ST BOTOLPH CLUB FOUNDATION
The St Botolph Club Foundation traces its origins to the granting of the first Distinguished Artist Award in 1963. The Foundation and its Cultural Fund were subsequentially established in 1967 to support artists based in New England, primarily in the fields of music, literature and the visual arts. In 2014 the Heritage Fund was added to the Foundation, focused on the preservation of the Club’s historic residence and its art collection. The non-profit Foundation is supported by the generous contributions of members and friends of the St. Botolph Club. Among the Foundation’s activities are two prestigious award programs:
- The Distinguished Artist Award is presented each year to an artist who has demonstrated outstanding talent and an exceptional diversity of accomplishments and who has also made substantial contributions as a teacher, mentor or advocate. Recent recipients include Ann Beattie, short fiction writer; Rhoda Rosenberg, printmaker; Balla Kouyaté, balafon virtuoso; and The Borromeo String Quartet.
- Emerging Artist Awards are given each year to artists at an early stage in their careers. The Foundation seeks situations where the award will make a difference in artists’ careers through the combination of financial support, recognition and encouragement. Since 1981 the Foundation has provided $1.3 million in support to more than 700 emerging artists in New England.
If you wish to participate in a Foundation award program or contribute to the Cultural or Heritage Funds, please contact the Foundation administrator Kate Andres at Katesbcf@gmail.com.
Distinguished Artist Awards Recipients:
Rhoda Rosenberg
2024 Distinguished Artist Award:
Rhoda’s work is a lens through which she views her own past.
Balla Kouyate
2023 Distinguished Artist Award: World International Music
Keeper of Traditions, Composer, Arranger, Innovator and Teacher.
Ann Beattie
2022 Distinguished Artist Award: Short Fiction
Ann Beattie’s nearly five-decade writing career has demonstrated an outstandingly prolific output and massive talent.
Emerging Artist Awards Recipients:
Brianna Robinson
2019 Emerging Artist Award: Music
“The Award meant that I could travel to the Czech Republic with an incredible program called OpernFest Prague. I am very grateful to continue my passion for opera & performance.”
Jonathan Shin
2019 Emerging Artist Award: Music
“I was commissioned to compose an orchestral suite celebrating my country’s Bicentennial. Thanks to the grant, I was able to fly back to Singapore to do research about my nation.”
Ashleigh Gordon
2015 Emerging Artist Award: Music
“The award allowed me to meld some of my biggest passions: traveling, new music and culture. I was fortunate to further develop my craft with new artists and audiences in new territory.”
Steve Cowperthwaite
2013 Emerging Artist Award: Literature
“The Award enabled me to do things I couldn’t afford. I published a book of my poems! Your willingness to invest in a late bloomer has given me a new perspective on life.”
Clara Kim
2020 Emerging Artist Award: Music
“It is amazing to have my dream supported. It has meant absolutely everything to me to be encouraged to carry on, to be inspired to keep dreaming and creating.”
A. H. Jerriod Avant
2019 Emerging Artist Award: Literature
“The grant was timely and extremely instrumental in the progress of my writing. It carved out the time necessary to dedicate toward the careful shaping of what will become my first collection of poems.”
Destiny Palmer
2018 Emerging Artist Award: Visual
“To win this award is to be validated, to be heard and seen, in what I do as an artist. I’m grateful to have been given the stability to continue my growth in my paintings.”
Sam Okerstrom-Lang
2015 Emerging Artist Award: Visual
“Thanks to this award, I was able to take the time to build and establish my artist website, a critical asset to my portfolio and network.”
Whitney Scharer
2015 Emerging Artist Award: Literature
“The grant gave me the chance to fund time to work on my writing without feeling like there was something else I should be doing, which for a writer-by-night is a precious and rare feeling.”
Paul Harding
2013 Emerging Artist Award: Literature
2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
“The grant was one of the very first signs from the world that the stakes were real and that I should double down and really get to it. It was an empowering moment at a pivotal point as a writer.”
Margery Mueller
2019 Emerging Artist Award: Visual
“One of the major recent moments for me was when I won the the 2019 St. Botolph Emerging Artist award & the Nellie Taft painting award. The award came in the mail the week of my 75th birthday.”
Zhidong Zheng
2020 Emerging Artist Award: Visual
“The Grant came in time within such turmoil of the pandemic. I was fresh out of graduate school & trying to navigate myself as a professional artist. The grant helped me get my feet on the ground.”