Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Heinz Endowments is encouraging Pittsburgh artists to take advantange of its newish fellowship program to help locals get residencies at this famed international artists' community in New Hampshire.
The fellowship program funds two slots set aside for artists from Allegheny County or any of nine surrounding counties. Fellowships cover all residency costs for two artists of any discipline to work for up to two months at MacDowell, located on 450 acres in Peterborough, N.H.
"We believe that we need to do much more to recognize and support the region's artists," Janet Sarbaugh, the Endowments' arts-and-culture senior program director, in a statement.
MacDowell, meanwhile, is leveraging the Endowments' contribution to "raise awareness of residency opportunities," says MacDowell development officer John Martin, by phone from the Colony's offices in New York City.
The catch: You're eligible for a fellowship only if you've already been accepted at MacDowell.
That's a challenge, given that MacDowell hosts just 250 artists a year, and that over the years artist residents have included such big names as Aaron Copland, Glenn Ligon, Suzan-Lori Parks and a former University of Pittsburgh grad student named Michael Chabon.
Still, i the Heinz Endowment fellowship's first year, 2010-11, Pittsburgh MacDowellites included visual artist and Carnegie Mellon assistant art professor Kim Beck as well as poet Joy KMT, who'll be at MacDowell come September.
MacDowell provides residents with accommodations, meals and private studio space, along with the opportunity to share ideas with other artists visiting from all over the world.
Applications are encouraged in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video, interdisciplinary art, music composition, theater, visual art and literature.
The rolling deadlines are Sept. 15, Jan. 15 and April 15 of each year. "[T]he sole criterion for acceptance," says a MacDowell press release, "is talent."
For more information, see www.macdowellcolony.org/apply.
Tags: Program Notes