The 2019 Christenberry Scholarship

The late William Christenberry was best known for his evocative photographs, collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings, and sculptures of his birthplace, Hale County, Alabama, and for his haunting vision of the American South.  As a teacher and mentor to hundreds of students at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC he was a guiding force for aspiring artists.

To honor his legacy, Washington, DC’s Studio Gallery is offering The Christenberry Fellowship.  Through it, local emerging artists gain their first entry to a professional gallery, where they can join a broad and diverse artistic community and display and market their work alongside that of established artists.

A grant underwriting this fellowship worth $1,000 annually was made possible by Jeff Mace.  It enables the selected fellow to join the artist-run, cooperative for one year (with renewal possibility), without having to pay the normal fellowship member fee and to skip the normal jurying process for Studio Gallery membership.

The goal is to expose new artists to the greater Washington, DC art world and to increase their professional skills by displaying their works within a gallery setting.  Local emerging artists learn to: create a cohesive body of work, refine it with a curator, optimize its exhibition design and lighting selections, and maximize its potential for purchase through marketing,  promotion, and sales techniques.  In addition, by joining an artist-run gallery, they meet and interact with a cross-section of working Washington artists for informal networking and mentoring.