NYFA ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS AND FINALISTS FOR 2015 ARTISTS’ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

$642,000 Awarded To 95 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 $642,000 to 95 artists (including four collaborations) throughout New York State in the following disciplines: fiction, folk/traditional arts, interdisciplinary work, painting, and video/film. 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 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 2,606. Since it was launched in 1985, the program has awarded over $27 million to more than 4,000 artists. This year’s announcement marks the 30th anniversary of the program and NYFA, with regional partners, will be celebrating that milestone with public programming around New York State this coming year.

“The grants give our new Fellows the chance to create freely, support their communities, inspire their audiences, and make our society richer in the process,” said NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce, “The leadership support from the New York State Council on the Arts has been essential and we are grateful to them and our other funders for enabling us to continue the encouragement of New York State artists.”

Fiction Fellow Bill Cheng from Brooklyn mirrored this sentiment, stating that for him “it’s really the affirmation that your work has potential that I find the most nourishing as an artist.” He continued to say that “so much of writing is done by yourself, in your own head that it’s easy to lose track of how you think your work is. I feel privileged to be a winner of a NYFA Fellowship this year”.

For Onondaga-based artist Biboti Ouikahilo the award is providing him with the opportunity to continue the work with his community. He expressed that “everything I’m doing is not about me. So upon receiving the grant, my first thinking was how can everybody enjoy this? This Fellowship will help with essential dance studio maintenance, the repairs of all Djembe and Dundun drums, and it will assist me in giving remuneration to my two consultants, who are incredibly helpful.” 

FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS AND FINALISTS BY DISCIPLINE AND COUNTY OF RESIDENCE:

FICTION
Amy Brill (Kings)
Bill Cheng (Kings)
Roohi Choudhry (Kings)
Liana Finck (Kings)
Kim Coleman Foote (Kings)
Hilary Leichter (Kings)
Patricia Horvath (New York)
Tama Janowitz (Schuyler)
Jon Lewis-Katz (Bronx)
Danielle Lazarin (New York)
Janet McNally (Erie)
Danica Novgorodoff (Kings)
Rajesh Parameswaran (Kings)
Alanna Schubach (New York)
Edward Schwarzschild (Albany)
Pitchaya Sudbanthad (Kings)
Xuan Wang (New York)
Adrianne Wortzel (New York)

Finalists
Kanishk Tharoor (New York)
Mark Binelli (New York)
Shelly Oria (Kings)

Fiction Panelists
Denise Burrell-Stinson (New York)
Minju Pak (Kings)
Robert Proehl (Tompkins)
Ronna Wineberg (New York)
Susan Karwoska (Kings)

FOLK/TRADITIONAL ARTS
Annie Ferdous (Kings)
Peniel Guerrier (Queens)
Juan Gutiérrez Rodríguez (New York)
Carrie Hill (Franklin)
Andriy Milavsky (Ulster)
Aeilushi Mistry (Kings)
Biboti Ouikahilo (Onondaga)
Mary Tooley Parker (Westchester)
Eva Salina (Kings)
Andy Statman (Kings)
Michael Winograd (New York)

Finalists
Zhong-hua Lu (Rensselaer)
Camille Yeung (Dutchess)
Benjamin Rosen (New York)

Folk/Traditional Arts Panelists
Emily Socolov (Sullivan)
Julia Gutiérrez-Rivera (Bronx)
Luz Pereira (New York)
Mark Miyake (Westchester)

INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK
Nobutaka Aozaki (Queens)
Brandon Ballengée (Kings)
Daniel Bejar (Kings)
Robert Boyd (Kings)
Jonathan Cohrs (Kings)
Adam Frelin (Rensselaer)
Ellie Irons (Kings)
Larry Krone (New York)
Molly Lowe (New York)
Heidi Neilson (Queens)
Zoe Sheehan (Kings)
Wenhua Shi (Madison)
aricoco (Ari Tabei) (Kings)
Jaimie Warren (Kings)
Lily & Honglei (Queens)*
Seldon Yuan (Kings)

Finalists
Joe Nanashe (Queens)
Mira Hunter (Kings)
Justin Rancourt / Charles Yatsuk (Kings)*

Interdisciplinary Work Panelists
Michael Asbill (Ulster)
Millie Chen (Erie)
Nancy Davidson (New York)
Joseph Keckler (Kings)
Matthew Northridge (Kings)

PAINTING
Louise Belcourt (Kings)
Katie Bell (Kings)
Matt Bollinger (Kings)
Patrick Brennan (Kings)
Andrew Brischler (Kings)
Michael Cloud (Kings)
Paul DeMuro (Kings)
Erik den Breejen (Kings)
Ariel Dill (New York)
Franklin Evans (New York)
Angelina Gualdoni (Kings)
Elisa Jensen (Kings)
Jenny Kemp (Rensselaer)
Maia Cruz Palileo (Kings)
Jenna Ransom (Kings)
Eleanor Ray (Kings)
Robert Salmieri (Kings)
Christopher Schade (Kings)
Zoe Schade (Kings)
Laura Shechter (Kings)
Adam Parker Smith (Kings)
Jansson Stegner (Queens)
Joy Taylor (Dutchess)
Melissa Thorne (Rensselaer)
Adrian Tone (Kings)
Frank Webster (New York)
Randy Wray (Kings)
Chris Wright (Kings)
Mie Yim (New York)

Finalists
Doron Langberg (New York)
Naomi Reis (Kings)
Jamie Sneider (New York)

Painting Panelists
Mariella Bisson (Ulster)
Maya Brym (Kings)
Vince Contarino (Kings)
Jane Fine (Kings)
Wendy White (New York)

VIDEO/FILM
Emily Abt (Kings)
Justin Ambrosino (Richmond)
Ronald Amstutz (New York)
Zia Anger (Columbia)
Keith Bearden (Queens)
Rosane Chamecki / Andrea Lerner (New York)*
Ariana Gerstein (Broome)
Charlotte Glynn (Kings)
Claudia Joskowicz (Kings)
Kalup Linzy (Kings)
Yuanchen Liu (Queens)
Monteith McCollum (Broome)
Serra MM / Josh Lewis (New York)*
Moon Molson (New York)
Marija Stojnic (New York)
Eve Sussman / Simon Lee (Kings)*
Jeremy Xido (New York)

Finalists
Mores McWreath (Kings)
Jennifer Nuss (New York)
Ezra Wube (Kings)

Video/Film Panelists
Tara Autovino (Kings)
Todd Chandler (Kings)
Phillip Hastings (Chautauqua)
Orit Ben-Shitrit (Kings)
Jacqueline Tarry (Kings)

*Collaborating Fellows

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

Funding Support

NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are administered by NYFA with leadership support from the New York State Council on the Arts. 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 top: Brandon Ballengée (Fellow in Interdisciplinary Work, ‘15), Mississippi Delta Eco-Displacement; Nobutaka Aozaki (Fellow in Interdisciplinary Work, ‘15), From Here To There (Manhattan, Detail); Wenhua Shi (Fellow in Interdisciplinary Work, ‘15), FUTURIST LOUDSPEAKERS.