CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship
The CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship was created to celebrate contemporary art, and to support the continued creative work of exceptional Tennessee artists. Unlike other fellowships, nominations and applications from artists are not solicited. A committee of APSU Art + Design faculty compiles a list of outstanding artists from across the state and selects the fellowship recipient. Through the generous support of the Center of Excellence in the Creative Arts (CECA), the selected artist receives $5,000 to aid in the creation of new artwork.
“Since APSU is the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts for the entire state of Tennessee, we wanted to find a way to support artists state-wide,” said Barry Jones, who was chair of the APSU Department of Art and Design at the time the fellowship was established. “There is an incredible amount of amazing artists here, but unfortunately there isn’t much financial support for them. We hope that this fellowship helps a Tennessee artist maintain their practice and to know that we support what they are doing.”
2022-2023 Recipient, Yancy Villa
The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) is pleased to announce that artist Yancy Villa of Memphis, Tennessee, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022-2023 Tennessee Artist Fellowship.
“We’re excited to award the 2022-23 CECA TN Artist Fellowship to Yancy Villa of Memphis.
We are impressed with Yancy’s work within her Memphis community. Her work appears
in diverse forms ranging from visual art to activism to performing art to curation
to urban planning, and she is an excellent example of someone who is expanding the
perception of the role that artists play within a community. Her work seeks to create
awareness, engage in conversation, and encourage action on issues of social justice,
equality, and community prosperity. Her art and artivism provide ‘a platform to see that within our complex humanity, there exists common
ground and encourages civic engagement for the betterment of our shared space.’”
Ludden will give a public lecture about her work in the Spring of 2023.
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Artivism: ICE by Yancy Villa
Past Recipients
- Ashton Ludden (Knoxville, TN)
- Benjy Russell (Dowelltown, TN)
- Karen Seapker (Donelson, TN)
- Carl Moore (Memphis, TN)
- Bryce McCloud (Nashville, TN)
- Andrew Scott Ross (Johnson City, TN)
Alicia Henry
The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the Department of Art and Design are pleased to announce the 2016-17 recipient of the CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship, Alicia Henry. AT 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, artist Alicia Henry will present a public lecture on her work at Austin Peay State University.
Alicia Henry received her B.F.A. at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her M. F.A. at Yale University School of Art. She also attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Henry has received numerous awards, grants, and residencies, for example: a Ford Foundation Fellowship, a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, Art in General, MacDowell Art Colony and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown residencies, and recently the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art. Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are held in private and public collections across the country, including: Hunter Museum of American Art, Tennessee State Museum, Cheekwood Museum, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum. She is Professor of Art in the Department of Arts and Languages at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Maysey Craddock
On Monday, Nov. 23, 2016, artist Maysey Craddock presented a public lecture on her work at Austin Peay State University. Craddock was the recipient of the inaugural APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts Tennessee Artist Fellowship.
Maysey Craddock received her MFA from the Maine College of Art and a BA from Tulane University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including shows in New York, Stuttgart, Berlin, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, and New Orleans. She is currently represented by David Lusk Gallery in Memphis, Sears Peyton Fine Arts in New York, and Cris Worley Fine Arts in Dallas.
