Wyoming Arts Council

Everything you need to apply for 2009 Wyoming Arts Council visual arts fellowships


In the spirit of the times, Wyomingarts is trying something a bit different. What follows is a long post featuring the WAC visual arts fellowship guidelines and application form. Paper copies will be mailed next week, and we’ll have a pdf version on the WAC web site at wyoartscouncil.wpengine.com. But we’ve been getting calls from visual artists eager to apply now. So, print out this post (approx. 10 pages) and submit using the application form. This is not an e-form.

Important tip: Before printing, click on the header “Apply now for WAC visual arts fellowships.” That takes the post to its own page and only the fellowship info will print (along with the listings on the right sidebar). Only Wyoming residents may apply (see guidelines).

Another idea: Cut and paste the application form into an MS Word document and print that out. You may have to do some reformatting.

Guidelines & Application for the 2009 Wyoming Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowships

The Wyoming Arts Council invites you to apply for its 2009 Visual Arts Fellowships, juried by Lawrence Argent, Gina Ruggeri and Greg Esser. This year, the WAC will award up to three fellowships of $3,000 each to honor the work of Wyoming visual artists that reflects serious and exceptional aesthetic investigation. Painters, sculptors, printmakers, potters, media artists, craftspeople, video, film and others (see guidelines) are invited to apply by submitting images of their work.

Postmark Deadline is March 6, 2009

Artist eligibility

The Wyoming Arts Council fellowship awards and associated programs are designed to nurture an appreciation for the visual arts in Wyoming to benefit the cultural lives of its residents.
You may enter this competition if you meet these requirements:
• You are not a full-time student pursuing high school, college, or university art-related degree.
• You are at least 18 years of age, have been domiciled within the state borders a total of 20 months in the previous 2 years since July 1, 2007, and are a U.S. citizen or have legal resident status (evidence of U.S. citizenship, resident status and state residency may be required).
• You must be registered with the Artist Image Registry (AIR). If you are not a member, please call for an application which can be submitted with the fellowship form. We will retain fellowship images for AIR first time applicants and for all AIR members who have not updated their images in the last 18 months. For a printable AIR form, go to wyoartscouncil.wpengine.com/IndArtist/AIR.asp
• You are not affiliated with the Wyoming Arts Council either as a board member or staff member, including their families, whether full-time, part-time or contractual. You are not an employee of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.
• To receive an award, you must remain a Wyoming resident until June 30, 2010, living within the borders of the state for at least ten months of the year.
• You must not have received a Wyoming Arts Council visual arts fellowship in the last four years, and no one may receive more than two fellowship awards.

Submitting your work

Submission Procedures:
• You may enter this competition, in one category, once only, by March 6, 2009.
• Send the required support materials of your work.
• Complete and enclose a signed entry form with a completed artistic statement, using only the space provided (you may use a photocopy) with your work.
• If you want the Arts Council to acknowledge receipt of your entry, enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard.
After you Submit Your Application:
• If you enclosed a self-addressed stamped postcard, the Council will acknowledge receipt of your work.
• Your name is not available to the jurors; all work is identified by number.
• Entrants not selected for fellowships will be notified in writing after May 1, 2009.
• The Arts Council will return all materials (unless retained for the AIR). Please provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope of appropriate size and postage with the entry. Entries may also be picked up at the Council offices after May 1, 2009.

Your questions answered

What is the Wyoming Arts Council?
Founded in 1967, the Wyoming Arts Council is a state agency which forges collaborations with artists, arts organizations and communities through grants, technical assistance and promotion.

Why does the Arts Council give visual art fellowship awards?
The visual art fellowship awards and associated programs are designed to nurture an appreciation for the visual arts in Wyoming in order to benefit the cultural lives of its residents.

How Are Fellows Selected?
Fellowships are awarded based on the artistic merit of work as demonstrated in the visual support material submitted.

How Many Fellowships are Awarded?
Each year the Wyoming Arts Council awards up to three $3,000 fellowships in the visual arts. In addition to the three recipients, each panel identifies two honorable mentions. The Council encourages artists to complete their applications accurately and carefully select their visual materials. Panelists may choose not to award the number of fellowships available.

How is My Work Reviewed?
Slide images are projected in twos in the sequence specified by the applicant. CD images will be viewed in sequence on a screen.

How are Panels Assembled?
Jurors are from out-of-state and are chosen to represent a wide range of stylistic and aesthetic concerns; a broad understanding of contemporary visual art; and ethnic, gender, and age diversity. Recommendations for jurors come from artists, curators, and former jurors. This year’s judging session will be held in Laramie prior to the UW Art Museum’s Public Art Symposium, April 2-4, 2009, at the UW Conference Center. Fellowship results will be announced there on April 4. The symposium also will feature sessions for individual artists. FMI: UW Art Museum, 307-766-6622.

The Jurors

Lawrence Argent:
Lawrence Argent was born in England and educated in sculpture at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, and has a MFA from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation; the Colo. Council on the Arts; the Core Fellowship at the Fine Arts Museum, Houston; and has been an artist in residence at the John Michael Kohler Foundation. He is Professor of Art at the University of Denver, and was awarded the Distinguished Scholar award in 2002. He has exhibited internationally and is working on public art projects around the U.S. His art encompasses a breadth of form and materials, enveloping each with a path of consciousness through which the physical promotes the non-physical and the sublime emerges as a vehicle laying a slippery foundation in the gap between stimulus and response. Web site: http://www.lawrenceargent.com/

Greg Esser: Greg Esser is an artist, advocate, and writer living in Phoenix, Arizona. He directed the public art program for the City of Phoenix from 1996 to 2004. In addition to serving as chair of the Public Art Interest Area and a co-founder of the Public Art Network, he served for two years as the Public Art Manager for Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading arts advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. He has developed numerous artist studio and exhibition spaces in downtown Phoenix including eye lounge gallery, 515 Arts, Sixth Street Studios and MADE Art Boutique. He is a founding member and the current chairman of the Evans Churchill Community Association and president of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation. Greg speaks internationally on public art and the role of artists in community revitalization. His writing has appeared in publications such as Art Papers, Public Art Review, Java Magazine, and Downtown Phoenix. His artwork is represented in public and private collections. He received a BFA in art and social change at Oberlin College and a MFA in intermedia at Arizona State University. Web site: http://gregesser.com/

Gina Ruggeri: Gina Ruggeri, Brooklyn, N.Y., is a painter and visiting professor in the Vassar College art department in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Va., the Kevin Bruk Gallery in Miami, Red Dot in New York City and the Tenri Biennale in Tenri, Japan. Her work has been in a number of group shows, most recently in “Hyper-Nature,” SPACES Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio; “The Outer Space,” curated by Pedro Barbeito, Pluto Gallery, Brooklyn, N.Y.; “Primary,” William Paterson University, Wayne, N.J.; “Running Around the Pool,” Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Fla.; “Paper Now,” I-Space, Chicago; “The Eclectic Eye,” Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans. She’s received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Jentel in Wyoming. Gina received her MFA at the Yale School of Art. She grew up in Milwaukee and got to know Wyoming on summer trips with her father, who performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival. Web site: http://www.ginaruggeri.com/

Fellowship judging will be anonymous. Decisions are based solely on the merit of the work submitted.

Submission Guidelines:

Submit all images comprising your entry in a single format (all slides, all digital or all video).

For submissions in the following categories:
Visual & Design Arts includes experimental (conceptual/new media), graphic (printmaking/book arts), painting, sculpture and installation.
Photography includes experimental, color, black and white, photocopy and computer.
Crafts include clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, plastic, wood, and mixed media.

Slide format:
• Only 35 mm slides suitable for carousel projection are accepted. Do not use masking tape or thick labels on your images.
• Submit 10 35-mm slides of 10 works completed in the past 4 years. You may choose the option of submitting 8 works plus 2 slides of detail, but may not exceed the maximum of 10 images.
• Slides must be placed, numbered in order 1-10, in a clear 9″ x 12″ plastic image sheet for safe handling.
• Label each slide with your name and the number of the image to correspond with the image list.
• Mark each slide with a red dot in the BOTTOM LEFT-HAND CORNER of the front. This helps identify Top, Bottom, Front or Back of the image, and allows the projectionist to assure that all images are correctly oriented for viewing.
• You should retain your original slides and send duplicates with your application. Every effort will be made to return slides; however, the Council cannot be responsible for any damage or loss that may occur during shipping.
• No video tapes will be accepted in lieu of slides for above categories, unless the work is an installation work or it includes movement or sound where a video would better interpret a complex work. Video tapes must be cued to a one-minute segment. Jurors are not required to view the entire segment. Your name must not be mentioned or visible in the viewed segment.

Digital format:
• Images accepted on CD must be readable on a PC
• Format: JPG or TIFF (RGB Color)
• Maximum size: 650 pixels (V), 865 pixels (H)
• Orientation: upright on monitor
• Include a printed list of the CD files and number them to correspond with the entry form. Include title of work, media, and dimensions. Include a reference sheet with thumbnail prints of the images on the CD. Beside each thumbnail, write the entry number as indicated on the CD list.
• Each image must be submitted as a separate file; no PowerPoint presentations
• Artist’s name must appear on face of disk in black permanent marker.
• Send CD in paper CD sleeve.
• CDs with an excess of 10 images will not be viewed.

For Media arts (includes film and video):
• Submit two separate works on 1/2″ VHS video cassette or DVD.
• Label the cassette/DVD with your name, title, date created, sound credits, and total length of work.
• You may recommend that jurors view segments (no longer than 1-3 minutes) that best represent your work. Indicate on the cassette label, clearly and concisely, sections you wish them to see. Jurors are not required to view the entire segment.

If you want to cut and paste the application form into an MS Word document, begin here.

2009 Visual Arts Fellowship application form

NAME_________________________________________
ADDRESS_______________________________________
CITY ________________ STATE ____ZIP_____________
LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS: House # ____Senate # ________
PHONE (DAY) ___________ (NIGHT) _________________
E-MAIL________________________________________
WEB SITE/BLOG_________________________________

□ My address on the mailing label was wrong.
□ Check here if you enclosed a self-addressed stamped postcard (optional) so we can acknowledge receipt of work.

Are you registered with Artist Image Registry?
□ Please register me for the Artist Image Registry. You must be registered for the AIR to apply for the Visual Arts Fellowships. Your images will be placed in the Council’s AIR file after the fellowship process. (Download the application on our website).
□ I am registered for the Artist Image Registry; I have not updated my images in the last 18 months, therefore I understand my images will be retained.
□ I am registered for the Artist Image Registry and have updated my images in the last 18 months. I have provided a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of my images.

Enclosure checklist
□ Current resume
□ Signed entry form
□ List of slides/videos/CD with title, size and media
□ Completed artistic statement
□ AIR application, if not a current member
□ Optional acknowledgement postcard
□ Return postage (or provisions for pick-up) for support materials

Please check one box in each category that best describes YOU AND YOUR WORK (some are pre-checked):
(This information is retained for reporting purposes to the National Endowment for the Arts.)
Legal Status: __X__ (01) Individual Institution: __X__ (01) Individual — Artist
What is your Primary Discipline:
____ (05) Visual Arts ____ (A) Experimental ____ (B) Graphic ____ (D) Painting___ (F) Sculpture
____ (06) Design Arts ____ (A) Architecture ____ (B) Fashion ____(C) Graphic ____(D) Industrial
____ (E) Interior ____ (F) Urban/Metropolitan ____ (G) Landscape architecture
____ (07) Crafts ____ (A) Clay ____ (B) Fiber ____ (C) Glass ____ (D) Leather ____ (E) Metal
____ (F) Paper ____ (G) Plastic ____ (H) Wood ____ (I) Mixed Media
____ (08) Photography
____ (09) Media Arts ____ (A) Film ____ (B) Audio ____ (C) Video
____ (11) Interdisciplinary ____ (12) Folk Arts ____ (14) Multi-Disciplinary ____ (15) Non-arts/Non-Humanities

What is your ethnic representation — check all that apply (this is for statistical use only):
____ (N) American Indian/Alaska Native ___ (A) Asian ____ (B) Black/African-American
____ (H) Hispanic/Latino ____ (W) White/Caucasian ____ (P) Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

Please check one box in each category that best describes work in this application (some are pre-checked):
Project Discipline:
___ (05) Visual Arts ___ (A) Experimental ___ (B) Graphic ___ (D) Painting ___ (F) Sculpture
___ (06) Design Arts ___ (A) Architecture ___ (B) Fashion ___(C) Graphic ___(D) Industrial
___ (E) Interior ___ (F) Urban/Metropolitan ___ (G) Landscape architecture
___(07) Crafts ___(A) Clay ___(B) Fiber ___(C) Glass ___(D) Leather ___(E) Metal
___ (F) Paper ___ (G) Plastic ___ (H) Wood ___ (I) Mixed Media
___ (08) Photography
___ (09) Media Arts ___ (A) Film ___ (B) Audio ___(C) Video
___ (11) Interdisciplinary ___ (12) Folk Arts ___ (14) Multi-Disciplinary
___ (15) Non-arts/Non-Humanities

Project Type of Activity: International Activity:
___X__ (03) Award/Fellowships ____ Yes __X__ No
What is the project race (emphasizes traditions and cultures of one particular race) of this project:
____ (N) American Indian/Alaska Native ___ (A) Asian ____ (B) Black/African-American
____ (H) Hispanic/Latino ____ (W) White/Caucasian ____ (P) Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

All applicants must sign and submit this statement:
I certify that I have been a legal resident of Wyoming for 2 years, since July 1, 2007, and that I am not a full-time student pursuing high school, college or university art-related degrees. In order to receive this award, I understand I must remain a Wyoming resident until June 30, 2010, and live within the state’s borders for at least ten months a year. If I am no longer residing in Wyoming in 2010, I will forfeit participation in the Biennial Exhibition.

Signature________________________________
Date ___________________________________

End of application form

Required attachments:

List of images: Each applicant must submit a list of slides or digital images. Please list, on a separate sheet, the following information on the ten images you submit with your applications:
1. Title of Work
2. Medium
3. Year completed
4. Dimensions

Artistic statement: On a separate sheet, using 100 words or less, please provide us with a brief artistic statement on what your goals are and what you hope to accomplish artistically with the work you have submitted for judging. Did you achieve the desired effect, etc.? You may type or write on the space provided, or you may attach a separate sheet.

Materials included with application:
□ Video Tape (1/2″ VHS), DVD (title, date created, total length of work). Please also label video tape with your name.
□ 35 mm slides (Please list the slides)
□ CD (Please list all images)

Materials return:
□ I have included a mailing package with sufficient postage for return of materials.
□ I will pick up my support materials at the Council office after May 1, 2009, or I will make other arrangements by contacting the WAC at 777-7742.

Slide format: The importance of top quality slides cannot be over-emphasized. Each slide must be labeled with your name, a corresponding checklist number, and a red dot in the lower left corner. Do not submit glass mounted slides.

CD format: The importance of top quality CD images cannot be over-emphasized. Each CD image must correspond numerically. Attach a reference sheet with thumbnail prints of the images on the CD with the entry number.

Postmark deadline is March 6, 2009

Send required support materials (and provision for their return, if necessary), including a current resume (for promotional use only; resume will not be reviewed by the jurors), one application form (a photocopy of this form is acceptable), plus a stamped, self-addressed postcard (if acknowledgement is desired) by March 6, 2009 to:

Wyoming Arts Council
Attn: 2009 Visual Arts Fellowships
2320 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002

For more information, contact:
Michael Shay, Wyoming Arts Council
Office: (307) 777-5234; TDD: (307) 777-5964
E-mail: mshay@state.wy.us Web: wyoartscouncil.wpengine.com


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