UNCSA alumni and students selected as 2009 recipients of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at the Penland School of Crafts

UNCSA alumni and students selected as 2009 recipients of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at the Penland School of Crafts

For Immediate Release:
 
Media Contact:
Bert Woodard, Next Level Communications (www.nextlevelcom.net)
For Kenan Institute for the Arts (www.kenanarts.org)
336-978-0021, bert@nextlevelcom.net
 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and the Visual Arts Program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) are pleased to announce the 2009 William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at the Penland School of Crafts.  The goals of the Kenan Fellowships are 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.
 
“Each year as the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellows at the Penland School of Crafts are selected, we are thrilled to see the optimism, passion and talent of these emerging artists,” said Dr. Margaret S. Mertz, Executive Director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.  “Bringing their energy with them to the unique learning environment at Penland leverages creativity, boldness and imagination.”

The 2009 recipients of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at Penland are:
 
Hannah Barefoot, Visual Arts 2008, Winston-Salem, N.C., will be studying ‘The Cutting Edge,' print/letterpress with Beatrice Coron;
 
Cynthia Cukiernik, Visual Arts 2009, Pfafftown, N.C., will be studying ‘The Visual Narrative,' photography with Fritz Hoffman;
 
Ariel Chornsbay, Visual Arts 2009, Oak Island, N.C., will be studying ‘Couture in Context,' textiles with Lee Renninger;
 
Alexandra Giannell, Visual Arts 2005, Charlotte, N.C., will be studying ‘Musings, Matter & Cross-Pollination, metals with Leslie Noell, and ‘Finding Your Own Voice,' drawing/painting with Frank Shelton;
 
Jackie Levinson, Visual Arts 2005, Asheville, N.C., will be studying ‘The Painter's Craft,' drawing/painting with John Mac Kah;
 
Jonie Ray, Visual Arts 2009, West Jefferson, N.C., will be studying ‘Fantastic Flamework Fantasies,' glass-flamework with Brian Kerkvliet, and 'Musings, Matter & Cross-Pollination,' metals with Leslie Noell;
 
Grace Rennie, Visual Arts 2007, Chicago, Ill., will be studying ‘'Baskets,' textiles with Billie Ruth Sudduth;
 
Brooke Sinkinson Withrow, Visual Arts 2009, Wilmington, N.C., will be studying ‘Introduction to Furnace Working,' glass-hot glass with Kiara Pelissier.
 
Penland School of Crafts, a national center for craft education located in Penland, N.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains, offers residential workshops in books and paper, clay, drawing and painting, glass, letterpress, metals printmaking, photography, textiles, wood and other media.  The school also sponsors artist residencies, community education and a craft gallery. More information about Penland is available at www.penland.org.

“The Kenan Fellows Program enables promising young artists from UNCSA to study with Penland’s outstanding faculty of artist educators who encourage experimentation across media and personal development,” said Jean McLaughlin, Director of the Penland School of Crafts.  “Our instructors orient students to the practical tools and techniques necessary to their craft, but also support innovation in a positive learning environment.  Kenan Fellows from UNCSA are always, in turn, assets to any studio class bringing both creative enthusiasm and artistic maturity.”
 
In association with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and with generous support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fund for the Arts, the Kenan Fellowship Program at Penland is a project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, whose mission is to incubate projects that sustain artists at every point in their creative development through strategic partnerships that capitalize on visionary thinking in the arts. For more information, visit www.kenanarts.org.