The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been supporting artists for over 40 years through the Artist Fellowships Program. To help illuminate why, Mass Cultural Council has asked past awardees going all the way back to 1975 to share their personal stories of receiving the state award for artistic excellence.
The following gallery compiles of some of those stories, which tell of much-needed funding to expand projects, take artistic chances, and create the time and space to grow into new directions. The reminiscences range from the ’70s through to recent years.
"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 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)
"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
"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
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"
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
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
"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
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.
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
"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
For John Stuart Walsh (Drawing & Printmaking Fellow '86), recognition was empowering. Image: BATHERS
"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.
"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
"Boosted my confidence in my work. Convinced me to continue sending out my novel - which got published." (Sally Bellerose (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Finalist '04)
"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.
"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)
"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
"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
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.
"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)
"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)
"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)
"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
"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)
"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
"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
"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)
"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)
If you’re a past awardee of the Artist Fellowships Program, please get in touch to let us know how the award impacted you.
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