DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award

2023 APPLICATION RESOURCES

Timeline

Application Deadlines

  • February 27, 2023
  • May 15, 2023
  • August 14, 2023
  • November 3, 2023

All submissions are due by 12 p.m. on the quarterly deadline date.

Guidelines

View the 2023 DeHaan Artist of Distinction Guidelines:
In Engish
En Español

Draft Deadlines

Applicants may submit a preliminary draft of their application for feedback from the Indy Arts Council grant services team. Please submit a draft by the following dates:

  • February 5, 2023
  • April 21, 2023
  • July 28, 2023
  • October 20, 2023

All draft review submissions are due by 12 p.m. on the quarterly draft deadline date.

Award Notification

Applicants will be notified of their status between 4-8 weeks after the quarterly deadline.

Workshops

Register for a Zoom workshop:

View application resources:

Open Office Hours

Virtual:
We can answer questions during open office hours every other Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon. Register here.

In-person at Indy Arts Council:
Join us for in-person office hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 23., May 11, Aug. 10, and Nov. 2, 2023. Applicants can use our WiFi, get assistance with uploading documents, and request any last minute support. No registration required.


ABOUT THE DEHAAN ARTIST OF DISTINCTION AWARD

As part of its mission, Indy Arts Council works with local foundations to support and nurture the careers of professional artists. In 2017, the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation (CDFF) and Indy Arts Council created and piloted a new juried artist grant/award program to provide quick turnaround project funding for professional artists in Indiana that promotes, celebrates, recognizes, and rewards excellence. The aim of the program is to recognize contemporary visual artists and support their exceptional projects.  

The DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award Program will honor up to six contemporary visual artists with grants of up to $10,000 each year for aspirational visual arts projects. Each project must demonstrate an immediate need for the requested funds and be completed within the stated deadline. It is intended to allow a high-tolerance for risk and exploration and will provide support for an artist’s creative practice that will help them push their work in dynamic ways. Each artist will submit a final report at the end of the process and may be included in a final curated exhibition.


APPLICATION REVIEW

Applications are reviewed quarterly but are accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted at any time. All submissions are due by 12 p.m. on the quarterly deadline date. Applications received after 12 p.m. will be included in the next adjudication cycle. Upon selection of the award recipient(s), those applications that were not successfully funded will be reopened so that applicants can make edits to their original application and re-submit for a future deadline.

Please note that all grant awards are subject to the availability of funds for up to six contemporary artists each year. 

Ready to apply? Click here.

For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


PANELISTS

Our 2023 panelists are Jade Powers, Harn Museum of Art; Melynne Klaus, Christel DeHaan Family Foundation; Anita Field, Clay and Textile Artist; Fari Nzinga, Speed Museum; and Julia Muney Moore, Indy Arts Council.


DEHAAN ARTIST OF DISTINCTION AWARDEES


2022

Boxx The Artist
Visual Artist

Boxx The Artist synthesizes expressionistic portraiture through acrylic paintings, digital art, and public installations that examines the African Diaspora providing cultural images that honor a marginalized community. Her work captures different elements of life promoting health, wealth, wellness, and celebrating Blackness.

Jennifer Scheuer
Visual Artist & Printmaker

Scheuer’s work addresses themes of history, plants, the body, and healing. She is an assistant professor of printmaking in the Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance at Purdue University. With the support of this award, she will focus her creative practice in exploration of artist books.

Jacinda Russell
Photographer & Bookmaker

Jacinda Russell is a conceptual artist, primarily working in photography and bookmaking. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Texas Gallery, Houston Center for Photography, Eyebeam, and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Jacinda will travel to the Svalbard archipelago to participate in the Arctic Circle Residency where she will create six resin sculptures depicting ice and permafrost loss in various states of disintegration.

Ian Weaver
Multimedia/Visual Artist

Ian Weaver is an artist and Associate Professor at Saint Mary's College, South Bend, IN. He has exhibited nationally, including at the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM); The Chicago Cultural Center; the South Bend Museum of Art; and the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. His residencies include Bemis Center for the Contemporary Arts; Ox-Bow; the ISCP Residency, New York; and Yaddo and the Millay Colony, both in upstate New York.

Shamira Wilson
Painter

Shamira Wilson is an interdisciplinary visual artist, farm apprentice, and founder of the studio Wilson Art Lab, based in Indianapolis, IN. She creates artwork based on the geometry of plants. Plants speak in signs and symbols which she translates with paint. Wilson is a member of the Impact 100 giving circle and the Eighteen Artist Collective. Her public artworks can be seen in permanent collections including Indy Arts Council and Indiana State Museum.

Ventiko
Interdisciplinary Artist

Ventiko is a conceptual artist working in photography, film, performative experiences and social practice. Her/their work focuses on de/re-constructing societal positions on identity, specifically sexuality, persona, gender and the state of the modern woman. Ventiko’s works have been exhibited and experienced internationally at art fairs (PULSE, Select, Korean International Art Fair, Sluice, Photo LA), institutions (Tate Modern, MOMA, Queens Museum, Walters Art Museum) and in the public sphere (US, UK, Serbia, Dominican Republic, and Italy). 

See What The 2021 Awardees Did With Their Grants

The Arts Council of Indianapolis is committed to working with the arts and cultural community to cultivate a sector that serves, celebrates, and values every resident of Indianapolis. We envision a city where engagement in the arts is not pre-determined by socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. We believe in a full creative life for all.

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