Press Release from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
September 9, 2009
2010 New Hampshire Artist
Fellows Named
This year’s batch of talented New Hampshire Artist
Fellows includes a poet, a novelist, a pianist, a composer, a multidisciplinary
artist and a sculptor/video artist – two of whom, coincidentally, hail
from the small town of Wilton.
With the aid of funds awarded by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts,
the six will be busy in their studios in the upcoming year, as well as sharing
their talents with the people of the state.
Literary artists Katie
Umans of Dover and Nancy
Clark of Wilton, performing artists Matthew Odell of Pittsfield and Jonathan Santore of Plymouth,
and visual/media artists Ross Cisneros of
Sanbornville and Denise Dumas of
Wilton each received a $5,000 award.
Umans, who works for the
University
of
New Hampshire
’s UNH
Foundation and teaches online through the
Johns Hopkins
University Center
for Talented Youth, has completed a manuscript of poems called “The Flock
Book.” She plans to use the funds to take time away from her online
teaching to focus on writing. Poetry is an instinctive form for Umans.
“It’s how my brain works,” she says.
Clark is the author of a
trilogy of novels, “The Hills at Home,” “A Way from Home” and “July
and August,” published by Pantheon Books. She plans to use the fellowship
funds to travel to South America, where
she’ll do research for a new novel that’s set some 150 years ago.
“The Amazon probably hasn’t changed all that much from the mid-19th
century,” she says.
Classical pianist Odell is finishing up, on a part-time
basis, a doctoral degree at the Julliard
School. He’ll put
his award money toward several projects he has planned, including a debut
recording and trips to meet with composers. “It’s very nice to be
recognized in my own state,” says Odell, who plans to offer a public
performance of works by composers with ties to New Hampshire.
Composer Santore is chair of the Department of Music,
Theatre, and Dance at Plymouth
State University
and serves as Composer in Residence for the New Hampshire Master Chorale. Many
of his recent pieces have deep connections to New Hampshire, using texts by writers with
ties to the state. “I’m proud to think that I’ve played some
small role in bringing our state’s creative and intellectual heritage to
a wider audience,” he writes in his artist’s statement. He’ll
use the fellowship funds to develop a Web site, to network with new ensembles,
conductors and performers, and to continue to bring his music to a broader
group of listeners.
With a bachelor’s degree from the Cooper Union School
of Art and a master’s from MIT, Cisneros is a multidisciplinary artist
whose work includes videos and video installations, sculptures, film, live
performance and musical compositions. He plans to use his fellowship award to
help fund his participation in a fall exhibit in New York City. “My work is driven by a
number of interests and experiences in the mediums of sound, sculpture, video
projections, and multi-media,” he writes in his artist’s statement.
Dumas creates sculptures and videos that explore questions
of boundaries and identity that were sparked by her move from Quebec
to the United States.
The fellowship award will help her create work for two upcoming solos shows, on
in Lowell, Mass.,
and one in Montreal.
“I live frugally so I may create my artwork. It’s like eating,
breathing. I have to do it.”
Fellowships are granted in three categories: Visual
and Media Arts, Performing Arts, and Literary Arts. Selections are made based
on artistic excellence, as determined by work samples and professional
commitment. As part of the fellowship requirement, each fellow will present a
Report to the New Hampshire Community, which can be a performance, a reading,
an exhibition, a blog, or some other form of publicizing the artist’s
work.
The deadline to apply for a 2011 Artist Fellowship is
April 9, 2010.
Funding for the awards comes from the New Hampshire State
Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, visit www.nhgov/nharts.
Jane Eklund,
Programs Information Officer
New Hampshire
State Council on the Arts
2 1/2 Beacon Street, Suite 225
Concord, NH 03301-4447
Direct Line: (603) 271-0791
www.nh.gov/nharts