{"id":37481,"date":"2006-09-14T12:02:08","date_gmt":"2006-09-14T18:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=37481"},"modified":"2021-02-01T21:40:53","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T03:40:53","slug":"what-would-you-do-with-10000-the-uacs-fellowship-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/what-would-you-do-with-10000-the-uacs-fellowship-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would You Do With $10,000? The UAC’s Fellowship Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jacqui Biggs Larsen, “Field Guide”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou just won ten thousand dollars!\u201d<\/p>\n

Eighty-five artists hoped to receive that bit of good news this July as they anticipated the results of the Utah Arts Council\u2019s Fellowship Competition.<\/p>\n

And 2006 marks the year of the $10,000 Fellowship Award. Prior to recent board approval, the Fellowship Award was half that amount. The lucky 2006 recipients are Jacqui Biggs Larsen and George Mark England.<\/p>\n

Although receiving the Fellowship award sounds glamorous, the process of getting there is not.<\/p>\n

Larsen notes the drudgery of compiling documents and filling out forms correctly for any grant or award. \u201cThere\u2019s also the challenge of getting the whole kit and caboodle into the mail,\u201d she adds. \u201cOne time I was pushing that late-night postmark deadline and got pulled over by an officer on a dark back road near Kuhni\u2019s, a rendering plant north of Springville, only a mile from the post office. The officer motioned for me to roll down my window. While he sniffed for alcohol on my breath (what artist pushing a deadline could afford to drink?), I caught a whiff of stench from Kuhni\u2019s. \u2018You were practically flying over that hill,\u2019 he said. \u2018Any reason for your hurry?\u2019 I told him, \u2018An art deadline,\u2019 then mumbled to myself, \u2018which is probably hexed now.\u2019 It was. Not only did I not receive the award, I also had to go to traffic school.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to handling rejection, Larsen adopts Samuel Beckett\u2019s mantra: Try again. Fail again. Fail better.<\/p>\n

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Mark England, “Watershed”<\/p><\/div>\n

“The first time I applied for something and got rejected, I collapsed on the floor,\u201d Larsen remembers. \u201cThe force of my art bubble bursting was that great. But the next time, though I may have swayed a bit, I held my ground. Now I know that along with rejections come acceptances, awards and opportunities. It\u2019s an ongoing mixed bag. The more you enter, the greater your chances. And more importantly, the more you enter, the better your work gets\u2014it rises to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting shot down time and time again is something all artists have to deal with. Some deal with it better than others. Mark England, the other 2006 Fellowship recipient has had to learn to deal with rejection as well. \u201cI agonize over whether I wasn’t good enough or whether everyone else is just plain better than me,\u201d he admits. \u201cEither way I am filled with self-doubt. I deal with it by just telling myself this takes time and I have no choice but to work harder at making my art better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes England will apply for several projects at the same time, and even though he gets turned down, he doesn\u2019t let it get him down. Which goes to show that even the biggest winners are also losers. \u201cI just got rejected from a public-art project that I desperately wanted and felt very qualified for. It is very discouraging. But it is only one of many that have come and will come. If you can’t handle this kind of discouragement then you are in the wrong profession. Make sure you have chosen this through thick and thin — like marriage. If not, then you shouldn’t be applying for grants or subjecting yourself to such torture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jacqui Biggs Larsen, “Indigo Walk”<\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe the regular rejection makes the occasional win even more triumphant. England describes his initial reaction upon learning of his Fellowship award as \u201cpure, unadulterated pleasure and satisfaction.\u201d Larsen, on the other hand, experienced brief denial asking, \u201cAre you sure?\u201d when Lila Abersold, visual arts manager and happy messenger, delivered the $10,000 phone call.<\/p>\n

Fellowship recipients automatically receive an exhibition at the Rio Gallery, along with a catalog showcasing their artwork. The recognition and stamp of credibility that comes with being a recipient is invaluable, but the $10,000 is most likely at the top of the perk list. What artist wouldn\u2019t love to go on the ultimate shopping spree at the art supply store or finally finish that studio they\u2019ve been meaning to work on for the past several years?<\/p>\n

Expect something big and amazing at the Rio Gallery come March 2007. With artists as talented as England and Larsen, we couldn\u2019t expect anything less.<\/p>\n

Final thoughts on receiving the 2006 Fellowship Award:<\/p>\n

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Mark England, “Watershed”<\/p><\/div>\n

Larsen: \u201cThough the art life we live daily should be reason enough to keep those brushes in hand, who can\u2019t use an outside voice from time to time telling us to keep on? Receiving an award pushes the pause button on my self-critiques, and points out what\u2019s right with my work \u2013 not only to myself, but also to dealers, collectors, curators, and even my neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

England: “WHOOOOHOOO!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou just won ten thousand dollars!\u201d Eighty-five artists hoped to receive that bit of good news this July as they anticipated the results of the Utah Arts Council\u2019s Fellowship Competition. And 2006 marks the year of the $10,000 Fellowship Award. Prior to recent board approval, the Fellowship Award […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":781,"featured_media":56591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[392,2969,1748],"class_list":["post-37481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual_arts","tag-george-mark-england","tag-jacqui-biggs-larsen","tag-visual-art-fellowships"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/67-1.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-20 11:41:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/781"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37481"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56596,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37481\/revisions\/56596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}