Utah Artist Fellowship Program
Utah Artist Fellowship Recipients
About the Utah Artist Fellowships
The Utah Artist Fellowships are $5,000 unrestricted awards that recognize the careers of Utah artists demonstrating exceptional creativity in their fields. Fellows are chosen by out-of-state, nationally renowned arts professionals. Selections are based on evaluation of application narratives as well as work samples from the past five years.
Through these fellowships, Utah Arts & Museums seeks to support professional and committed individual artists reaching pivotal moments in their artistic practices, and encourage their career advancement and growth. Applicants are expected to demonstrate why now is the appropriate time in their careers for this one-time award.
Candidates for the Utah Artist Fellowships are selected through an open application process. All eligible applications receive equal consideration through a two-round review process: a prescreen staff review, and a juror review.
The Utah Artist Fellowship is not an award to support a specific art project, recognition of lifetime achievement, or for artists just beginning their careers.
Five fellowships will be awarded in each of these categories:
- Design Arts
- Performing Arts (Dance 2024)
- Visual Arts
The 2024 deadline to apply was Monday, March 4, 2024.
2024 Jurors
Carla Diana
Design Arts
Carla Diana is the founder of the 4D Design program at Cranbrook Academy of Art. A designer, author, and educator, she explores the impact of future technologies through hands-on experiments in product design and tangible interaction. In addition to her studio practice, she is Design Advisor and former Head of Design for Diligent Robotics, an Austin, Texas, based company where advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning manifest in robot assistants to help healthcare workers.
Carla has been part of innovation design firms Smart Design and frog design where she worked on a range of products from robots to connected home appliances. Her work has appeared on the covers of Popular Science, Technology Review, and The New York Times Sunday Review.
Carla writes and lectures frequently on the social impact of robotics and emerging technology. Her latest book, My Robot Gets Me: How Social Design Can Make New Products More Human (HBR Press 2021) discusses design strategies for everyday products. She is the creator of the world’s first children’s book on 3D printing, LEO the Maker Prince, and co-host of the Robopsych Podcast, a show that explored the design and psychological impact of human-robot interaction. Her latest research is focused on autonomous vehicle systems as public transportation solutions.
Alexandra James
Performing Arts
Alexandra James is a Southern Maine-born maker, mover, and mother. As an independent artist, she’s engaged with the interrogation of pedagogy and craft, improvisation and interdisciplinary investigation, seeking liberation through the integrity of embodied knowledge, and the sharing of practice. In addition to her role as BDF’s Director of Training Programs, Alexandra is a professor of dance at Bates and artistic director of a youth hip-hop company. Her work has been presented in Chicago, New York, and South Africa, with a teaching practice that carries her nationally. She earned her BFA from the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago in 2009.
Rachelle Pablo
Visual Arts
Rachelle B. Pablo is a former curator of 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and an enrolled Diné Nation member. She is of the Red Running into the Water Clan, born for the Water Flows Together Clan. Her duties encompass curating exhibitions, research, and establishing healthy relationships with community and regional partners. Pablo is co-coordinating 516 Arts’ Indigenous Arts and Latinx Arts programming statewide.
Born in Gallup, New Mexico, Pablo is a US Army veteran and holds an MA in Art History from the University of Delaware, a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Studio Arts with a minor in Museum Studies, and a Certificate in Business and Entrepreneurship; and an Associates of Arts in Anthropology and Liberal Arts from Central New Mexico Community College. She serves as a board member of IndigenousWays, a non-profit organization focusing on music, arts, outreach, and community events.
Questions?
Please review the guidelines thoroughly. If you still have questions, feel free to reach out to our staff members.
Jason Bowcutt
Performing Arts
801.897.1367
Past Fellowship Recipients
Performing Arts - View catalog of past recipients and juror statements
Visual Arts - View catalog of past recipients and juror statements
FELLOWSHIP VIDEO PROFILES
From 2010 to 2016, we produced short artist profiles of visual arts fellowship recipients as part of their fellowship awards. The videos, which are linked below, were created in partnership with Artists of Utah/15 Bytes.
- Pam Bowman 2016, Provo
- David Brothers 2016, Salt Lake City
- Hyunmee Lee 2015, Highland
- Wendy Wischer 2014, Salt Lake City
- David Wolske 2014, Salt Lake City
- Mark Finch Hedengren 2013, Provo
- Christopher M. Gauthiér 2013, Logan
- James Charles 2012, Salt Lake City
- Jared Clark 2012, Salt Lake City
- Al Denyer2011, Salt Lake City
- Kathy Puzey 2011, Logan
- Jan Andrews 2010, Salt Lake City
- Joseph Ostraff 2010, Provo