Grants to Individuals

The GCAC Individual Artists Fellowship Program recognizes outstanding local artists in Franklin County by awarding fellowships in at least one artistic discipline each year. GCAC administers four annual Visual Arts Fellowships. The 2008 IAF recipients, chosen by a jury panel from 99 applicants, are Janis Mars Wunderlich (craft), Chris Mohler (three-dimensional visual arts), Shauna Merriman (three-dimensional visual arts) and Tariq Mohamed (photography). Each IAF recipient will receive $5,000. Awards were based on the artistic merit of works submitted in the disciplines of crafts, two- and three-dimensional visual arts and photography.

This year, one of the four Fellowships was made possible through the generosity of Annie's Fund, a foundation created in honor of surgeon, artist and arts patron Anne Miller. Miller was an established member of the medical community and a dedicated artist specializing in the hand-crafted arts. This special award celebrates Miller's commitment to this art form's visionary quality. The jury panel recommended Chris Mohler for the Annie's Fund award.

In addition to the Visual Arts Fellowships, partnerships with major arts institutions to administer fellowships in their own discipline have enabled us to reach to more disciplines per year and have expanded the capacity of those institutions to provide programming for local artists. GCAC contracted with BalletMet Columbus to administer the third biennial Columbus Choreography Project this spring. The project provides mentoring opportunities to local choreographers and culminates in a public, adjudicated showcase, which took place April 10. Three choreographers were selected to receive fellowships of $2,500 each: Christian T. Broomhall, Emily Ramirez and Jeff Wolfe.

Photo courtesy of Thurber House.