The UM-Flint Arts + Culture Research Cluster together with Buckham Fine Arts Project | Buckham Gallery announces first Emerging Artist Fellowship recipient.
Buckham Fine Arts Project with University of Michigan - Flint Arts + Culture Research Cluster announces My Proulx as first Emerging Artist Fellowship recipient.
The Emerging Artist Fellowship collaboration between the Arts + Culture Research Cluster at University of Michigan - Flint and Buckham Fine Arts Project provides a nourishing space for artists to grow and acquire essential professional development opportunities to succeed as they enter the art world. This collaboration and Fellowship were established in 2021. Submissions to the Fellowship were reviewed by a committee of UM-Flint faculty, students, as well as Buckham artists and leadership. The review committee interviewed a short list of the applicants and ultimately, My Proulx was selected for the fellowship.
“Proulx demonstrated connections to the community, enthusiasm for the project, and huge potential for growth within this mentorship,” explained Michele Leclaire, Executive Director of Buckham Fine Arts Project.
Buckham Fine Arts Project with University of Michigan - Flint Arts + Culture Research Cluster announces My Proulx as first Emerging Artist Fellowship recipient.
The Emerging Artist Fellowship collaboration between the Arts + Culture Research Cluster at University of Michigan - Flint and Buckham Fine Arts Project provides a nourishing space for artists to grow and acquire essential professional development opportunities to succeed as they enter the art world. This collaboration and Fellowship were established in 2021. Submissions to the Fellowship were reviewed by a committee of UM-Flint faculty, students, as well as Buckham artists and leadership. The review committee interviewed a short list of the applicants and ultimately, My Proulx was selected for the fellowship.
“Proulx demonstrated connections to the community, enthusiasm for the project, and huge potential for growth within this mentorship,” explained Michele Leclaire, Executive Director of Buckham Fine Arts Project.
My Proulx produces lifestyle, street, and photojournalism-style images through active exploration of unique spaces and the people who navigate and interact within them. As an emerging artist, she is exploring our biological and interpersonal relationships with light and the ways we communicate through physical and implied space. Proulx’s background and experience is a culmination of Language Arts, Visual Communications, and Education, having practiced drawing and other artistic mediums including music and dance performance without discrimination at every stage of life. She currently works as a freelance event and portrait photographer in the beautifully diverse and culture-rich communities in and around Flint, Michigan under the business name Plain Air Photography.
"My goal for the work I'll be developing through the UM-Flint/Buckham Gallery Fellowship is primarily to create art that resonates, almost as a beacon. I want people to view my work and be attracted to the energy, moods, vibes, etc., translate that into curiosity within themselves, and then, hopefully into action. I want people to wonder about the creative process (i.e. how we arrived at where we are now) then realize they can come join us so we can make art together. And then I'll take pictures of that and it'll go full circle,” shared Proulx.
About Emerging Artist Fellowship
The Emerging Artist Fellowship is a collaboration between Buckham Fine Arts Project and the Arts + Culture Research Cluster. The fellowship runs January through June 2022 and offers mentoring, consulting, technical and promotion support to assist the fellow on their creative path. In addition to an honorarium, fellows are provided studio space, awarded for supplies, instruction, workshops, or other uses specifically related to the growth and development of the artist's artistic work. Fellows receive professional development and growth opportunities through mentorship from Buckham artists, and A+C faculty. As mentors, they help each fellow integrate into local and regional markets and access professional development through increased visibility, marketing, and networking.
“The fellowship includes access to UM-Flint's art studios, woodshop, soundstage, and studio space at Riverbank Arts, a new community-centered space for creatives, community members, and academics to develop and find support for artistic and cultural production in Flint,” explained Benjamin Gaydos, Associate Professor of Design and Chair, Arts + Culture Research Cluster.
“It is the mission of Buckham Fine Arts Project to enrich the cultural life of its surrounding communities by presenting a broad range of innovative contemporary art, both visual and performance, of the highest quality and standard. It is our vision to support the growth of artists in our community through opportunities to engage with sometimes challenging works of art or finding new ways to view and think about art,” added Leclaire.
"My goal for the work I'll be developing through the UM-Flint/Buckham Gallery Fellowship is primarily to create art that resonates, almost as a beacon. I want people to view my work and be attracted to the energy, moods, vibes, etc., translate that into curiosity within themselves, and then, hopefully into action. I want people to wonder about the creative process (i.e. how we arrived at where we are now) then realize they can come join us so we can make art together. And then I'll take pictures of that and it'll go full circle,” shared Proulx.
About Emerging Artist Fellowship
The Emerging Artist Fellowship is a collaboration between Buckham Fine Arts Project and the Arts + Culture Research Cluster. The fellowship runs January through June 2022 and offers mentoring, consulting, technical and promotion support to assist the fellow on their creative path. In addition to an honorarium, fellows are provided studio space, awarded for supplies, instruction, workshops, or other uses specifically related to the growth and development of the artist's artistic work. Fellows receive professional development and growth opportunities through mentorship from Buckham artists, and A+C faculty. As mentors, they help each fellow integrate into local and regional markets and access professional development through increased visibility, marketing, and networking.
“The fellowship includes access to UM-Flint's art studios, woodshop, soundstage, and studio space at Riverbank Arts, a new community-centered space for creatives, community members, and academics to develop and find support for artistic and cultural production in Flint,” explained Benjamin Gaydos, Associate Professor of Design and Chair, Arts + Culture Research Cluster.
“It is the mission of Buckham Fine Arts Project to enrich the cultural life of its surrounding communities by presenting a broad range of innovative contemporary art, both visual and performance, of the highest quality and standard. It is our vision to support the growth of artists in our community through opportunities to engage with sometimes challenging works of art or finding new ways to view and think about art,” added Leclaire.