Roseburg, OR: The Ford Family Foundation (Foundation) today named three Oregon visual artists as the first Hallie Ford Fellows in the inaugural year of its Visual Arts program. The award is given to artists who have demonstrated excellence in their work and significant potential for future accomplishments, and for whom an award now would help them take their work to an entirely new level.
Selected were Daniel Duford, David Eckard and Heidi Schwegler, all three of whom are educators as well as visual artists. Duford and Eckard serve on the faculty of the Pacific Northwest College of Art and Schwegler teaches at the Oregon College of Art and Craft.
"These $25,000 unrestricted fellowships are meant to give artists what we are told they value most -- additional resources to expand their think and work time to explore, create or complete new work," stated Norm Smith, President of the Foundation. "We know from national research that artists typically use these funds to make progress on or finish a body of work, develop new concepts or a new project, even purchase art supplies, organize a presentation of their work, or for additional education, training and travel related to their work. For some, these funds also help cover essential daily needs such as healthcare, food and shelter."
The jury of five arts professionals selected Duford, Eckard and Schwegler out of a field of over 200 applications based on the following criteria:
· Quality of their work: Artistic excellence/exemplary talent and depth of sophisticated exploration evidenced in past work
· Evolution of their work: whether or not the individual was poised at a pivotal point in his or her practice and the use to which the fellowship funds would aid in that pursuit, and
· Effect of the Fellowship on their work: how the Fellowship goals are consistent with the artist's goals, potential for future accomplishment and capacity both to improve individual work and contribute significantly to Oregon's visual arts ecology.
The panelists evaluated each application individually, later deliberating in person on the merits of a narrowed field of 35 artists before finalizing their recommendation. In making its selection, the panel said the three awardees "best represent the criteria and exemplify the vision for the program and the spirit of the person it honors."
The jury noted the selected fellows are sophisticated makers of fine art and craft whose interdisciplinary work illustrates both superior craftsmanship and conceptual rigor. Their work articulates groundbreaking potential for innovative developments in the visual arts while simultaneously remaining grounded in the classical modes of production, echoing a sensitivity to the traditions of craft.
"Their work's progress is evidenced, traceable, and projectable," commented jury members. "And we expect great things from each of them." Their recommendations, the panelists stated, reflect artistic practices that are responses to and informed by regional concerns, and that are able to stimulate a dialogue between the historical artistic presence of the Pacific Northwest and the broader artistic dialogues occurring in the United States and abroad.
Panelists included: Cesar Garcia, Assistant Director/Curator of Public Art & Programs, LA>
"We are indebted to our panelists who devoted significant time and thought in reviewing the applications and wrestling with whom among many deserving artists should receive the three fellowships this year." Smith added. "The jury will change each year and future panelists may well take the award in new directions and select artists from different disciplines. But they will continue to focus on those artists who have demonstrated excellence and from whom we can easily imagine future great potential."
The fellowships are the first of seven program facets being launched this year as part of the Foundation's $3.5 million, five-year visual arts program established in the memory of Mrs. Hallie Ford. Knowledgeable Pacific Northwest arts leaders helped frame the overall program. Research into best practices of processes and outcomes by well established fellowship programs of other foundations, including McKnight, Pew, Rasmuson, Guggenheim, MacArthur and United States Artists, helped further shape the Hallie Ford Fellowships.
Additional resources are being dedicated to the following:
§ Artists-in-Residences: annual awards of $20,000 each to three "Golden Spot" residency programs in Oregon that provide opportunities for artists to explore and conceptualize new work.
§ Exhibition & Documentation: funding for the curation, preparation, materials and traveling of exhibitions
§ Capital Projects: resources to improve and/or expand studio and exhibition space at key Oregon visual arts institutions
§ Curator/Critic Tour: visitations by national curators to consult with Oregon's visual artists and interact with the arts community
§ Unanticipated Opportunity Funding: grants for unforeseen opportunities for artists to create, produce or exhibit new work
§ Art Acquisition Funding: special resource fund dedicated to acquiring seminal works by Oregon artists to preserve public access
The Foundation is the sole funder of this Visual Arts Program. It partners with Oregon's leading visual arts educators, gallerists, museum and arts professionals to help implement program elements and leverages funding with other state and national resources.
ABOUT THE 2010 HALLIE FORD FELLOWS
DANIEL DUFORD: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Instructor in Foundations, Advanced Studios, Illustration, Intermedia, Sculpture; Writer. (BFA, Studio Art, University of New Mexico, 1996). He has shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, primarily in the Pacific Northwest and in the Northeastern US. He has received a number of public and private commissions and awards. He is a regular guest lecturer and panelist and has published regularly in ArtNews, The Organ, The Bear Deluxe and Ceramics: Art and Perception.
DAVID ECKARD: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Chairman of the Sculpture Department, Associate Professor Intermedia and Sculpture. (BFA, Sculpture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1988). He explores ideas through found objects, drawings installations and performative interventions. He has exhibited nationally and internationally. David was most recently acknowledged by a jury of his peers with the award of the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship for 2010. His work has been written about in Flash Art, The New York Times, Art in America, ArtNews, Sculpture, and The Chicago Tribune.
HEIDI SCHWEGLER: Oregon College of Art & Craft, Associate Professor Metals. (MFA, Metalsmithing, University of Oregon). She works with a variety of materials, including metal, resin, found objects and digital imagery. She has participated in numerous exhibitions at venues such as the Tacoma Art Museum and Scope Art, NY 2004. She was a recipient of a MacDowell Colony Fellowship and will participate in the Beijing International Artist Platform this summer. Her work has been recognized in ArtNews, Metalsmith and American Craft.
ABOUT THE FORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford. Its Mission is “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon, with a Scholarship office in Eugene. For more information about the Foundation please visit the website at www.tfff.org.
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