Welcome.
mnartists.org is pleased to announce the four artists selected to receive the 2010-11 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Photographers. This year’s fellows are Chuck Avery, Gina Dabrowski, Amy Eckert, and Karl Raschke, all of whom are based in the Twin Cities.
Designed to identify and support outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists, the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Photography program provides recipients with $25,000 stipends, public recognition, professional development opportunities, and a fellowship-culminating catalog and exhibition. The exhibition component for the 2010-11 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Photographers will be administered and presented by Midway Contemporary Art. The fellowships are funded by a generous grant from The McKnight Foundation and administered by mnartists.org.
2010-11 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Photographers recipients include:
Chuck Avery
Chuck Avery’s work investigates American mythologies as represented through tourist attractions, museums installations, and private collections. Avery is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and has shown his work internationally, including exhibitions in Ping Yao, China, New York City, San Francisco and recent solo shows at the Minnesota Center for Photography and the Phipps Center in Hudson, Wisconsin. He is also included in the collections of the Weisman Art Museum and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
Gina Dabrowski
Gina Dabrowski’s work examines the business of sanitary landfills in both the American Midwest and Mexico as a microcosm of broader social and political issues. Dabrowski received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography and Video from the California Institute of the Arts in 1991 and a Master of Arts degree in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester (NY) in 1995. Dabrowski has received numerous awards, including a 2000 McKnight Artists Fellowship for Photographers, a 2005 Jerome Foundation Travel grant, and a 2010 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. She has exhibited widely, recently with exhibitions at the Mpls Photo Center, University of Indiana, and Arlington Museum in Arlington Texas.
Amy Eckert
Amy Eckert’s ten year project, titled Manufacturing Home, explores both our personal definitions of home as well as those of the multi-billion dollar housing industry which aims to sell the idea of "home" back to us. Eckert received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Bard College in 2002 and has exhibited throughout the country, including shows at the center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado, Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburg, PA. Her work is included in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Karl Rascke
Karl Raschke's work delves into the legacy of his dad, former pro wrestler Baron von Raschke, through archive photos, personal travel journals, and date books as well as by documenting his father's appearances at wrestling conventions. Raschke received an Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1999. His work has been exhibited most recently at Minnesota Museum of American Art (St.Paul, MN), Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (Tehran, Iran), and Minnesota Center for Photography (Minneapolis, MN). Since 2003, Raschke has been part of the team behind Creative Electric Studios, a Northeast Minneapolis art and performance space.
The 2010 McKnight Photography fellows were chosen from a field of 130 applicants by a distinguished jury of national photographers and curators. This year’s panel included Los Angeles based artist Walead Beshty, Julian Cox, Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and Eva Respini, Associate Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
The McKnight Artist Fellowships were created in 1981 to help artists set aside time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; take advantage of opportunities; and work on new projects. McKnight contributes nearly $1 million per year to individual artists through the 12 fellowship programs. The Foundation delegates management of the fellowships to arts organizations that tailor programs to the unique challenges of different creative disciplines. Interested artists should contact the appropriate administering organization for further information about potential funding:
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION
The McKnight Foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for present and future generations through grant making, coalition-building and encouragement of strategic policy reform. Founded in 1953 and endowed by William and Maude McKnight, the Minnesota-based Foundation has assets of approximately $1.6 billion and granted about $93 million in 2007.
ABOUT MNARTISTS.ORG
Developed in 2001 as a partnership between the McKnight Foundation and the Walker Art Center, mnartists.org is an online database of Minnesota artists and organizations working in all disciplines. In addition to serving as a marketplace and a community hub, the site provides news and features about the local arts scene.
CONTACT
Scott Stulen, Project Director, mnartists.org
(612) 375-7616 | scott.stulen@walkerart.org