HEY, PENLAND COMMUNITY! This week we are saying goodbye to some of our favorite people. As they leave Penland for their next opportunities, we invite you to support these vibrant artists in their journey! Be sure to follow them on social media, sign up for their newsletters, buy their work, take their workshops, and let them know how wonderful they are.
Maria Fernanda Nuñez (Mo), Molly Bernstein, Tony Santoyo, Sarina Angell, and Lars Shimabukuro, we are going to miss you so much!
It has been an honor and a privilege to work and learn alongside them for three wonderful years. Arriving just ahead of the pandemic, this core fellow cohort’s experience was marked by unprecedented challenges, as well as an extra year here at Penland.
We would like to take this opportunity to share some words from Courtney Dodd, Penland’s Program Manager, spoken at the annual core show, when the Penland Core Fellows showcase their work in Gallery North:
“THANK YOU for all your hard work, leadership, spontaneity, and light. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know each of you, thank you for sharing yourselves with us. You will be dearly missed, but we are all excited to see what’s next. Please know you are always welcome here.”
Maria Fernanda Nuñez (Mo)
“Golden. Baked bread and beaten pulp. A writer, thoughtful and evolving, growing tall, endlessly prolific, like a field of corn. A maker of all things, embellished and braided. It’s always a pleasure to be at your table.”
Tony Santoyo
“Movement, fluidity, a mark marker. You are a balance of the water’s waves and its deepest seas. Twizzlers, coke, and prickly pear. An inner warrior and a dancer, bending and moving with the beat.”
Molly Bernstein
“Thrown, glazed, and carved with a new love for flux. A bouquet of adventure and excitement and a fellow lover of the practical, all the while painting the world light blue. It’s a pleasure to be near your spontaneous and steady atmosphere.”
Sarina Angell
“Stitched with thoughtful hands and gathered with intention, always with a touch of red. Calm and quiet while a force with a needle and thread. Your loudest words will be heard through your work and I look forward to listening.”
Lars Shimabukuro
“Water and wind, home carried with you always. You are a weaver of genuine peace. Quiet and complex, with a nature akin to clouds. Weaving words with tenderness and meaning. Thank you for sharing yourself with us, we are better for it.”
Top row, left to right: Lily Wilkins, Lars Shimabukuro, Maria Fernanda Nuñez (Mo)
Bottom row, left to right: Celia Shaheen, Lisa Nguyen, Tony Santoyo, Sarina Angell, Molly Bernstein
This TWO-YEAR WORK-STUDY FELLOWSHIP is for early career artists looking to expand technical skills and material fluency while working to support the day-to-day operations of the school. Core fellows fully engage with Penland by taking several workshops each year in familiar or new media and performing integral jobs for the school.
CURRENT CORE FELLOWS
This month, we will welcome 5 new core fellows who will join the cohort that arrived in 2022. We are excited to see them learn and grow.
Lisa Nguyen
Celia Shaheen
Lily Wilkins
Kimberly Jo
Brandon Lopez
Nicholas McDonald
Grace Anne Odom
Amal Tamari
