McKnight Foundation celebrates 30 years of artist fellowships

Over the past 30 years, The McKnight Foundation has supported more than 1,100 individual artists through its Artist Fellowships program. To mark the program’s anniversary, the foundation hosted a celebration on June 16 with hundreds of artist fellows in attendance, work commissioned from former fellows for the event, and remarks by NEA Chair Rocco Landesman and nationally renowned storyteller Kevin Kling. The Foundation planned the event with the intent that artists would leave feeling “valued, respected, inspired—and perhaps even loved.” Artists who received fellowships in 1982 came together with those whose fellowships were just announced a few weeks before. Said one fellow, “It was a little overwhelming—that much awesome in one place…”

The McKnight Foundation has also launched a blog, State of the Artist, to facilitate conversation with about artists over the course of the year. They plan to post links to Chairman Landesman’s and Kling’s remarks later this month.