[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TheGreen_08222014_5-ArtsPlaylist_BiggsExhibit.mp3|titles= Delaware Public Media's Cathy Carter previews the Biggs Museum's exhibit of Delaware Division of the Arts fellowship winners.]
Since 1980, the Delaware Division of the Arts has awarded fellowships to homegrown talent.
Each year, First State artists: painters, photographers, sculptors, writers, musicians and craft artisans are honored with grants and recognition. The winners are chosen yearly by out of state jurors from over a hundred competitors.
For 14 years, the Biggs Museum of American Art in Kent County has hosted the winners’ works in the state’s only group show. The annual Award Winners exhibition features the talent of the 2014 Individual Artist Fellows and is on view now at the Dover museum.
“There are best of celebrations all up and down the state for restaurants and for retail shops and all of these really important aspects of our culture and our community but there really isn’t a best of in terms of Delaware art,” says Biggs curator Ryan Grover. “We really wanted to celebrate that and I think we have done that pretty successfully for quite a while now.”
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The annual Delaware Division of the Arts prizes range from $3,000 to $10,000 for the Masters Fellow prize. This year’s top recipient is photographer, Carson Zullinger.
The Wilmington based artist previously won Individual fellowship grants in 2000 and 2005.
Zullinger says he employs an unconventional approach when it comes to his medium.
“I actually draw and sketch my ideas and then I try to figure out how I am going to actually make them work in a visual sense,” he explains. “I just use photography as a tool for producing a product that somehow is allowing me to bring a message across. I’m very interested in storytelling and dream imagery.”
A first time award winner, Gabriel Jules has five works on view.
The Seaford based artist works in a variety of mediums, primarily printmaking. A former attorney, Jules closed her Northern Virginia law practice in 1997 to return to an earlier career in the visual arts. Reigniting that passion has proven to be a rewarding experience for the Sussex County artist.
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Acrylic & Mixed Media on Paper
T. S. Kist[/caption]
“I had my granddaughter with me this week and she came into my studio which is just filled with artwork that I’ve done and she said, ‘do you ever sell any of this and I said, ‘well that’s our fervent prayer,’ says Jules. “ But I explained to her that I am driven to make art and therefore probably would continue to do so if I never sold another piece.”
The Biggs Museum is hosting a variety of programs in conjunction with the exhibit.
On September 20th, the museum will host a free reception where patrons can meet the artists. In addition, there will be readings by the Emerging and Established Literary Fellows along and live performances by the Emerging Dance Fellow winner and the recipient of the established Music Fellow.
The Award Winners exhibit runs through October 26.
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.