Twelve Utah performing and visual artists have received $5,000 fellowships to support their professional careers. The Utah Artist Fellowship, a program of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, provides unrestricted cash awards based on review by prominent arts professionals outside of Utah, and are designed to recognize individual artistic excellence.
Victoria Panella Bourns, director of Utah Arts & Museums, said the agency is honored to have the opportunity to recognize the skills, experience, and creativity of these Utah artists. “I am so impressed by the contributions made by this year’s fellowship winners,” Bourns said.
The Performing Arts Fellowship recipients are: Penelope Caywood (Salt Lake City), Shenelle Salcido (Salt Lake City), Camille Washington (Ogden), Mitsu Salmon (Salt Lake City), Kelsie Jepsen (Salt Lake City), and Teresa Sanderson (Layton).
The Visual Arts fellows are: Anna Evans (Helper), Katherine Poleviyaoma (Kearns), Jorge Rojas (Salt Lake City), Carol Sogard (Salt Lake City), Fazilat Soukhakian (Bountiful), and Kalani Tonga (Midvale).
Visual Arts Fellowship juror Allison Glenn, a New York-based curator and writer, said she was grateful to have the opportunity to spend time considering the extremely talented practices of artists working in the Mountain West region.
“Through the jurying process, multiple themes began to emerge that I relied upon as cornerstones, or guideposts, toward my understanding of the key issues, concerns, and areas of interest for this region of the country,” Glenn said.
Kevin R. Free, a New York-based multidisciplinary artist who works as an actor, writer, director, and producer, was this year’s Performing Arts Fellowship juror. Free said the common thread of each application was community — creating it, supporting it, and sustaining it.
”After learning about an artist, I would find that that same artist had written a letter of recommendation for another artist who had applied for the fellowship,” Free said. “I was most impressed by this, as community is what I have sought to create in New York City, where there seem to be so many of us competing for the same very small piece of the pie. I found myself wanting to see shows at many of the places about which I learned.”
The Performing Arts and Visual Arts Fellowship programs are offered by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, within the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement. More information is available at artsandmuseums.utah.gov.