Rasmuson Individual Artist Awards deadline approaching

WASILLA — The Rasmuson Foundation hosted a workshop for artists interested in applying for the Individual Artist Awards on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at MyHouse in Wasilla. The workshop’s aim was to familiarize Mat-Su Valley artists with the application process, and assist them in improving their applications.

The deadline for applying to the Individual Artist Awards is March 1.

Now in its 14^th year, the awards program grants 25 Alaskan artists $7,500 each in the project awards category; and 10 Alaskan artists $18,000 each for fellowships.

Jeff Baird, a program officer with Rasmuson Foundation, said the project awards are meant for early and emerging to mature artists who have a specific project that they would like to accomplish within a year. The fellowships, he said, are for more mature artists. Instead of being outcome based, they are meant to provide recipients opportunities for “growth and development.”

“It’s artists who have created an independent body of work, and have made a recognized contribution to their discipline,” Baird said. “The guidelines say about five to 10 years. I’ve been playing guitar for 21 years and I’m not a mid-career artist, so, obviously, there’s some self-reflection in there for artists who are more advanced.”

The Individual Artist Awards also include the Distinguished Artist Award, which is based on nominations.

“With this program, you realize what a rich depth of artistic talent Alaska has,” Baird said. “We are so lucky, and that is the tricky part of this. We probably will get close to 400 applications, and the panel is going to have the difficult job of selecting 25 project award winners and 10 fellowships. There’s always quality applications, amazing artists who aren’t funded each year, because it’s such a competitive process.”

Baird said the panel of judges for project awards and fellowships comes from around the United States, and an all-Alaska panel selects the Distinguished Artist Award winner. He said that more than 400 artists have been awarded more than $3.5 million dollars since the awards program began in 2002.

For more information about the workshop or the Individual Artist Awards program, go to www.rasmuson.org, or call (907) 297-2700. The Rasmuson Foundation has also made an audio recording of the Anchorage workshop available online, at https://soundcloud.com/rasmuson/recording-of-01202017-individual-artist-awards-application-workshop.