[JPL] 144 NY Artists, Including Painters, Playwrights & Choreographers, Receive Nearly $1 Million in Unrestricted Funds from NYFA

Tue Jun 3 16:44:35 EDT 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrew Sherman
212.366.6900 x249
asherman at nyfa.org

144 NY Artists, Including Painters, Playwrights & Choreographers, Receive
Nearly $1 Million in Unrestricted Funds from NYFA
*** 
Brooklyn Produces Most Grant Winners  Second Time in Program¹s
23 Year History

New York, NY (June 2, 2008)  New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA),  New
York¹s leading provider of unrestricted funding to individual artists,  has
awarded 136 Fellowships to 144 New York artists representing eight artistic
disciplines that cover the visual, performing and literary arts.  Reflected
in the total are eight artistic collaborations.  A NYFA Fellowship comes
with an unrestricted grant in the amount of $7000.

For the second consecutive year in the 23-year history of the program,
called Artists¹ Fellowships, the greatest number of awardees hail from
Brooklyn  a distinction that has typically gone to Manhattan. Below please
find a list of the 2008 NYFA Fellows, which indicates each artist¹s county
of residence. 

This year¹s 144 NYFA Fellows  who were chosen from among over 4,500
applicants  include architects, choreographers, composers, fiction writers,
painters, photographers, playwrights/screenwriters and video artists.  The
Fellows were selected by peer panels, which were assembled according to each
artistic discipline. 

For 38 year old Brooklyn painter Allison Gildersleeve, the award is
potentially career changing. ³Getting a grant from NYFA is more than the
financial boost,² she said. ³We all need more money  to buy supplies, for
studio space, and to purchase that most precious commodity: time to make
work.  But wrapped up with that check in the mail, comes the icing on the
cake, that outside affirmation all of us need when we're sequestered in our
studios trying to figure out what to do next  that you have been picked out
of the most competitive pool. This is New York after all, and now you share
recognition with artists that you've respected and admired.²

Overall, NYFA awards Fellowships to artists representing sixteen disciplines
 eight one year and another eight the next, but always the same 16.  Past
NYFA Fellows include Spike Lee, Tony Kushner, Julie Taymor, Carroll Dunham,
Todd Haynes, Tamara Jenkins, David Hammons, Junot Diaz (author of The Brief
Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) and many others.  Since 1985, over 3,700 New
York artists have received NYFA Fellowships.

³Whether it¹s Brooklyn, Manhattan or Queens, one thing is certain - New York
is the place to be for all artists, emerging or mid-career,² said NYFA
Executive Director Michael L. Royce.  ³New York is Warhol. New York is Spike
Lee. New York is Gershwin.  While we hope that our unrestricted grants help
to perpetuate that reality, we also hope that they do something far simpler
 give talented artists the time and space needed to create their next great
work.  When they do, New York will be all the better for it.²

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About New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts provides more support and services to
artists and arts organizations in all disciplines than any other private
organization in the country: nearly $7 million annually.  Nearly one out of
every five public, modern artworks created for the New York subway and
regional rail system was done by a former NYFA Fellow.

Major funding for NYFA¹s 2008 Artists¹ Fellowships is made possible by
public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. 
Major funding has also been provided by the New York City Department of
Cultural Affairs and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.  Additional funding
has been provided by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Deutsche Bank
Americas Foundation, Alex G. Nason Foundation, Norton Family Foundation, The
Buddy Fund at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, an anonymous donor, and
individual donors.

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2008 NYFA Fellows

Architecture/Environmental Structures
Stella Betts (New York) and David Leven (New York)
Eric Bunge (Kings) and Mimi Hoang (Kings)  Lily Auchincloss Fellow
Lishan Chang (Queens)
Ian Gordon (New York) and Eva Perez de Vega (New York)
Joanne Howard (Rockland)
Omar Khan (Erie)
Michael Morris (New York) and Yoshiko Sato (New York)
Robert Pyzocha (Kings)
Ann Reichlin (Tomkins)
Jean Shin (Kings)
Brett Snyder (New York)

Choreography
Luciana Achugar (Kings)
Roxane Butterfly (New York)
Shemy Deganit (New York)
Miguel Gutierrez (Kings)
Saar Harari (New York) and Lee Sher (New York)
Michel Kouakou (Queens)
Nicholas Leichter (Kings)
Jennifer Monson (New York)
Erick Montes (Kings)  Gregory Millard Fellow
Max Pollak (New York)
Sally Silvers (New York)
Donna Uchizono (New York)

Fiction
Salar Abdoh (New York)
Mermer Blakeslee (Delaware)
Gabriel Brownstein (Kings)
James Cañón (Queens)
Ann Darby (New York)
Lesley Dormen (New York)
Arthur Flowers (Onondaga)
Garth Hallberg (Kings)
David Heatley (Queens)  Gregory Millard Fellow
Paul La Farge (Kings)
Janet McNally (Erie)
Manuel Muñoz (New York)
Meera Nair (Queens)
Christine Schutt (New York)
Ranbir Sidhu (Kings)
Dana Spiotta (Otsego)
Mume Yoshiwara (New York)
Leni Zumas (Kings)

Music Composition
Joseph Bertolozzi (Dutchess)
Samuel Claiborne (Ulster)
Laura Kahle (Kings)
Ray Leslee (New York)
Lukas Ligeti (Kings)
Monteith McCollum* (Tioga)
Mary Moreno (New York)
Aki Onda (Kings)
Zeena Parkins (New York)
Edward Simon (New York)
Stefan Tcherepnin (Kings)
Andy Teirstein (New York)
Pyeng Threadgill (Kings)
Ushio Torikai (New York)  Gregory Millard Fellow

*Monteith McCollum was also nominated for a fellowship in Video this year,
but he chose to accept his fellowship in Music Composition.

Painting
Erik Benson (Kings)
Eric Blum (New York)
Sylvie Matt Buchler (New York)
Patty Cateura (New York)
Omar Chacon (Queens)
Jenny Dubnau (Queens)
Angie Drakopoulos (Queens)
James Esber (Kings)
Eckhard Etzold (New York)
Jane Fine (Kings)
Seth Michael Forman (Kings)
Jim Gaylord (Kings)
Allison Gildersleeve (Kings)
Joan Grubin (New York)
Angelina Gualdoni (Kings)
Sue Havens (Kings)
Jayne Holsinger (New York)  Lily Auchincloss Fellow
Gilbert Hsiao (Kings)
Mala Iqbal (Kings)
Shaun El C. Leonardo (Queens)
Douglas Melini (Kings)
John O¹Connor (Queens)
Gina Ruggeri (Kings)
Takayo Seto (Kings)
Suzanne Song (New York)
Kate Teale (Kings)
Denyse Thomasos (New York)
Mark Dean Veca (Kings)

Photography
Elia Alba (Queens)
Mauricio Alejo* (Kings)  Lily Auchincloss Fellow
Keliy Anderson-Staley (Queens)
Erica Baum (New York)
Ginger Brooks Takahashi (Kings)
Cybele Clark-Mendes (Kings)
Ana De Orbegoso (New York)  Alex G. Nason Fellow
Shari Diamond (Kings)
Hans Gindlesberger (Erie)
Hyoungsun Ha (Kings)
Mark Iwinski (Tomkins)
Kim Keever (New York)
Shai Kremer (New York)
Joe Lewis (Allegany)  Deutsche Bank Fellow
Bill McDowell (Clinton)
Chris Payne (Kings)  Lily Auchincloss Fellow
Ernesto Pujol (Kings)
Andreas Rentsch (Suffolk)
Victor Sira (New York)
Kwabena Slaughter (Queens)
Ellen Wallenstein (New York)
Corey Willis (Kings)

*Mauricio Alejo was also nominated for a fellowship in Video this year,
but he chose to accept his fellowship in Photography.

Playwriting/Screenwriting
Keith Bearden (Queens)
Noelle Brower (Kings)
Jorge Ignacio Cortinas (Queens)
Michael Crowley (New York)
David Greenspan (New York)
Joie Lee (Kings)
Ethan Lipton (Kings)
A. Ray Pamatmat (Queens)
J.T. Rogers (Kings)
Alena Smith (Kings)
Kevin Snipes (Queens)
Zoje Stage (Monroe)
Ela Thier (New York)
Andrea Thome (New York)
Avi Weider (Ulster)

Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award
Jeff Seymann (Kings)

Video
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo (New York)
Ian Burns (Kings)
J.P. Chan (Kings)
Seoungho Cho (Queens)
Lisa Crafts (New York)
Beth Davenport (Kings) and Elizabeth Mandel (New York)  Gregory Millard
Fellows
Heather Lyn MacDonald (New York)
Bradley McCallum (Kings) and Jacqueline Tarry (Kings)
Jillian McDonald (Kings)
John Menick (Kings)
Erik Moskowitz (Kings) and Amanda Trager (Kings)
Mac Premo (Kings)
Reynold Reynolds (New York)
Julie Casper Roth (Albany)
Eve Sussman (Kings)  Norton Family Foundation Fellow

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