Category: Emerging Artist Award

EA Winner: Christopher Volpe

CHRISTOPHER VOLPE

2017 Emerging Artist Award: Visual Arts

Christopher Volpe, Nellie Taft Award Winner for Painting

Dive (‘Oh, Ahab! what shall be grand in thee, it must needs be plucked from the skies and dived for in the deep, and featured in the unbodied air!’)
2017
48” x 60,” oil and tar on canvas

EA Winner: Ashleigh Gordon

Dennis, Cape Cod, MA
Dennis, Cape Cod, MA

Emerging Artist Award: Music

“The St. Botolph award allowed me to meld some of my biggest passions: traveling, new music and culture. Coming at just the right time, the Emerging Artist Grant allowed me to perform contemporary music in the 180 Degrees Festival, a groundbreaking, multidisciplinary arts fest in Sofia, Bulgaria. Covering not only my travel and performing fees, the Grant also allowed me to design and lead a lecture presentation for Bulgarian audiences focused on the music of African American composers, a topic which I am knee-deep in exploring through my concert and educational series Castle of our Skins. With the generosity of the St. Botolph Club, I was fortunate to further develop my craft with new artists and audiences in new territory. Thank you for the invaluable opportunity, and the support and encouragement to continue exploring new music, locations and cultures!”

EA Winner: Sam Okerstrom-Lang

Sam-O
Sam Okerstrom-Lang

Emerging Artist Award: Visual

“I was awarded St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artists Award in 2015. 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. The grant not only allowed me to ground my cloud identity, but financed the addition of a big quality camera for myself to record professional documentation and use as an extended creative tool in my art practice. These two assets have been critical and continue to be in my life and art.”

EA Winner: Whitney Scharer

Emerging Artist Award: Literature

“The Emerging Artist grant I received from the St. Botolph Club Foundation provided me with much-needed funding for a research trip, but perhaps even more importantly, it made me feel that I could and should keep going with my novel. As all writers know, writing a novel is a long and solitary slog, and it’s crucial to feel supported along the way. I couldn’t be more grateful to the St. Botolph Club Foundation for their belief in my work.”