Press Release – New York, NY— December 19, 2018 — Ucross, a prestigious artists’ residency program and creative lab for the arts located in Wyoming’s majestic High Plains, today announced that Heidi K. Brandow, a multi-disciplinary artist with an active painting, printmaking, and social-engagement practice, has been awarded the third Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists. The award includes a one-month residency at Ucross, a stipend of $2,000, and inclusion in a forthcoming exhibition at the Ucross Foundation Art Gallery.
Brandow hails from a long line of Native Hawaiian singers, musicians, and traditional dancers on her mother’s side, and Diné storytellers and medicine people on her father’s side. As a painter, Brandow’s work is process driven, and consistently explores and incorporates a variety of materials and patterns. The intentional use of varied materials, and bright and bold colors in Brandow’s work are a reflection of her inspiration, which is drawn from personal, cultural reflections of popular culture. She is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, and has studied design at Istanbul Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey and the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She follows interdisciplinary artist Sydney Pursel and mixed-media artist Brenda Malloryin receiving the honor. In 2018, both Native American Fellows gave presentations at Sheridan College’s Whitney Center for the Arts during their residencies.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be selected as the 2019 Ucross Native American Fellow. As an artist with an active arts practice, a full-time commitment to the Institute of American Indian Arts, and a family, I am grateful for Ucross’ support in granting me the time, space, and resources to enhance my craft and create in such a beautiful setting.” said Brandow on receiving the Fellowship.
“We are thrilled to support the work of Heidi Brandow, who is one of the most exciting artists in visual arts today,” said Ucross President Sharon Dynak. “It is an immense honor to continue this important new Fellowship initiative that recognizes and celebrates contemporary Native American artists. We look forward to Brandow’s residency at Ucross this spring, and to the exhibition of her work next year.”
Initiated in 2017, the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists supports the work of contemporary Native American creatives at all stages of their professional careers. It is open to disciplines that include, but are not limited to, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, video, performance art, installation, ceramics, and projects involving multiple disciplines. Two Fellowships are awarded annually, one each in spring and fall. Art by the program’s first two Native American honorees, Sydney Pursel (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) and Brenda Mallory (Cherokee Nation), will be featured in the exhibition Intricate Form at the Museum of Art | Fort Collins from January 18-March 17, 2019, and at the Ucross Art Gallery from June 3-September 28, 2019. An artists’ reception will take place at the Ucross gallery on June 21, 2019.
The next application deadline for the fellowship is March 1st, 2019. Major support for the Fellowship has been provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Additional information about Ucross can be found on their website.
About Ucross
Located in northeast Wyoming in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, Ucross fosters the creative spirit of deeply committed artists and groups by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of the majestic High Plains, while serving as a good steward of its 20,000-acre ranch. Residencies are awarded to nearly one hundred artists each year. Ten artists are in residence at one time, typically a mix of four visual artists, four writers and two composers.
Since its establishment in 1981, Ucross has provided over 2,000 residencies to writers, visual artists, and composers, including such distinguished fellows as Annie Proulx, Terry Tempest Williams, Colson Whitehead, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Ricky Ian Gordon, Bill Morrison, Theaster Gates, Anthony Hernandez, Academy Award and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and recent National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez. Other Ucross national partners include the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, the Alliance of Artist Communities, and the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction. The Ucross Foundation Art Gallery is a significant cultural resource for surrounding communities and beyond. For further information, visit www.ucrossfoundation.org.
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