News Release: McKnight honors 46 artists and ensembles

August 24, 2005 - The McKnight Foundation will honor 46 artists and ensembles selected for 2005 - 2006 McKnight artist fellowships and residencies at a private reception in August.

The McKnight Foundation will honor 46 artists and ensembles selected for 2005 - 2006 McKnight artist fellowships and residencies at a private reception in August. McKnight's is the largest geographically focused arts fellowship program in the country, providing fellowships of $25,000 per year to Minnesota artists.

Support for individual artists has been a cornerstone of The McKnight Foundation's arts program since its inception. Arts cannot flourish or enhance community life without the ideas, energy, and drive of individual artists, and artists cannot make these contributions without unfettered creative time. A fellowship can help an artist set aside periods of time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; take advantage of an opportunity; or work on a new project.

A complete list of fellows and national artists in residence is below.

ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS

Including this year's awards, the Foundation has funded over 1,200 artist fellowships since 1982. McKnight currently gives about $1.7 million per year to support fellowship programs run by nonprofit arts organizations representing 12 media.

This year's fellowships were administered by the American Composers Forum (composers), IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul (screenwriters and filmmakers), The Loft (writers), Playwrights' Center (playwrights and theater artists), MacPhail Center for the Arts (musicians), Minneapolis College of Art and Design (visual artists), Southern Theater (choreographers and dancers), Northern Clay Center (ceramic artists), and the University of Minnesota Art Department (photographers).

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION

The McKnight Foundation was founded in 1953 and endowed by William L. McKnight and Maude L. McKnight. It has assets of approximately $2 billion and granted nearly $85 million in 2004. Mr. McKnight was one of the early leaders of the 3M Company, although the Foundation is independent of 3M. For more information about the Foundation or the arts program, please visit McKnight's website at www.mcknight.org.

2005-2006 MCKNIGHT ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS

CERAMIC ARTISTS
Fellowships: Maren Kloppmann and Tetsuya Yamada, both of Minneapolis
Residencies: Hide Sadohara, Philadelphia, PA; Yonghee Joo, Cliffside Park, NY; Edith Garcia, London, England; Audrius Janusonis, Alytus, Lithuania

CHOREOGRAPHERS
Fellowships: Cynthia Stevens, St. Paul; Shawn McConneloug, and Mathew Janczewski, both of Minneapolis

COMPOSERS
Fellowships: Yawo Attivor, Carol Barnett, and Thomas Scott, all of Minneapolis; Eric Barnum, Mankato Visiting Fellows: Susan Haugh, Pittsburg, PA; Todd Hammes, Tuscon, AZ

DANCERS
Fellowships: Stephanie Fellner and Mariusz Olszewski, both of Minneapolis; Megan Flood, St. Paul

FILMMAKERS
Fellowships: David Eberhardt, St. Paul; Scott Coleman Miller, Minneapolis

MUSICIANS
Fellowships: Connie Evingson, Amy and Sara Hamann, and the Ross/Rapier Cello Duo, all of Minneapolis; Voice Trek, Mendota Heights

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Fellowships: Richard Copley, Todd Deutsch, and Natasha D'Schommer, all of Minneapolis; Meg Ojala of Dundas

PLAYWRIGHTS
Fellowships: Carlyle Brown, Carolyn Goelzer, and Jordan Harrison, all of Minneapolis
Residency and Commission: Kathleen Tolan, Brooklyn, NY

SCREENWRITERS
Fellowships: Patrick Coyle, Minneapolis; Bob Yates, White Bear Lake.

THEATER ARTISTS
Fellowships: Warren Bowles, Bob Davis, and Sonja Parks, all of Minneapolis

VISUAL ARTISTS
Fellowships: Jay Lance Wittenberg, David Lefkowitz, Aaron Van Dyke, and Suzanne Kosmalski, all of St. Paul

WRITERS
Fellowships in Creative Prose: Margaret Todd Maitland, St. Paul; Valerie Miner, Dara Moskowitz and Jane Jeong Trenka of Minneapolis
Fellowship in Children's Literature: Anne Ylvisaker


Contact
Tim Hanrahan, 612-333-4220