The Wyoming Arts Council's Visual Arts Fellowships are $5,000 unrestricted awards of merit, based on the artist’s portfolio, honoring the work of Wyoming visual artists whose work reflects serious and exceptional aesthetic investigation. Artists working in any media, including film and video, may apply. Applications are juried by noted artists, curators, and others in the visual arts from outside the state. Up to three fellowships may be given each year, and jurors may also select honorable mentions. Recipients of the Visual Arts fellowships exhibit their work in the Wyoming Arts Council Biennial Exhibit, held every two years at a major visual arts institution or museum in the state. The winners of this year's fellowship will exhibit in 2025. The exhibition is curated by one of the jurors, who serves on the panel for two years. Applicants must be Wyoming residents. The deadline to apply is June 9, 2023.

JURORS

Ginger Shulick Porcella In January 2023 Ginger Shulick Porcella was named as the Executive Director of Creative Growth Art Center, the premier organization for contemporary artists with developmental disabilities. Porcella most recently was the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Franconia Sculpture Park and the founder/co-curator of the 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial. She has led nonprofit arts organizations in New York, California, Minnesota, and Arizona, and has curated critically acclaimed museum exhibitions such as: Amir H. Fallah: Scatter my Ashes on Foreign Lands; Blessed Be: Mysticism, Spirituality and the Occult in Contemporary Art; and Dazzled: OMD, Memphis Design and Beyond. Her exhibitions have been positively reviewed in Frieze, The New York Times, and Hyperallergic and in 2015 she was named the “Voice of the Year” by the San Diego press for her visionary leadership in transforming the arts and cultural ecosystem of Southern California and Baja, Mexico. 

Lawrence J. Diggs is busy living. His interests in life have spanned careers in broadcasting, health, the arts as well as food and culture. He has written and produced documentaries, written books, and made presentations around the world on various subjects. He has founded The International Vinegar Museum in South Dakota, designed and created a national emergency medical system in Burkina Faso and helped plan and build a buddhist temple in San Francisco. He has been honored with numerous awards from various countries including a Medal of Honor with gold stars from Burkina Faso. But underneath all of the activity he is searching for the point of it all. He is not sure he can find the answer, or even if there is an answer, but he feels it is important to keep searching. All of the activity is just a way to run experiments on life; to run “what if” scenarios in the hope that some useful nugget of knowledge will be uncovered. 

Application Requirements

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Applications must be submitted through CaFE (callforentry.org). Mailed or emailed submissions will not be accepted.
• Artists working in any visual media are invited to apply, including: experimental (conceptual/new media), graphic (printmaking/book arts), painting, sculpture, installation, photography (includes experimental, color, black & white, photocopy and computer), clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, plastic, wood, mixed media, film or video.
• Artists may submit up to ten work samples, of which up to two may be detail images, if appropriate.
• Film/video applicants may submit up to 4 samples, and have the option to submit stills. Jurors will only be required to watch up to 10 minutes of a film/video submission.
• Work must have been created within the past 5 years.
• Applicants are asked to submit an artist’s statement and to verify that they meet the eligibility requirements.
• Please ensure your name does not appear anywhere on the application or work samples, except where specifically requested, to preserve the anonymous nature of the judging.

WHAT IF YOU WIN AN AWARD?

• You’ll receive $5,000 up front.
• Fellowship recipients agree to participate in the Wyoming Arts Council Biennial Exhibition, and are included in the catalog produced.
• You’ll sign a contract that verifies you’re eligible to receive this award.
• You’ll need to supply a bio and a head shot for publicity.
• You will retain all rights to this work and the work you produce during the grant period.
• You must create an impact statement, due August 31, 2024, sharing with the Wyoming Arts Council how this award helped you and what you accomplished during the year you received it.

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY

• Must be at least 18 years of age at time of application.
• Must not be a full-time student pursuing high school, college, or university art-related degrees.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have legal resident status (evidence of U.S. citizenship, resident status and state residency may be required).
• May not be affiliated with the Wyoming Arts Council either as a board member or staff member, including their families, whether full-time, part-time or contractual.
• May not be an employee of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.
• Must have been domiciled within the state borders for a total of 20 months in the previous two years.
• Must remain a Wyoming resident for at least one year after award, living in the state for at least 10 months of the year.
• Applicants must register or update their information in the Wyoming Arts Council’s Artists and Venues Directory.
• Must not have received a Visual Arts fellowship within the last four years.
• May receive a total of two fellowship awards in your lifetime.
• You may enter the competition only once by the deadline. Jurors may choose not to award the number of fellowships or honorable mentions available.