rowlings, (right) cover art for the CD AMERICAN FEAR! (Creative Nation 2010)

"(The fellowship) confirmed that I was part of a larger community of painters." - Jo Ann Rothschild (Painting Fellow '98). Image: IN MEMORY OF EDWIN A. ROTHSCHILD (1995) mixed media on canvas, 92x134 in

"It helped tremendously with the budget of each film and provided additional support in my academic career." - Abraham Ravett (Film & Video Fellow '82, '01, '09). Image: still from TZIPORAH (2007)

"Simply to make art and to buy my first computer." – Howard Johnson (Drawing & Printmaking Fellow '98, '02), on how he used the grant. Image: DIRTY LIGHT/SAD RE-MEMBRANENCE (2000) mixed media on mylar

"Boosted my confidence in my work. Convinced me to continue sending out my novel - which got published." (Sally Bellerose (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Finalist '04)

"After I was a finalist in photography in 1986, I was chosen as one of the 'Top Ten New Photographers' by Maine Photographic Workshop." - Marky Kauffmann (Photography Finalist 86, 88) Image: WHITE SHEETS, from the FEMINIST SELF-PORTRAITS series

"Encouraged me to keep writing which I still am." - David J. Mauriello (Dramatic Writing Fellow '85). The fellowship led to a stageplay version of his screenplay FIREFLIES, produced at Players' Ring in Portsmouth.

"Helped me to publish my first two books, 'Recycled Realities' and 'Timeline/Learning to See with My Eyes Closed.'" - Tom Young (Photography Fellow '81, '86, '95, '99, '07). Image: HISTORY LESSON (2008)

"The awards provided both money and validation that have helped to sustain me in my installation work over the years." - Beth Galston (Sculpture/Installation/New Genres Fellow '84, '13). Image: LUMINOUS GARDEN (AERIAL) DETAIL (2009), Urethane resin, LEDs, wire, electronics, 9x12x12 ft

"It was a psychological boost to keep writing and performing, knowing there was value to it." - Glenn Dickson (Music Comp. Fellow '97). Image: cover art for NAFTULES DREAM by Shirim Klezmer Orchestra (left), led by Glenn Dickson (right)

"It invited people to look more closely at my work." - Deborah Kamy (Hull) (Painting Fellow '80). Image: TONGUE AND GROOVE (1980), oil paint, enamel on masonite

"I feel so grateful for having been given such a wonderful gift of time and space." - Angela Zammarelli (Sculpture/Installation/New Genres Fellow '11). Image: interior of ALL THE TRAPPINGS: THE BEST LAID PLANS (2011)

Sarah Wentworth (Sculpture/Installation/New Genres Finalist '11) used her funds to offset expenses for an exhibition connected to the award. Image: COMPLETE HISTORY OF ART (ABRIDGED) (2007), mixed media, 8ftx16ftx6in

Roy DiTosti (Photography Fellow '95) purchased a new camera with his award, and said that more presenters were willing to review his project, PERSONAL EFFECTS. Image: CESNA 140

"I used the majority of the money to help build my studio!" - Marc Mannheimer (Painting Fellow '77, Finalist in multiple categories). Image: HIPPO BITES PHONE (1977), acrylic on three shaped (open framed) canvases,5x7 ft

"Most of the money was used to travel to festivals and performance opportunities. I know I could have used it to pay off credit card bills, but where's the fun in that?" - James Morrow (Choreography Fellow '14)

For John Stuart Walsh (Drawing & Printmaking Fellow '86), recognition was empowering. Image: BATHERS

"The MCC Artist Fellowship was a huge boost to my confidence; just how much that meant cannot be underestimated." - Brendan Mathews (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '12). Image: Keith Negley, portrait of lion tamer, made in response to a story by Brendan Mathews

Why fund artists? See why in this gallery featuring the work and personal stories of some of the artists Massachusetts has supported since 1975.

For more stories, watch the 40 Years of Fellowships videos on Mass Cultural Council’s YouTube Channel.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded its first group of Artist Fellowships in fiscal year 1975. The fellowships were awarded to individual artists in recognition of artistic excellence, and the program was founded by the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities (the predecessor to Mass Cultural Council).

Today, that program is still alive and strong.

A rough timeline since 1975

From 1975 to 1991, the program was funded by the Mass. Council on the Arts and Humanities, but administered by the Artists Foundation, a non-profit organization that supported individual artists.
During budget deliberations between the Governor and House in 1990, a compromise was worked out to merge the Mass. Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Mass. Arts Lottery Council (an organization that provided grassroots cultural support to local communities, similar to today’s Local Cultural Council Program) into one agency, Mass Cultural Council. Budget cuts continued in 1991 and 1992 (state arts funding went from more than $27 million at its peak to just $3.587 million in 1992). These budget cuts forced the agency to end its partnership with the Artists Foundation and to put the fellowships on hiatus during the 1992 and 1993 fiscal years.
In 1994, the Council reinstated the fellowships, though with reduced grant amounts ($5000 in 1994), in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, music composition, and choreography. Mass Cultural Council funded fellowships for the visual arts disciplines (crafts, drawing/printmaking/artist books, painting, photography, and sculpture) through the New England Foundation for the Arts Regional Fellowship Program (administered by NEFA) until 1998. Mass Cultural Council funded film & video fellowships through the Boston Film/Video Foundation.
Eventually, all fellowship disciplines would be administered in-house: visual arts disciplines were administered by Mass Cultural Council as of 1999 and film & video as of 2003.
From 2003 onward, all Artist Fellows and Finalists were featured on the Mass Cultural Council Gallery.
In 2015, Mass Cultural Council celebrated 40 Years of Fellowships.

Details of the Award
The fellowships are unrestricted, meaning artists can use them anyway they choose. The grants are not project-based, but rather awards to recognize and support individual excellence. The funding criteria is “creative ability and artist quality” based on the work submitted, and all applicants must be Massachusetts residents. The grant amount has ranged from it’s lowest at $3000 (in 1976) to its highest at $12,500 (in 2000). Amounts in other years have ranged (depending on available funds) from $5000 to $7500 to $10,000. Finalist awards have ranged from non-monetary to $500 or $1000.

By the end of 2015, over $12 million will have been awarded to Massachusetts individual artists through the fellowships.

Disciplines
Some discipline categories have remained the same since 1975 (like Crafts and Music Composition), and some have been adjusted (for instance, Playwriting became Dramatic Writing, and the discipline currently named Drawing & Printmaking has been called Drawing or Drawing/Printmaking/Artist Books at various times). Some categories, like Traditional Arts, emerged later (1988), and some, like Design & the Built Environment (1986-1990) and Interarts/New Genres (1983-1991), came and went. See a current list of Artist Fellowships disciplines.

Impact of the Awards
We explore the impact of the awards in our Fellows Notes feature, which details the current accomplishments of past Fellows and Finalists. Past Fellows have won prestigious awards from the Guggenheim, MacArthur, and Pulitzer foundations. They have been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Book Awards, the Sundance Film Festival, the Whitney Biennial, the Smithsonian Institution, TED, and the Academy Awards. They’ve been U.S. Poet Laureates, they’ve been Oprah’s Book Club Picks, they’ve been on PBS, HBO, in Time Magazine and Off-Broadway, they’ve been in galleries, stages, institutions, and publications throughout the Commonwealth, the U.S., and the world.

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