Meet the 2013 Individual Artist Fellowship Recipients

The Maine Arts Commission’s Fellowships reward artistic excellence, advance the careers of Maine artists and promote public awareness regarding the eminence of the creative sector in Maine. The awards are made on the sole basis of artistic excellence. Each Fellow receives an award of $13,000.

This year we are proud to announce five awards as there is a new category for functional craft thanks to generous support from the Belvedere Fund of the Maine Community Foundation.

Our five Fellows for 2013 are Ellen Wieske from Deer Isle (Functional Craft), Jessica Anthony from Portland (Literary Arts), Cecily Pingree from North Haven Island (Media and Performing Arts), Anna Hepler, from Eastport (Visual Arts), and Bill Mackowski, from Milford (Traditional Arts).

Ellen Wieske is a working metalsmith who maintains a studio/gallery on Deer Isle. She has been a teacher for more than 20 years and is the assistant director of the Haystack School of Craft. Her wire workshop techniques have been documented and published in the book Weekend Crafter, Wire released by Lark Books in October 2001.

Jessica Anthony is an award winning author who currently teaches at Bates College. Her work has appeared in McSweeney's, Best American Voices, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Mid-American Review and New American Writing.

Cecily Pingree is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer whose work has focused on political and social issues. Some of her projects have been for The New York Times, National Geographic, and the Gates Foundation.

Anna Hepler is a visual artist who began her work as a printmaker. She now explores other mediums and her work has been shown in countless prestigious institutions world-wide. Some of these institutions include the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Tate Gallery, London, England, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

Bill Mackowski is a traditional artist who is very much connected to Maine’s natural world through his countless pursuits and interests. He is a registered Maine guide, a bush pilot and maker of fishing creels, pack baskets and snowshoes. His interests focus on the preservation of Maine traditions and he has learned these from various sources during his career.

Full details of our 2013 Fellows, including quotes and videos, can be found online at MaineArts.com.