MCC’s Artist Fellowships recognize the unique contribution made by artists to the cultural vitality of the Commonwealth. The fellowships provide direct assistance to Massachusetts artists to recognize excellence and creative ability, and to support further development of their talents. MCC chronicles the impact of these awards in the Fellows Notes section of its blog ArtSake.

“Artists are the backbone of Massachusetts’ creative economy,” said MCC Executive Director Anita Walker. “These fellowships give talented individuals the freedom to develop work that will be shown, sold and performed all over the world.”

• Crafts Fellowships include Brookline’s Janet Echelman, who creates large-scale nylon and steel public works that allow wind to be seen by the human eye; and Elizabeth Whyte Schulze of Worthington, whose contemporary baskets made of organic materials are currently on display at Cambridge’s Mobilia Gallery in the exhibition Cut the Edge, Weave the Line: Textile Arts 2009.
• Honored filmmakers include Alla Kovgan of Somerville, whose film Nora (co-directed with David Hinton) has won 13 awards over the last 6 months; and finalist Lisa Olivieri of Watertown, whose film Helen Keller Had It Easy is about an artist with Usher’s Syndrome, a condition that is gradually causing her to go deaf and blind.
• In Music Composition, David Fiuczynski, nicknamed “Fuze,” of Newton, composes fascinating works of jazz fusion; and finalist Koji Nakano of Boston creates unique compositions that merge Eastern and Western musical traditions.
• Photography Fellow Eirik Johnson of Boston, who photographs the natural world, recently published his second monograph, Sawdust Mountain.
• Playwriting Fellow Eric Henry Sanders of Northampton, whose play The Heliopause explores the 1994 atrocities in Rwanda, has had productions and staged readings of his work throughout the country and abroad.
• In Sculpture/Installation, Niho Kozuru of Boston creates large columns and objects made of translucent colored cast rubber and steel based on New England turned wood forms.

A full list of the selected artists, along with digital images, writing samples and video clips of their work, is available online at the Gallery@MCC at www.massculturalcouncil.org/gallery.asp.

Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown will host an exhibition of this year’s Photography fellows and finalists from January 14 – February 27, 2010.

The MCC Artist Fellowship Program awards grants in specific artistic disciplines on a biennial cycle. Applications are accepted from any artist who lives and works in Massachusetts. Next year, MCC will accept applications in painting, drawing choreography, drawing, painting, fiction/creative nonfiction, poetry and traditional arts. Awards are based on recommendations by independent panels of experts who practice in the disciplines they review.

About the Massachusetts Cultural Council
The Massachusetts Cultural Council promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities.

MCC is a state agency committed to building a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across the Commonwealth. It pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities and artists. MCC receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources.

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