The Lenore G. Tawney Fellowship at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Project Overview
This opportunity seeks to foster new engagement with pioneer fiber artist Lenore G. Tawney’s art environment that is installed at JMKAC’s Art Preserve and part of the institution’s collection. In 2019, JMKAC worked with the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation to acquire hundreds of key components from Tawney’s last studio environment with assistance from Kohler Foundation, Inc. The collection and installation include organic items such as feathers, eggshells, and bones that were arranged in her space alongside studio tools, skeins of thread, collectibles, and mementos she acquired in her extensive travels. In addition to important works by Tawney, the collection also features work by numerous other artists including Tony DeLap, Wharton Esherick, Ben Shahn, Toshiko Takaezu, Peter Voulkos, Beatrice Wood, and Albert Zahn.
In keeping with Tawney’s interdisciplinary spirit, candidates may apply with projects that study overlooked aspects of works and movements related to Tawney, and/or discuss previously unexplored connections between those works and art from other disciplines. When accepted, fellows will be invited to conduct onsite research at JMKAC, using the Tawney collection as well as other JMKAC resources.
Conceived to foster independent research, the Fellowship will offer a framework tailored to each scholar’s field of inquiry.
Though primarily a research Fellowship, the fellow will be expected to share a lecture, essay, exhibition, symposium, work of art, or similar outcome to JMKAC before the fellowship ends.
Education and Eligibility
The Fellowship is open to scholars, writers, curators, and artists at all educational levels with demonstrated engagement in research, study, or other activities relevant to the study of the collection.
Anticipated Schedule
The anticipated start date is May 2023 with an end date no later than December 2023, but adjustments may be considered to fit the fellow’s schedule.
Fellowship Stipend
The Fellowship includes a stipend of $30,000 and funds for travel, accommodation, research materials, and translation up to $10,000 for the entire Fellowship period. This position is part-time and not eligible for benefits. The fellow is not expected to be in residence in Sheboygan, WI, for the term of the Fellowship.
Application Instructions and Deadline
Please submit cover letter, résumé, and a writing or work sample by November 14, 2022.
References will be requested and candidates will be asked to interview with the jury if selected to move on to next round of the application process.
Application deadline: November 14, 2022 (Announcement made in early 2023.)
Additional Information
To promote a safe and healthy work environment all employees working in our facilities are required to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated. Requests for reasonable accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable law.
We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.
This Fellowship is generously supported by endowment funds provided by the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation.
In 2019, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center presented Mirror of the Universe, a critically acclaimed series of four exhibitions curated by Karen Patterson that explored Lenore Tawney’s life and the impact of her work, in collaboration with the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation and the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The accompanying publication, titled Lenore Tawney: Mirror of the Universe, was recognized by the Art Libraries Society of North America for excellence in art publishing.
Since 1984, when the Arts Center first acquired works from the art environment created by self-taught artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, it has centered its exhibitions, research, and programs on the conviction that significant, original, and compelling works of art are created everywhere, by people from a broad spectrum of life experiences.
Lenore Tawney’s (1907–2007) innovative interpretations of traditional fiber practices were central to shifting the perception of weaving from a utilitarian craft to fiber art as we know it today. Tawney’s unorthodox sculptural works took weaving beyond the expected flat rectangular format, moving fiber art off the wall and into three-dimensional space. Tawney’s interdisciplinary oeuvre also spanned drawing, collage, and assemblage.
In 2019, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center worked closely with the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation to acquire hundreds of key components from the artist’s last studio environment with assistance from Kohler Foundation, Inc. The 486-piece collection includes artwork, collages, assemblages, furniture, and supplies.
An installation of Tawney’s studio environment is on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s Art Preserve, which opened in 2021 and provides the public and researchers year-round access to an unparalleled collection of art environments that now includes works by more than 30 artists.
More information on the Lenore G. Tawney collection at JMKAC can be found here: https://www.jmkac.org/artist/lenore-tawney/
