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Applications Now Open for 2022 Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship

in Press Releases October 6, 2021 2 min read

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Greater Columbus Arts Council (Arts Council), in partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA), is pleased to announce that applications are open for the 2022 Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship.

Launched in 2020 along with a separate residency, the fellowship celebrates the legacy of Columbus artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson by recognizing the exemplary work of a Columbus-based African American visual artist. Both programs are made possible with the financial support of Loann Crane.

The Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship provides an unrestricted $15,000 grant to an African American professional visual artist residing in Franklin County. The 90-day fellowship includes community outreach activities (facilitated by Museum staff) and the opportunity for a public presentation and/or exhibition. The application deadline is Nov. 8, 2021.

“We’re proud to continue honoring Aminah’s legacy through this program and the way it raises the profile of Columbus’ African American artists,” said Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of the Arts Council. “Already we’ve seen incredible work from DonCee Coulter and Wendy Kendrick, the first two recipients, and we’re excited to welcome the next artist into the fold.”

“I’m sitting in Aminah Robinson’s studio reflecting upon what my fellowship experience has been so far,” said Wendy Kendrick, recipient of the 2021 fellowship. “As my head turns toward the massive double doors in the rear of the space I can’t help but look up where a painted strip of wood (undoubtedly painted by Aminah Robinson herself) spells out ‘The Blessing.’ This is exactly what my experience has been one month into my fellowship… a blessing.”

Robinson was born in 1940 in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Poindexter Village, one of the first federally funded apartment communities for African Americans in the U.S. From an early age, she absorbed the stories of her elders about historic Columbus neighborhoods and about the family’s ancestral roots in Africa. Throughout her life, she documented these stories in her art and journals, in order to pass them on to future generations. Her work is grounded in the African concept of Sankofa—to fetch the past in order to move forward. Robinson’s diverse body of work is about building bridges and making connections between the past and present, Africa and America, and the physical and spiritual worlds.

When she was 17, she moved with her family to Columbus’ Shepard neighborhood. In 1974, she purchased her own home in that same neighborhood and lived there for 40 years. When she died in 2015, Robinson left her estate, including her house, to the Columbus Museum of Art.

The application deadline for the 2022 Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship is Nov. 8, 2021.

Applications will be juried by a committee that includes representatives from the Shepard and Poindexter neighborhoods where Robinson lived, CMA, the Arts Council and an artist or arts educator familiar with Robinson’s work and history.

For complete guidelines and to apply, go to: gcac.org/grants-services/individual-artist-fellowships.

Mission of the Columbus Museum of Art: To create great experiences with great art for everyone. www.columbusmuseum.org

Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To support and advance the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. www.gcac.org

The Greater Columbus Arts Council receives major financial support from the City of Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners and the Ohio Arts Council.

For translations of this release and other pages, please see the dropdown menu at the top right corner of gcac.org.

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CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org