Meet the 2023 McKnight Fiber Artist Fellows
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM
Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s Arts & Culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982. The McKnight Artist Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently the foundation contributes about $2.8 million per year to its statewide fellowships. To learn more about McKnight Artist Fellowships, visit: mcknight.org/artistfellowships.
ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts in Minnesota, neuroscience, and international crop research. mcknight.org
A focus on racial equity is at the heart of the McKnight approach to funding. Along with Textile Center, our organizations value diversity and equity, seeking to be inclusive and accessible to all applicants. We welcome and encourage applications from artists representing diverse cultural perspectives.
ABOUT THE MARJORIE FEDYSZEN
Marjorie Fedyszyn addresses the universal experiences of loss and human vulnerability, and the palpable tension around it, through her sculptural practice in textiles. Careful attention to process and the inherent properties of materials informs her creative vocabulary for this work, which simultaneously expresses ideas from broad environmental concern to personal grief and introspection. Using traditional craft techniques such as paper making, hand stitching, and felt making, Fedyszyn’s forms and installations emerge as emotional histories that investigate ideas of control and the realms of the personal and the global. Her work has been exhibited regionally and throughout the US, including the Silverwood Park Gallery in St. Anthony, Hopkins Center for the Arts, South Dakota Museum of Art, Duluth Art Institute, Sebastopol Arts Center in CA, and the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY. Fedyszyn has been a Jerome Visual Arts Fellow and a Jerome Fiber Artist Project Grantee, as well as having received two Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grants to support her work.
ABOUT THE DELINA WHITE
Delina White is a Native apparel designer, beadwork artist, and enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Grounded in the traditional designs of the Great Lakes Woodland Anishinaabeg, her artist-designed fabrics utilize contemporary materials in her wearable works. As an intergenerational, cultural knowledge keeper, White communicates the values and beliefs of the original people of the Great Lakes Woodlands as passed from her grandmother and her grandmother before her, using apparel as a catalyst to wider approaches of learning, research, and creative exploration with her community. She has produced and participated in numerous fashion shows including Northern Lights: A Native Nation Fashion Night in Minneapolis, the SW Association of Indian Arts fashion shows, and Walker Art Center’s 2Spirit Fashion Show. White was recognized as one of six Star Tribune 2019 Artists of the Year for her work with Hearts of Our People, Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ landmark exhibition, and was named a 2020 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow by the First Peoples Fund. She has also been recipient of a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and a US Artists Fellowship in Traditional Arts.