NYFA Announces Recipients and Finalists for 2016 Artists’ Fellowship Program

$647,000 Awarded To 98 New York State Artists

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced the recipients and finalists of its Artists’ Fellowship Program. The organization has awarded a total of $647,000 to 98 artists (including five collaborations) throughout New York State in the following disciplines: architecture/environmental structures/design, choreography, music/sound, photography, playwriting/screenwriting. Fifteen finalists (three per discipline), who do not receive a cash award, but benefit from a range of other NYFA services, were also announced. A complete list of the Fellows and finalists follows. The Artists’ Fellowship Program is administered by NYFA with leadership support from the New York State Council on the Arts. 

The Artists’ Fellowship Program makes unrestricted cash grants of $7,000 to artists working in 15 disciplines, awarding five per year on a triennial basis. The program is highly competitive and this year’s recipients and finalists were selected by discipline-specific peer panels from an applicant pool of 2,669. Since it was launched in 1985, the program has awarded over $31 million to more than 4,400 artists.

“This year’s Fellows range from 26 to 80 years in age, reflecting NYFA’s endeavor to support artists during all walks of life and encourage them in their creative careers to concentrate on what they do best: create art and inspire all of us in the process,” said NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce, “We are grateful for the leadership support of the New York State Council on the Arts and our other funders, which enables us to continuously contribute to the thriving New York State arts scene by supporting its most essential member, the artist.”

Marie Poncé was awarded a Fellowship in Choreography and she expressed that it “turns limits into opportunities” and expands her “credibility as a Native American female artist who excels in a male dominated dance form (American Indian Hoop)”. Poncé continued to say that, “through my art I am looking forward to empowering Tainos, North Carolina Cherokees and many other Native Americans, who are fighting for cultural expression and self-identification.”

Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting Carolyn E. Kourofsky from Monroe County shared that “the Fellowship will allow me to, almost literally, buy time.” She explained how “much of my writing time is devoted to business-related work for clients, with creative work too often being squeezed out,” and enthusiastically added that “because of the Fellowship I can afford to direct my time and energy to finishing the rewrites on my play Misdirection by this fall.”

FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS AND FINALISTS BY DISCIPLINE AND COUNTY OF RESIDENCE:

ARCHITECTURE / ENVIRONMENTAL STRUCTURES / DESIGN
Ian Gerson (Queens)***
Shandor Hassan (Kings)
Ekene Ijeoma (Kings)
Jonathan Mildenberg (New York)
Sarah Oppenheimer (New York)
Aviva Rahmani (New York)
Gary Sczerbaniewicz (Erie)
Jill Sigman (New York)
Traci Talasco (Kings)
Ife Vanable (Bronx)
Lydia Xynogala (New York)
eteam (Hajoe Moderegger / Franziska Lamprecht) (Queens)*

Finalists
Charles Goldman (Kings)
Coralina Meyer (New York)
Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong (New York)

Architecture / Environmental Structures / Design Panelists
Marsha Ginsberg (New York)
DeWitt Godfrey (Madison)
Wennie Huang (Kings)
Alois Kronschlaeger (Kings)
Chris Oliver (Tompkins)

CHOREOGRAPHY
luciana achugar (New York)
Evvie Allison (New York)
Michelle Boulé (New York)
Abigail Browde / Michael Silverstone (New York)*
Yanira Castro (Kings)
Fritz Donnelly (New York)
Jeanine Durning (Orange)
Daria Rachel Faïn / Robert Kocik (New York)*
Reggie Gray (Kings)
Raja Feather Kelly (New York)
Juliana F. May (New York)
Marie Poncé (New York)
Kota Yamazaki (New York)
André M. Zachery (New York)***

Finalists
Walter Dundervill (New York)
Alexander Escalante (Kings)
Koosil-ja (New York)

Choreography Panelists
Jonathan Gonzalez (Queens)
Iréne Hultman (Kings)
Stefanie Nelson (New York)
Arturo Vidich (Kings)
Gwen Welliver (New York)

MUSIC / SOUND
Gordon Beeferman (New York)
Lisa Bielawa (New York)
Anthony G. Coleman (New York)
Joe Diebes (New York)
Du Yun (New York)
Jeffrey Fairbanks (Queens)
Randy Gibson (Kings)
Stephanie Griffin (New York)
Warp Trio – Joshua Henderson/Mikael Darmanie/Ju Young Lee (New York)*
Sarah Hennies (Tompkins)
Molly Herron (New York)
Eli Keszler (Kings)
M. Lamar (Kings)
Qasim Ali Naqvi (Kings)
Angélica Negrón (New York)
Sam Newsome (New York)
Jeff Talman (Bronx)***
Max Vernon (Kings)

Finalists
Andrew Drury (Kings)
Anthony Gatto (New York)
Scott Wollschleger (Kings)

Music / Sound Panelists
Laura Andel (Kings)
Christina Campanella (New York)
Daniel Davis (Broome)
Satoshi Kanazawa (Queens)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Kwesi Abbensetts (New York)
Supranav Dash (New York)
Sylvia de Swaan (Oneida)
Frances F. Denny (Kings)****
Delphine A. Fawundu (Kings) ***
Phyllis Galembo (New York)
Samuel James (New York)
Krisanne Johnson (New York)
Takahiro Kaneyama (New York)
Dina Kantor (New York)
Holger Keifel (New York)
Ruth Lauer Manenti (Greene)
Matthew Morrocco (New York)
Jacob Naughton (Kings)
Lorie Novak (New York)
Susannah Sayler / Edward Morris (Onondaga)*
Pacifico Silano (Kings)
Marisa Gonzales Silverstein (Westchester)
Tamara Staples (Kings)
Lida Suchy (Onondaga)
Ayumi Tanaka (New York)
John Trotter (Kings)
Sinan Tuncay (New York)
Richard Tuschman (Queens)
Linn Underhill (Broome)
Christopher Verene (New York)
Shen Wei (New York)

Finalists
Brooke DiDonato (New York)
Andrew Lichtenstein (Kings)
Jennifer Williams (Queens)

Photography Panelists
Russell Frederick (Kings)
Hans Gindelsberger (Erie)
Pixy Yijun Liao (Kings)
Adam Nadel (Queens)
Nadia Sablin (Kings)

PLAYWRITING / SCREENWRITING
Bogdan George Apetri (New York)
Kathryn Benson (Kings)
Sheila Curran Bernard (Albany) **
Clarence Coo (New York)
Kate Cortesi (New York)
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas (New York)
Migdalia Cruz (Westchester)
Kimberly Davies (New York)
Jillian Eddy (New York)
Arlene Hutton (New York)
Sibyl Kempson (New York)
Carolyn E. Kourofsky (Monroe)
Winter Miller (New York)
JT Rogers (Westchester)
Betty Shamieh (New York)
Peggy Shaw (New York)
Lloyd Suh (Kings)
Melisa Tien (New York)
Ken Urban (New York)
Catherine Yu (New York)
Joshua Sanchez (Kings)

Finalists
Keith J. Adkins (New York)
Jennie Allen (Greene)
Lameece Issaq (New York)

Playwriting / Screenwriting Panelists
Moon Molson (New York)
Carl Hancock Rux (New York)
Emily Morse (New York)
Maggie Mancinelli Cahill (Albany)
Jay Scheib (New York)

* Collaborating Fellows
** The Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award was established in 1984 in memory of Geraldine Ashur by her husband, Richard Brick, and her friends. Ms. Ashur, who died at age 37, graduated from Barnard College in 1968 and became a screenwriter, film editor, foreign language dubbing specialists, and documentary film director. 
Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award: Sheila Curran Bernard 
*** The Gregory Millard Fellowships were established by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in 1984 in memory of poet and playwright Gregory Millard. As Assistant Commissioner of Cultural Affairs from 1978 until his death in 1984, Mr. Millard championed the cause of individual artists. Recipients are New York City residents chosen in several categories from those recommended by the various panels.
Gregory Millard Fellows: André M. Zachery (Choreography), Ian Gerson (Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design) Jeff Talman (Music/Sound), Delphine A. Fawundu (Photography)
**** Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation Fellow: Frances F. Denny, (Photography)

Click here for more information about NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships Program.

Funding Support

Major funding is also provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA). Additional funding is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and individual donors.

You can join NYFA’s generous benefactors in helping artists. Visit our Support pages to learn more about the impact of your gift.

Images, from above: Kwesi Abbensetts (Fellow in Photography ‘16), A Kind of Masking Series 4, 2015; Koto Yamazaki (Fellow in Choreography ’16); Ekene Ijeoma (Fellow in Architecture / Environmental Structures / Design ’16), Wage Islands, August 2015