San Antonio Artist Among 2024 Joan Mitchell Fellows

The Joan Mitchell Foundation has announced the 15 recipients of its fellowship program, including San Antonio-based artist Joe Harjo.

Since its inception in 1993, the Foundation has supported more than 1,000 artists through grants, residencies, and other initiatives. The Joan Mitchell Fellowship was established in 2021 to re-envision the organization’s grant programs to provide sustained support. The initiative awards 15 U.S.-based artists working in painting and sculpture $60,000 in unrestricted funds, distributed over five years. In addition to the grant, artists have opportunities for professional development, peer engagement, and network building.

In a press release, Solana Chehtman, the Director of Artist Programs at the Foundation, noted, “Four years into this new Fellowship model, we’re witnessing a diverse community of practice taking shape. We see clearly the impact of the financial resources, but equally important are the non-monetary supports. We continue to expand the opportunities for gathering and exchange, providing the artists a group of peers with whom they can share experiences, learn new tools and techniques, and discuss the practice-related challenges that can come with being a working artist.” 

Previous awardees with Texas ties include Sedrick Huckaby and José Villalobos, though others have been supported through previous Joan Mitchell Foundation programs. This year’s fellows are Scott Anderson, Albuquerque, NM; Michaela Pilar Brown, Columbia, SC; Victoria Burge, Harrisville, NH; Peggy Chiang, Brooklyn, NY; Ruby Chishti, Brooklyn, NY; Sharif Farrag, Reseda, CA; Emilie Louise Gossiaux, New York, NY; André Leon Gray, Raleigh, NC; Joe Harjo, San Antonio, TX; Rebecca Morris, Los Angeles, CA; Gamaliel Rodríguez, Cabo Rojo, PR; Abigail Kahilikia Romanchak, Waiohuli, HI; Rupy C. Tut, Oakland, CA; Yvonne Wells, Tuscaloosa, AL; and Sandy Williams IV, Richmond, VA.

Artists are nominated and selected for the fellowship through a multi-step process. This year 86 nominators, representing 45 of the 50 states, each proposed two artists. The 154 artist applications were then narrowed following a review by the jury panel, before narrowing the list again to the final recipients. The jurors involved in selecting the 2024 fellows were Valerie Cassel Oliver, the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Adriana Corral, artist, Texas; Michelle Grabner, artist, critic, and independent curator, Wisconsin; and Elana Herzog, artist, New York.

Now based in San Antonio, Joe Harjo was born in Oklahoma City and is a Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma artist. He holds an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a BFA from the University of Central Oklahoma. Mr. Harjo has been awarded numerous residencies, including opportunities at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany, and the Vermont Studio Center.

In a statement on the Joan Mitchell Foundation website, Mr. Harjo states, “Through my work, I strive to create spaces of solace and restoration, where the wounds inflicted by historical trauma and ongoing injustices can be acknowledged and tended to. I seek to evoke a sense of healing and renewal, nurturing connections to language, land, culture, and community as pathways to collective well-being and empowerment.”

Learn more about the Joan Mitchell Fellows and the program via the organization’s website.