Michael Oatman, playwright in residence at Karamu House in Cleveland, is one of 20 Northeast Ohio artists to win a $20,000 Creative Workforce Fellowship from the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture.Playwright Michael Oatman, choreographer Mackenzie Clevenger and Plain Dealer reporter Joanna Connors are among 20 Cuyahoga County artists who will receive $20,000 awards from the Creative Workforce Fellowship program operated by Cleveland's Community Partnership for Arts and Culture.
In addition, writer Terry Dubow and musician Mark Olitsky will receive Seth Rosenberg prizes of $2,500, membership in the COSE Arts Network (Northeast Ohio's Council of Smaller Enterprises) and a tuition waiver to the Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute.
Rosenberg was a Cleveland artist and 2009 Creative Workforce fellow who died in 2009.
The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture board will ratify the list of recommended fellows this morning at its quarterly meeting. Public announcement will follow at Josaphat Arts Hall in Cleveland.
The fellowship program provides financial awards annually to local artists "for any purpose that advances the Fellow's artistic work and professional development," according to Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, for a one-year period.
Funds for the program come from a grant provided by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the Cleveland agency that distributes money raised from the 10-year cigarette tax to arts and cultural organizations.
The 2012 fellowship program drew 174 applications from artists in dance, literature, music and theater. A panel of arts professionals reviewed applications in October.
In addition to the fellows noted above, the 2012 recipients are:
Dance: choreographer and performer Talise Campbell.
Literature: photographer and author Scott MacGregor; novelist Christine Borne; author Huda Al-Marashi; author Anne Trubek; poet and educator Raymond McNiece; writer and editor Matt Marshall; playwright Eric Schmiedl; poet Michael Dumanis; author Justin Glanville; and writer Emily Blanchard.
Music: composer Greg D'Alessio; saxophonist and composer Howie Smith; trumpeter, composer and educator John Kuegeler; and actor, musician and producer Andre Cato.
Theater: playwright Jeremy Paul; and actor and educator Jimmie Woody.