Delaware’s Individual Artist Fellowships recognize artists for their outstanding quality of work and provide monetary awards. Individual Artist Fellows are publicly acknowledged and benefit from the additional exposure to their work. Fellows are required to showcase their work in a public exhibition or performance, so we’ve set up a special section on DelawareScene.com for you to experience their work.
This year, the Division received work samples from 121 Delaware choreographers, composers, musicians, writers, folk and visual artists were reviewed by out-of-state arts professionals, considering demonstrated creativity and skill in their art form. The 25 selected fellows reside throughout Delaware including Arden, Bear, Clayton, Dover, Lewes, Long Neck, Milton, Newark, Rehoboth Beach, Smyrna, and Wilmington.
Each year, the Biggs Museum of American Art, in partnership with the Delaware Division of the Arts, exhibits the work of Delaware’s Artist Fellows at the Award Winners exhibition.
Newark
Music: Composition
“I keep telling my students that there is no retirement date for composers. One of the joys of composing is the possibility of being able to work on our passion throughout our lifetimes.”
Bear
Jazz: Performance
“I started playing classical clarinet, but that passion quickly translated to jazz and improvisation. My philosophy is to be who I am and have the artistic ability to evolve and change.”
Lewes
Visual Arts: Painting
“I believe in the drama of simple design, eliminating the clutter of everyday life, stripping away the unnecessary to get to the essence.”
Wilmington
Folk Art: Visual Arts
“In art, it is about the force within you that enables you to catch the viewer’s eye.”
Newark
Literature: Fiction
“It is not really possible for me to fully explain how this idea came to me, except to say that it felt as though Susanna took me by the shoulders and said, ‘Listen and learn.’”
Wilmington
Music: Solo Recital
“I get inspired by my fellow musicians. These days, getting new ideas and learning from the greatest performers is only a click away!”
Arden
Visual Arts: Crafts
“I love great tools. Tools that are well-designed and do what they are supposed to do.”
Rehoboth Beach
Visual Arts: Works on Paper
“I believe that what we create should come equally from our heart and minds. With heart and passion, the art comes alive.”
Long Neck
Visual Arts: Sculpture
“Painting or sculpture? I’m not overly concerned on how to categorize, only to be appreciated.”
Wilmington
Literature: Playwriting
“I live for the collaborative spirit of the theater . . . where individuals come together to explore ideas and exercise their imaginations.”
Smryna
Dance: Choreography
“There are environmental processes and scientific information that I want to convey, [and] I want people to be inspired by the hope in the dance.”
Wilmington
Literature: Poetry
“Poetry has given me a refuge within myself – and a way to appreciate what is simple and what confounds.”
Milton
Literature: Creative Nonfiction
“My work is anchored in the belief that healing can take place in the interactive space between the reader and the writer.”
Wilmington
Folk Art: Music
“Music can be used like fire – to cook food or burn a house down.”
Wilmington
Visual Arts: Photography
“I took a photography class at state 4-H camp. The instant the image came up in the developer, I was hooked!”
Wilmington
Literature: Fiction
“I am endlessly grateful for the influence books have had on my life. They are my truest friend and my greatest love.”
Clayton
Visual Arts: Crafts
“I need to know as many materials and processes as I can. I may not use them all, but when I learn them, I have them. It’s my personal currency.”
Lewes
Visual Arts: Works on Paper
“My philosophy of artmaking is simple: Work makes work. The more you engage in artmaking, the more art there is to make. Every day I see the potential for another image.”
Newark
Visual Arts: Painting
“I have to be true to myself and not be swayed. Taking an abstract idea and transposing that into something tangible is the most challenging part of my work.”
Wilmington
Visual Arts: Photography
“I read a lot, and [then] I go into the world and make pictures with as few notions as I can.”
Milton
Literature: Creative Nonfiction
“The book will explore the richness…of human circumstances. People are surprised by the stories I have witnessed of poverty, death, wealth, birth, love, and hatred.”
Bear
Jazz: Composition
“Music lifts the heart, soul, and spirit of people, and I am honored to be a vessel in which this gift is carried.”
Rehoboth Beach
Literature: Poetry
“The pleasure of creating is with me decades later. Constructing the poem engages my imagination and my senses. There’s sorcery in making something out of nothing.”
Dover
Folk Art: Visual Arts
“One day, when I went downtown to SoHo and saw the excitement and the colorful people selling art on the street, I knew that I would be an artist.”
Wilmington
Literature: Playwriting
“I devoured and savored words — written, spoken, sung — since I could remember. Writing chose me, long before I knew a black girl could be a writer.”
The Division offers fellowships in the artistic disciplines of choreography, folk art, jazz, literature, media arts, music, and visual arts. Artists’ work samples are reviewed by nationally recognized out-of-state arts professionals, considering both demonstrated creativity and skill in the art form.
The awards—$3,000 for Emerging Artists, $6,000 for Established Professionals, and $10,000 for Masters—allow artists to pursue advanced training, purchase equipment and materials, or fulfill
other needs that will help advance their careers.
The highest honor—the Masters Fellow—is reserved for those who meet rigorous criteria. Only one Masters Fellow can be awarded each year. Disciplines rotate every three years.
During the fellowship year, recipients are required to showcase their work in a public exhibit or performance in Delaware
For more details about the Individual Artist Fellowship program, please visit our Grants for Artists page.
Fellowship Home
Related Topics: 2021 Artist Fellows, artists, delaware division of the arts, grants, individual artist fellowship, literary arts, music, performing arts, visual arts
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