Master Artist Fellowship

Celebrating WV Treasures

Master Artist Fellows are celebrated for a lifetime of achievement in the arts in West Virginia. Their exemplary work over the course of decades both leads the way in artistic creation and expression and models what it takes to live your life as a successful artist in the Mountain State. This award is given to artists who demonstrate exceptional talent and devotion to the arts in West Virginia. It is a prestigious honor that serves to recognize the best of the best within our state. 

TFA celebrates creative individuals at all stages of their career, from emerging artists, to mid-career artists, to master artists. Being named a TFA Master Artist Fellow is an honor accorded to artists who create, inspire and lead the way in bringing tradition, contemporary or cutting-edge artforms and creativity into being throughout their lives.

Nominate a Master Artist

Nominations for the 2021-22 fellowship is now closed. 

Throughout my life I have been seeking expression through the visual arts. In the 60’s and 70’s the work was rooted in Hans Hofmann’s abstract expressionist imagery, I was working with stark geometric shapes contrasted agents spontaneous organic brush work. Organic and geometric elements placed in juxtaposition in a work can be compared with achieving balance between emotions and intellect – as a result they enhance each other.

In recent years the dedication of my work has been to the joy and poetry of light. People say that I just paint clouds studies. No, the cloud shapes are purely an abstract, ever-changing vessel for me to transport light and shared astonishment and hopefulness that come from within.”

-Robert Singleton

The Tamarack Foundation for the Arts will be showcasing the remarkable life and work of Robert Singleton in 2021-22. As part of the celebration, this March a 60 year retrospective exhibition of his work will be held virtually in collaboration with the Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center 

Julie Adams | Music and Video
Kanawha County

Gary Bowling | Fine Art
Mercer County

Paul Corbit Brown | Photography
Fayette County

Lori Doolittle | Pottery
Nicolas County

Chris Dutch & Robin Hammer | Glass
Kanawha County

Susan Feller | Textiles
Hampshire County

Jeff Fetty | Metal
Roane County

Kate Harward | Pottery
Barbour County

 

Ron Hinkle | Glass
Upshur County

Jean Pierre Hsu | Jewelry
Morgan County

Sue Jennings | Wood
Taylor County

Michael Kline | Music
Randolph County

Keith Lahti | Pottery
Clay County

Jim Probst | Furniture
Lincoln County

Norm Sartorious | Woodworking
Wood County

Mark Schwenk | Metal
Morgan County

 

Carter Taylor Seaton | Ceramics, Author
Cabell County

Gary Shaffer | Ceramics
Summers County

Brian VanNostrand | Pottery
Webster County

Karen Vuranch | Music and Video
Fayette County

John Wesley Williams | Furniture Greenbrier County

Mik Wright | Leather
Lewis County

Jude Binder | Performance
Calhoun County