Shelby Head, selected for the Tulsa Artist Fellowship 2020-2021

Fernando Luis Álvarez Gallery is proud to announce the Tulsa Artist Fellowship has chosen Shelby Head, one of our artists, as one of the 18 Fellows for the 2020-2021 period. 

Head was selected from a rich group of more than 1,200 artists reflecting a wide range of artistic disciplines by a nationwide panel of arts professionals. This year’s panel was formed by Will Hutnick (Artist, Curator, and Director of Artistic Program at Wassaic Project), Hai-Dang Phan (Author, Translator, and Professor at Grinnell College), Megan Stielstra (Author & Educator with Catapult and The OpEd Project), Hannibal Johnson (Attorney, Author, and Education Consultant), Bora Kim (Director of Artists Residencies, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council), Leslie Moody Castro (Independent Contemporary Arts Curator), Sienna Brown (Curator, Arts and Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic), Eric Ekstrand (Writer and Professor at Wake Forest University; Past TAF Recipient), Jave Yoshimoto (Artist and Professor at University of Nebraska; Past TAF Recipient).1    

According to Tulsa Artist Fellowship’s website, “the selected artists will receive a $20,000 stipend alongside fully subsidized living and studio space in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This year’s Incoming Fellows will also join second-year Tulsa Artist Fellows and Arts Integration Awardees, growing the program to 70 contemporary artists in residence throughout 2020-2021.”  

Art is highly celebrated in Tulsa, that’s why fellows will also be expected to engage with the city’s community through activities like open studios, public readings, discursive events, and performances.  

The Tulsa Artist Fellowship was established in 2015 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and it is now entering its sixth fellowship cycle and continues responding dynamically to the critical needs of rigorously practicing artistic professionals. As stated by Carolyn Sickles, executive director of Tulsa Artist Fellowship, “the George Kaiser Family Foundation recognizes the arts as essential. Now more than ever, it is critical to provide artists and arts workers with support to actualize their creative projects in tandem with maintaining stable housing and studio spaces. Tulsa Artist Fellowship is committed to fostering an equitable environment where a diverse and inclusive community of socially engaged makers have the opportunity to thrive professionally.”