The Kent Cultural Alliance (KCA) (formerly the Kent County Arts Council) is pleased to announce the five winning artists for its 2021 KCA/Chesapeake Heartland Artist Fellowships: (in alphabetical order) Bogey Brown, Allen Johnson, Jason Patterson, Mike Pugh, and Gordon Wallace. These fellowships are also supported by a grant from the Hedgelawn Foundation.
The KCA is proud to be a county-wide partner for the Washington College Starr Center’s “Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project.” As part of this collaboration, KCA is funding five local artists to create new works inspired by the incredible stories, images, and artifacts related to the experiences of African American’s in Kent County, as found in the Chesapeake Heartland Archive. Each artist will select one or two items from the archive, and will then be connected to the person who shared these items originally, to learn more. The primary goal is to increase public engagement with these important stories, through the arts. The Chesapeake Heartland archive is available to the public at www.chesapeakeheartland.org.
Each an accomplished artist in their own right, the five Fellowship winners will approach these stories through the media of film, digital art, ceramics, photography and portraiture. Each of the artist will receive a stipend of $1,500 for their work and the Fellowships will culminate with a public exhibition in the autumn of 2021.
The artists were selected by a team of three Board Members of the Kent Cultural Alliance: Stephanie LaMotte, Carla Massoni and Robert Earl Price; and three Steering Committee members of the Chesapeake Heartland Project: Airlee Johnson, Darius Johnson and Doncella Wilson.
Over the course of the Fellowship period, the Kent Cultural Alliance will be sharing more about each of the artists, their selections, and their process. Please follow the Kent Cultural Alliance on Facebook and Instagram for more updates, and join their mailing list either through their website at www.kentculture.org or by calling 410-778-3700 to leave either an email or regular mailing address.
The Kent Cultural Alliance is funded in large part by the Maryland State Arts Council, a division of the Maryland Department of Commerce, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the people of Kent County.