One of the nation’s leading arts organizations schedules residencies deferred from 2020 due to the pandemic.
MacDowell has scheduled residencies for 47 artists from 13 states and three countries that were originally awarded last spring just as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic was shutting down the U.S. The incoming Fellows reflect seven artistic disciplines and will arrive from locales such as Arkansas and Wisconsin, and from Montreal and Dubai. The Fellowships are for upcoming summer residencies.
Eighty-one percent of the upcoming artists-in-residence are first-time Fellowship awardees at MacDowell, where the mission is to identify and champion both emerging artists as well as provide ongoing support for established art makers.
Among this group of Fellows is jazz composer, Guggenheim Fellow, and multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich; writer and May Sarton Prize winner Dawn Lundy Martin; PEN O. Henry Award winner Kirstin Valdez Quade; American Academy in Berlin Prize winner Laura Schwendinger; award-winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Kingdon; Horton Foote Award winner and playwright James Anthony Tyler; interdisciplinary artist and Grolier Prize winner Jibade-Khalil Huffman; and Guggenheim Fellow and visual artist Angela Dufresne.
“The MacDowell community is thrilled to be able to finally offer residencies to this group of creative art makers,” said Executive Director Philip Himberg. “At a time when so many artists have faced closures, cancelled projects, postponed exhibitions, and a lack of quiet space in which to make their work, MacDowell is excited to be able to make good on our promise of welcoming creative risk-takers. We look forward with optimism toward a full opening of all studios later this year.”
These highly competitive fellowships, each with an average value of more than $13,000, were awarded from a pool of 1,196 applications received for last summer’s admissions period. A panel of distinguished professionals in each discipline selects Fellows based on their talent and vision, as evidenced by a work sample and project description. While at MacDowell, Fellows are provided a private studio and accommodations, and three meals a day.
According to discipline, incoming Fellows are:
- Architects: Sarah Aziz, Jessica Colangelo, Lisa Haber-Thomson, and Charles Sharpless.
- Composers: Ian Dicke, Marty Ehrlich, Samora Pinderhughes, and Laura Schwendinger.
- Filmmakers: Sarah Jenkins, Stanya Kahn, Lev Kalman, Jessica Kingdon, Young Joo Lee, Matthew Rankin, Amirah Tajdin, and Nathan Truesdell.
- Interdisciplinary Artists: Shimon Attie, Ashon Crawley, and Jibade-Khalil Huffman.
- Theatre Artists: Donna Oblongata, Lisa B. Thompson, and James Tyler.
- Visual Artists: Fanny Allié, Angela Dufresne, Kristen Emack, Mala Iqbal, Dustin Metz, Gina Ruggeri, and Wayne White.
- Writers and Poets: Yelena Akhtiorskaya, Nicholas Boggs, Rukmini Callimachi, Skye Cleary, Lydia Conklin, Leela Corman, Sharon Dolin, Tennessee Jones, Anjali Khosla, Christopher Kondrich, Dawn Lundy Martin, Kirstin Valdez Quade, David Schuman, Mosi Secret, Rone Shavers, Rachel Swarns, Rachael Warecki, and Jennifer Wortman.
Fellows make use of uninterrupted time to work and enjoy the rare opportunity for multidisciplinary exchange. Artists with demonstrated financial need are eligible for stipends to cover expenses that accrue at home while away at a residency. Travel grants are also available. MacDowell awards more than 300 fellowships each year. Find out about our the next application deadline.
By awarding these Fellowships, MacDowell continues its long-standing mission to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. It is a mission that has inspired important contributions to American and world culture for more than a century and has to date earned Fellows 93 Pulitzer Prizes as well as many other accolades.
