IACA Announces 2020 Artist Fellowship Award Recipients

The Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) is honored to announce the 2020 Artist Fellowship Award (AFA) recipients. The IACA AFAs are $15,000 awards to Illinois artists in recognition of their outstanding work and commitment within the arts. This year 17 Illinois artists will receive Fellowships totaling $255,000. Finalist Awards of $1,500 were also awarded to 18 Illinois artists for a total of $27,000. The Finalist Award category recognizes and encourages additional applicants who demonstrate considerable talent.

The Artist Fellowship Program offered funding in 6 artistic disciplines. This year's Fellowship and Finalist Award recipients were selected from 356 Illinois based creative artists working in the disciplines of Ethnic and Folk Arts, Crafts, Interdisciplinary/Computer-Based Arts, and Visual Arts which includes Visual-Based Arts (Installation, Mixed Media, Painting, Graphic & Drawing), Photography, and Sculpture.

The Council is proud to be able to award Illinois artists with the unrestricted awards that will support their creative endeavors and artistic growth. The mission of the Illinois Arts Council Agency is "To build a strong, creative, and connected Illinois through the arts." The Agency recognizes that Illinois' artists are an essential component of the social fabric of the state and its arts community especially during these challenging times. The Artist Fellowship Awardees and Finalist range in age from their 30s through their 70s, hail from 11 different communities across the state including urban, suburban, and rural communities. They represent communities from as far north as Chicago, as far southwest as Murphysboro, as far southeast as Charleston and as well as the heart of Illinois, Bloomington/Normal.

Following are the Fiscal Year 2020 Artist Fellowship and Finalist Award recipients listed by discipline.

ETHNIC AND FOLK ARTS

Juan Dies
Chicago
$15,000

Tatsuyuki Aoki
Oak Park
$15,000

Vanitha Veeravalli
Naperville
$ 1,500

Pranita Nayar
Chicago
$ 1,500

Shoba Natarajan
Naperville
$ 1,500

CRAFTS

Janis Mar Wunderlich
Monmouth
$15,000

Melissa Leandro
Chicago
$15,000

Pattie Chalmers
Carbondale
$ 1,500

Sharon Bladholm
Chicago
$ 1,500

INTERDISCIPLINARY/COMPUTER-BASED ARTS

StevenCiampaglia
Oak Park
$15,000

Lional Freeman
Chicago
$15,000

Jay Alan Yim
Chicago
$ 1,500

Kristin Carlson
Bloomington
$ 1,500

VISUAL-BASED ARTS
(INSTALLATION, MIXED MEDIA, PAINTING, DRAWING, & Graphic)

Amanda Williams
Chicago
$15,000

William O'Brien
Chicago
$15,000

Assaf Evron
Chicago
$15,000

Conrad Bakker
Urbana
$15,000

Allison Lacher
Springfield
$15,000

Claire Ashley
Oak Park
$ 1,500

Aram Han Sifuentes
Chicago
$ 1,500

Huong Ngo
Chicago
$ 1,500

Marc Fischer
Chicago
$ 1,500

VISUAL-BASED ARTS (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Noritaka Minami
Chicago
$15,000

Alice Hargrave
Chicago
$15,000

Jason Reblando
Normal
$15,000

Gonzalo Reyes
Chicago
$ 1,500

Laura Letinsky
Chicago
$ 1,500

Patty Carroll
Chicago
$ 1,500

VISUAL-BASED ARTS (SCULPTURE)

Chris Bradley
Chicago
$15,000

Heather Mekkelson
Chicago
$15,000

Matthew Boonstra
Charleston
$15,000

Stephen Reber
Chicago
$ 1,500

John Medwedeff
Murphysboro
$ 1,500

Wen Liu
Chicago
$ 1,500

Rodrigo Lara Zendejas
Chicago
$ 1.500

The following jurors reviewed this year's applications in the disciplines of:

CRAFTS: Dave Blevins, Versailles, KY; Mollie Flanagan, Falls, RI; Cynthia Myron, Henrico, VA; Lilli Tichinin, Santa Fe, NM

ETHNIC AND FOLK ARTS: Susan Eleuterio, Highland, IN; John Fenn, Washington DC; Veronica O'Hern, Des Moines, IA

INTERDISCIPLINARY/COMPUTER-BASED ARTS ARTIST: Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, Brooklyn, NY; Karin Hodgin Jones, Champaign, IL; Sarah Lewison, Carbondale, IL; Judd Morrissey, Chicago, IL

VISUAL-BASED ARTS (PHOTOGRAPHY): Paul D'Amato, Chicago, IL; Rachel Fein-Smolinski, Champaign, IL; Beate Geissler, Chicago, IL; Simone Levine, Chicago, IL

VISUAL-BASED ARTS (SCULPTURE): Juan Angel Chavez, Chicago, IL; Danielle Bursk, Trenton, NJ; Linda Norbut Suits, Springfield, IL; Michael Rea, DeKalb, IL

VISUAL-BASED ARTS (INSTALLATION, MIXED MEDIA, PAINTING, GRAPHIC & DRAWING): Erin Buczynski, Mapleton, IL; Betsy Dollar, Springfield, IL; Karsten Lund, Chicago, IL; Daniel Schulman, Chicago, IL

The intent of the Artist Fellowship Program is to enrich and strengthen the state of Illinois by supporting accomplished Illinois artists who are the foundation of Illinois' creative environment. The Artist Fellowship Program recognizes exceptional artists who have created a substantial body of work throughout their career by providing awards to support continued artistic growth. The awards are non-matching Fellowships in unrestricted fixed amounts of $15,000.

To learn more about the Artist Fellowship Awards visit: http://www.arts.illinois.gov/AFA-Program

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