CAMP Rehoboth Honors Annual DDA Fellowship Winners
CAMP Rehoboth hosted a reception for the annual Delaware Division of the Arts (DDA) individual artist fellowship awards this past Thursday.
This is the eighth year that CAMP Rehoboth has been selected as a venue for the DDA award winners, says Leslie Sinclair, a member of the CAMP Rehoboth visual arts team. This year is the 24th year of this program with its accompanying exhibition.
Sinclair joined several of the artists along with DDA and Biggs staff for a photo op during the program!
Twenty Delaware artists are recognized by the DDA for their work in this exhibition. It’s an annual program with an August 1 deadline. For this exhibition, the Division received work samples from 149 Delaware artists representing 20 artistic disciplines. The 20 winners are selected by out-of-state arts professionals who reviewed their submissions.
Awards are given in three categories: $12,000 for the masters, $8,000 for the established professional, and $5,000 for the emerging professional.
Fellows are required to offer at least one exhibition or performance during the upcoming year, providing an opportunity for the public to experience their work. The show travels from the Biggs Museum of American Art to CAMP Rehoboth and finally to the Cab Calloway School of the Arts later in September and October.
Several of the awardees who attended last week’s opening are locals, especially in literature.
Samantha Facciolo, receiving an emerging fellowship in fiction, comes from Long Neck. She says “It’s been a tremendous experience being one of the artist fellows. I had come most recently from New York, so to be introduced to a community of writers and artists in the area has been terrific, and to get to know one another’s work, to get to share our work and to be supported by the state has been fantastic.” She read from her soon-to-be-published historical fiction novel.
Another local and former Rehoboth Beach police sergeant, Victor Letonoff, received an established fellowship in creative nonfiction. He credits his editor and wife, Maribeth Fischer, for his inspiration. Her book, A Season of Perfect Happiness, is coming out on August 20 from Penguin Random House!
Letonoff started as a sculptor and a decorative blacksmith. Then he was a Rehoboth Beach police officer for nearly 20 years. He read an excerpt from his essay entitled “O.I.S.,” which is cop-speak for officer-involved shooting.
Michael Kardos, who received an established fellowship in fiction, also comes from Rehoboth Beach. In his youth, Kardos ran a magic booth on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore. When he began to write, he was drawn into the beach, and in his third novel, he began to write about magic.
Rebecca Raubacher, who received an established fellowship award in painting, comes from Rehoboth Beach. That’s her giving the audience a demonstration of how she creates her art such as the large pieces for which she is known. In the background is one of those mixed-media artworks, Striding Woman.
A complete list of awardees is on the DDA website. This exhibition will remain on display at CAMP Rehoboth through September 9.
