Greer Fellowship deadline extended

The Bloomington Area Arts Council announced Thursday that the application deadline for the Greer Artist Fellowships has been extended through Aug. 31, according to a Bloomington Area Arts Council press release. Four $1,000 fellowships are available to artists working in the fields of creative writing and ceramics. \nThe fellowships were established by Charles Greer, recently retired IU professor of geography and East Asian studies, in honor of his son Jason and daughter-in-law Lucy, who were killed in a boating accident in Alaska. \nIt was their careers – Jason, a writer and the 1989 valedictorian at Bloomington High School North, and Lucy, a ceramicist – that inspired the fellowship. Both had histories with the John Waldron Arts Center, Jonna Risher, arts development director for the BAAC, said.\nGreer said the field was reopened to applicants because the number of interested artists has decreased slightly this year. He encouraged people to apply, saying the field is filled with qualified artists but is typically small.\n“We have some good (applicants), but we just want to make it more widely available,” Greer said. “It’s pretty competitive, but there are not a large number of applicants.”\nGreer said the fellowships, which were established through a family foundation, are one of the best ways his family and his daughter-in-law’s family can remember Jason and Lucy Greer. \n“It’s the best kind of public way that we have of remembering and kind of carrying on,” Greer said. \nGreer said the John Waldron Arts Center and the BAAC are crucial in the success of the fellowship program, now in its seventh year.\n“Without the Arts Center, we wouldn’t have been able to make the impact that we’ve been able to,” Greer said. \nRisher said Charles Greer was the driving force behind the establishment of the fellowships.\n“This exists because of his energy and his desire,” Risher said. \nGreer said the fellowships are to help defray certain costs associated with starting a career in the two particular forms of art in question, such as closing a first book deal or submitting slides for ceramics competitions and shows. \nRisher said the BAAC considers the fellowships valuable because they help the council fulfill its mission of supporting the arts in Region Eight, their field of focus with regard to supporting the arts. Region Eight, one of 12 regions statewide, consists of Monroe, Owen, Brown, Lawrence and Greene Counties. Only artists from those counties may apply for the fellowships. \n“(The fellowships) have tremendous benefit for the Arts Council because they support and promote artists in our region, which is why we exist,” Risher said. “As the region’s arts council, we are only too happy to assist in promotion of a fund like this.”\nRisher said the BAAC extended the application deadline simply because the council wanted to give more interested artists time to apply. \nStudents cannot apply for the fellowships. Risher said the fellowships are not meant to exclude students but they are instead simply meant to support “mid-career” artists.\nApplicants are required to be at least 21 years-old. Those applicants who win one of the fellowships must “provide documentation of funded activities” by the end of the grant period, according to the release. That submission deadline for applicants for this year’s fellowships falls on Sept. 20, 2008. \nGreer said he enjoys staying in touch with former fellowship recipients and hearing of their success and appreciation. \n“(Former recipients) all stayed with the career and are committed to it,” Greer said. “I hear from several of them ... and they remember with thanks.”