WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (May 3, 2012) – The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and the Visual Arts Program of the School of Design and Production at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) announce the recipients of the 2012 William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at Penland School of Crafts. Fellowship recipients are students in or recent graduates of the UNCSA Visual Arts Program. The Kenan Fellows will study at summer workshops at Penland and will take classes in diverse media such as metals, glass, printmaking, photography, iron, painting, and felted wool sculpture.

The Kenan Fellowships at Penland School of Crafts seek to promote life-long learning, stimulate experimentation and skill development, extend UNCSA students’ and artists’ career development opportunities through Penland’s network of peer professionals, and share Penland’s model educational learning environment.

“The Visual Arts faculty is ecstatic for our UNCSA alumni who have received this honor,” said UNCSA Visual Arts Director Will Taylor. “It is rare that such disciplined and talented artists receive such a high level of professional and financial support this early in their careers.  The William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships is a gracious gift to our program and a significant catalyst for expanding the artistic endeavors of our young alumni.

“The Visual Arts faculty at UNCSA would like to sincerely congratulate our former students and extend our deep appreciation to both The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and the Penland School of Crafts for this truly unique and rich opportunity,” Taylor added.

The 2012 recipients of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at Penland School of Crafts are:

·         Natalia Ehrlich, UNCSA 2012, will study Introduction to Weaving with Suzanne Halvorson.

·         Bailey Glass, UNCSA 2012, will study Building from Blacksmithing Fundamentals with David Burtt.

·         Rebecca Lesesne, UNCSA 2005; Parsons School of Design 2010 (BFA), will study Stonesetting with Eastern Technique with Hiroko Yamada.

·         Shannon Mackenzie, UNCSA 2011; Warren Wilson College 2011-present, will study Freedom to Paint with Pinkney Herbert.

·         Jing Niu, UNCSA 2008; UNC-Chapel Hill 2012 (Communications Studies), will study Drawing Conclusions with Kevin Snipes.

·         Kassiane Patselas, UNCSA 2012, will study books and paper, Cooking the Books, with Bea Nettles.

·         Casey Sloate, UNCSA 2010; Savannah College of Arts and Design 2011-present, will study letterpress, Exploring Letterpress: A Class for Beginners, with John Horn and Beth Lambert.

·         Taylor Speagle, UNCSA 2012, will study textiles, Wearable/Sculptural, with Rachel Miller.

·         Jacqueline Walukas, UNCSA 2011; School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2011-present, will study photography, Photographing Strangers, with Jim Stone.

·         Angeline Yang, UNCSA 2012, will study flameworking, Building on Curiosity, with Jon Chapman

“The Kenan Fellowships at Penland provide young artists from UNCSA with opportunities to expand their working knowledge of the visual arts through classes in the wide variety of studios available at Penland,” said Jean McLaughlin, Director of the Penland School of Crafts. “The Kenan Fellows are encouraged to experiment in the Penland studios and explore materials and processes unfamiliar to them. Instructors and fellow students at Penland become lifelong colleagues and mentors as the professional world of the arts emerges through Penland.

“The UNCSA students arrive with exceptional training and the focus required for a committed career in the arts,” McLaughlin continued. “Visit our website, penland.org/programs/kenan.html, to follow the Kenan Fellows.”

Penland School of Crafts is a national center for craft education located in Penland, N.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Penland operates year-round providing opportunity to study in one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in 15 professional teaching studios. Residential workshops include books and paper, clay, drawing and painting, glass, iron, letterpress, metals, printmaking, photography, textiles, wood and other media. Penland programs also include artists’ residencies, an educational outreach program, archives, winter studio independent study, and the Penland Gallery and Visitors Center. For more information visit www.penland.org.

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts (www.uncsa.edu/kenan) is a privately funded program of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts that incubates projects that sustain artists at every point in their creative development through strategic partnerships that capitalize on visionary thinking in the arts. 

As America’s first state-supported arts school, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a unique stand-alone public university of arts conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a degree-granting institution that trains young people of talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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