2015 Windgate Fellows announced by The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design
April 28, 2015
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10th anniversary of program marks $1.5M awarded to 100 emerging artists nationwide
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This year, The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD) celebrates the 10th Anniversary of its Windgate Fellowship Award, marking $1.5 million awarded to 100 emerging craft artists nationwide. Nominated from a national network of over 120 university art programs, these 100 makers represent a bright, talented, and motivated next generation for craft.
Each year, the Fellowship identifies ten graduating college seniors with exemplary skill in craft. Awardees receive $15,000 – one of the largest awards offered nationally to art students.
“The ongoing support of the Windgate Charitable Foundation has allowed us to provide resources to these impressionable artists at a critical time when both the financial award and recognition provide the greatest impact,” says Stephanie Moore, Executive Director of CCCD. “The award has also allowed us to track trends such as the adoption of craft into the world of fine art and craft’s influences in design practices.”
The results of such early support are already beginning to emerge. Today, Windgate Fellows hold full time faculty positions, are accepted into nationally renowned residence programs, mount solo shows, and establish successful studios. Over half have gone on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree. Their work can been seen in nationally traveling exhibitions, represented in galleries, and published in periodicals such as American Craft. Supporting the next generation is one of CCCD’s main focus areas identified to build a thriving national craft field.
To celebrate these achievements CCCD expanded the Windgate Fellowship program to include three $10,000 project grants awarded to previous Windgate Fellows. Fifty Fellows from the first five years of the program were invited to submit applications for projects to be completed and presented at CCCD this Fall in Asheville, NC.
Four panelists reviewed a national pool of 115 Windgate Fellowship applicants and 19 Windgate Project Award applicants on the basis of artistic merit and the potential of each applicant to make significant contributions to the field of craft.
The 2015 selection panel included: Stefano Catalani, Director of Art, Craft, & Design for the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington; Shannon Stratton, William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator for The Museum of Arts and Design in New York City; Damian Skinner, Curator of Applied Arts and Design for The Auckland Museum in Auckland, New Zealand; and Josh Copus, Founder of Clayspace Co-op and 2006 Windgate Fellow living and working in Asheville, North Carolina.
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THE 2015 WINDGATE FELLOWS:
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THE 2015 WINDGATE FELLOWSHIP PROJECT GRANT RECIPIENTS:
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For a list of current and previous awardees, please visit www.craftcreativitydesign.org/grants/windgate-fellowship.
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