2025 Utah Artist Fellowship Recipients
The Utah Division of Arts & Museums is delighted to announce the 20 Utah artists in design, literary, performing, and visual arts who have been awarded fellowships to recognize their individual artistic excellence and support their professional careers.
Fellowship Info Page
Design Arts
Juror: Ramon Tejada
Alise Anderson
"Immediately after graduating in 2020, I began cultivating supportive experiences and professional opportunities. I’ve used each of those opportunities in different ways, depending on what my practice needed at the time, and I’ve grown exponentially in correlation with my efforts. With the award of a Utah Artist Fellowship, my hope is that my work will expand with precision this year and in the future."
Laura Boardman
"This fellowship will be utilized to further my work in Teasdale at Rabbit Studios. The studio building will give space and place for all art forms to retreat, working alone or together in different mediums — visual artists, dancers, musicians, and writers."
Zak Jensen
"Being recognized in this way by my home state is truly an honor. The funds that accompany the fellowship will be a tremendous help — temporarily relieving the pressure of taking on other work and allowing me the time to experiment. I look forward to dedicating the coming months to my ongoing work exploring language, material culture, and concepts of nature and wilderness."
Matthew Pedersen
"This recognition affirms my dedication to the craft and arrives at a pivotal moment in my journey as an artist and designer. Being selected by esteemed out-of-state jurors galvanizes the merit of my work within the broader artistic community. I'm grateful to the Utah Division of Arts & Museums for this opportunity, which will undoubtedly propel my career forward and inspire continued growth in my practice."
Kimo Watanabe
"Receiving this fellowship makes me grateful to those who reviewed my application and deemed me worthy of the award. Funding opportunities such as this enable people like me to justify dedicating time and energy to the art we love. This award helps validate the work that I’ve done to date and will help me dedicate time and energy to advancing my artistic work. To me, that’s incredibly meaningful."
Literary Arts
Juror: Ira Sukrungruang
Christian McKay Heidicker
"I'm going to Disneyland! And I'm going to find some kids there, and I'm going to tell them much better stories than any Disney is currently telling them. I'll enrich children's literature, come Mr. Toad's hell or Splash Mountain's high water. And I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to do so."
Kimberly Johnson
"I am so very grateful to have been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Utah Artist Fellowship. It is a tremendous boost to my confidence as an artist to have my work affirmed by this fellowship, which I plan to use to catalyze new, cooperative conversations with other artists across a variety of disciplines."
Lynn Kilpatrick
"The Utah Artist Fellowship will allow me the time and space to finish my book-length nonfiction project, which I have been working on for many years. I am grateful to the Utah Division of Arts & Museums for this amazing grant, which will give me the gift of time."
Patrick Madden
"Like most artists, I create for the love of the activity. But such pursuits are not highly prized by our culture, so this fellowship is a humbling recognition and a significant investment. I thank everyone at the Utah Division of Arts & Museums for their tireless support of artists, and particularly for honoring me with this fellowship."
Paisley Rekdal
"It means the world to be recognized by your peers in the field, and to have this kind of support as a mid-career writer. I'm so deeply grateful and honored, and feel especially lucky to be supported like this."
Performing Arts (Theatre)
Juror: Franchelle Dorn
Janine Sobeck Knighton
"Receiving this fellowship means the world, because it gives me the gift of time. And there is no greater gift than to have the time to sit and play and wrestle with big ideas that call to you. I thank the Utah Artist Fellowship for recognizing the need to support Utah artists in a way that allows us the freedom to create some of our best work."
Judy Mansfield
"With this gracious fellowship, it is now possible to use original and imaginative methods to produce a lasting and cherished educational experience. My heart is buoyed up, my mind re-opened to possibilities. I have already begun planning, blueprinting, and joyfully acknowledging my selection as a 2025 Utah Artist Fellow."
Lynnette Owens
"Receiving this fellowship is profoundly meaningful to me — it affirms the value of a project I’ve undertaken to leave the world better than I found it. Like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, my orchestral accompaniment tracks for full operas are a gift to humanity — enabling communities to access and produce high-quality opera without prohibitive costs."
Eric Sciotto
"Creating a life in the arts can be a logistical and emotional rollercoaster, and having the particular goal of making a living in the arts while having a family can be a particular challenge. Receiving this fellowship is such a generous show of support, a financial help, and a solid reminder to keep going and keep creating! Thank you, Utah Division of Arts & Museums!"
Sarah Shippobotham
"I am thrilled to be recognized as a 2025 Utah Artist Fellow. This is a 'mid-career' award, and as a woman just past 60, it has been easy to start to feel as though my career was nearly over. However, having written and performed a one-woman show in 2022-23 that is continuing to have a life beyond Salt Lake, I feel very much like my artistic career is blossoming rather than shriveling, and it is wonderful to be reminded of that."
Visual Arts
Juror: Lana Meador
Christopher Lynn
"Receiving the fellowship places me with my friends and art heroes who have made and continue to make Utah an interesting place to live. The funding goes a long way in working toward more ambitious projects and expanding my artistic practice."
Nancy Rivera
"I’m deeply honored to be a recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship, which represents a significant milestone in my artistic journey. In light of the latest developments in a steady decline in funding for the arts, receiving this support is especially meaningful. I’m grateful for this opportunity and the encouragement it provides as I continue to grow in my practice."
Eugene Tapahe
"This fellowship will magnify my intent to celebrate and honor the identity and culture of Native Americans. As a young Navajo boy who grew up on the reservation, I made toys from wood and stones. This has now inspired me to use these elements to create art on a contemporary stage to share my culture with the world. I will continue to seek this balance between the past and present by using my people's traditional stories and philosophy — to always walk in beauty."
Ariel C. Wilson
"This support arrives at a pivotal moment in my artistic practice — during a time of transition and growth. This award also serves as a powerful affirmation of the role artists play in our state, especially amid so much instability. I am encouraged, grateful, and proud to be a part of such a supportive community and inspiring peers."
Xi Zhang
"Receiving this fellowship is a profound honor and a transformative opportunity for my artistic journey. My work delves into the complexities of identity, labor, and the emotional weight of contemporary life. This fellowship will elevate my work, expand its impact, and further develop my artistic voice, enabling me to continue reflecting on the tensions between aspiration and reality."