Birmingham creators sweep Alabama State Council on the Arts fellowships

The Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) announced a major investment in the state’s creative economy, awarding $172,500 in Fellowship grants to 23 artists and educators.

The individual award amounts were bumped from $5,000 to $7,500 for the fiscal year 2027 cohort to provide more robust financial backing for deep craft work and innovative projects.

Birmingham metro area claimed a massive share of the winner’s circle — nine recipients out of the 23 — showing that the Magic City remains a cultural center for Southern art, literature and education.

Birmingham artists win a combined $67,500 in fellowship grants

The competitive Fellowship program spans multiple disciplines. Meet the Birmingham-area creators and educators taking home the $7,500 grants:

1. Jillian Marie Browning (Birmingham):
   • Assistant professor of photography at UAB, receiving the prestigious Gay Burke Photography Fellowship.
   • Their interdisciplinary practice rejects traditional commercial formats, printing instead on fabric, thrifted denim, and antique linens using alternative processes like cyanotype to explore feminism, identity, and the contemporary Black experience.
2. Chiharu Takahashi Roach (Birmingham):
   • A regular feature at local showcases like the Magic City Art Connection, Roach is celebrated for her intricate installations and her signature “tangled hair” portrait series.
   • Painted with custom micro-brushes, each strand represents a physical prayer exploring human fragility, mortality, and her lived experiences in both Nagoya, Japan and Birmingham.
3. Erika E. Wade (Birmingham):
   • Five-time Emmy Award-winning voice actress, producer, and film instructor at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA).
   • Wade received the Theatre Fellowship for her commitment to advancing diverse narratives off-Broadway, in film, and on stage.
4. Scott Fisk (Homewood):
   • Professor and chair of Samford University’s Department of Art and Design, awarded the Design Fellowship.
   • Fisk is a renowned expert in letterpress printing whose work has been featured in over 100 peer-reviewed exhibitions globally.
5. Kwoya Fagin Maples (Vestavia Hills):
   • Acclaimed poet, bookshelf artist, and creative writing educator, securing a Poetry Fellowship.
   • Maples is the author of Long Eye and Mend, the latter of which was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.
6. Bobby Mathews (Hoover):
   • Derringer Award-winning author whose tense, character-driven crime fiction explores the changing socio-political landscape of the modern American South, taking home a Prose Fellowship.
7. Amy Feger (Montevallo):
   • Visual arts educator and painter who received a Visual Arts Fellowship for her large-format metaphorical landscape oil paintings, which blend historical maps with current events.
8. Nicholas ‘Nic’ Tisdale (Alabaster):
   • Visiting assistant professor at Jacksonville State University, earning a Visual Arts Fellowship for an innovative practice that fuses broken digital imagery with traditional printmaking techniques.
9. Laura Wilkerson (Springville):
   • Visual arts teacher at Springville Middle School and professional photographer whose work is held in the permanent collection at UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA).

Additionally, regional creators James Braziel and Tina Mozelle Braziel of Remlap both secured fellowships. James teaches creative writing at UAB, and Tina works heavily with local conservation groups like the Cahaba River Society. Both are among a group of five creators statewide to earn the lifetime maximum of two ASCA fellowships since the program launched in 1981.

How the Alabama State Council on the Arts funds local talent

The funding for these grants is made possible through joint appropriations from the Alabama Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Alabama’s artists and arts educators help strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of our state. Their creativity connects communities, empowers young people, and preserves the traditions that make Alabama unique.”

Elliot Knight, Executive Director of the Council on the Arts

How to apply for upcoming Alabama arts grants

If you are a Birmingham artist or part of a local arts nonprofit, the next wave of funding is right around the corner. The Alabama State Council on the Arts grants portal officially reopened Wednesday, July 1, to accept applications for organizational project grants and Folk Arts Apprenticeship requests.

Dive into the application requirements and see the full statewide list of fellowship winners at arts.alabama.gov.