2002 Leeway Foundation Awards: $190,000 Awarded to Philadelphia-area Women Artists

PHILADELPHIA, PA The Leeway Foundation, one of a handful of foundations in the country to focus exclusively on individual women artists, is extremely pleased to announce the recipients of its 2002 Emerging and Established Awards. This June, Leeway awarded a total of $190,000 to Philadelphia-area women artists working in Photography/Works On Paper.

2002 Award Recipients
From the 180 applications received by Leeway, 14-area women received awards.

Awards to Emerging Artists
The Seedling Awards $2,500
Karen Fogarty (Delaware County)
Lynnette Mager (Philadelphia County)
Adrienne Stalek (Montgomery County)
Zoe Strauss (Philadelphia County)

The Inspiration Awards $7,500
Helen Cahng (Philadelphia County)
Melina Hammer (Philadelphia County)
Yukie Kobayashi (Philadelphia County)
Rachel Stecker (Philadelphia County)

*The Edna Andrade Award $15,000
Joan Klatchko (Bucks County)

Awards to Established Artists

The Leeway Awards for Achievement $20,000
Tara Goings (Philadelphia County)
Enid Mark (Delaware County)

The Leeway Awards for Excellence $30,000
Astrid Bowlby (Philadelphia County)
Emily Brown (Philadelphia County)

**The Bessie Berman Award $35,000
Barbara Bullock (Philadelphia County)

*The Edna Andrade is the highest honor that can be given to an emerging recipient.
**The Bessie Berman Award is Leeway's highest honor. It is given to an accomplished woman artist 50 years of age or older.

"Exceptional. Challenging. Inspirational. How can I best describe the extraordinary work that Leeway encountered during the jurying of our Photography/Works On Paper Awards?" stated Barbara J. Silzle, Executive Director of The Leeway Foundation. "We were thrilled to have received so many wonderful submissions (and in our first year recognizing artists working in the category of Works On Paper). The jurors worked with great care and respect for all of the applicants as they went about the tough task of making their selections. While 14 artists were chosen for Awards, Leeway deeply appreciates all of the women artists who applied and who are dedicated to creating such stirring and inspiring work. We are indeed fortunate to have them in our midst."

Emerging and Established Awards
The Leeway Awards to Emerging and Established Artists made in a selected visual or literary discipline each year are given to acknowledge artistic excellence, creativity and vision. The Awards were developed to provide individual women artists with increased financial flexibility enabling them to better pursue their artistic goals. It is Leeway's intention that these Awards will also increase their recognition and representation as artists.

2002 Awards Jurying
The primary criterion for evaluation in the Emerging and Established Awards was artistic excellence. Photography and Works On Paper applicants were evaluated together by a three-person panel that possessed expertise in both of these overlapping disciplines. The panelists, who made all decision by consensus, are as follows:

Judith Brodsky is a printmaker, Professor Emerita at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, and the founder of Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper.

Jan Howard is Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. She came to RISD from The Baltimore Museum of Art where she had been a curator for 14 years.

Linda Lee Alter is a painter, and the founder and a current board member of The Leeway Foundation.

2002 Applicants
Leeway's Emerging and Established Awards were open to women artists residing in Philadelphia's five-county area (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia). Of the 180 applications submitted about two-thirds were from Philadelphia-county residents. Seventy-eight Emerging and 103 Established applications were submitted for review. Approximately 38% of the applications featured Photography, 57% featured Works On Paper and about 4% featured work that overlapped both disciplines. Among the 2002 recipients, the work was somewhat evenly divided between Photographers (six) and artists creating Works On Paper (seven), with one artist submitting work that overlapped both disciplines.

2002 Awards Exhibition
In addition to a cash award, Photography/Works On Paper recipients were extended an opportunity to exhibit their work. Leeway is pleased to announce that the Philadelphia Art Alliance and The Print Center will hold a joint exhibition featuring the work of all of the recipients. The exhibit runs from December 5, 2002 to February 2, 2003. Details to follow.

The Leeway Foundation
Founded in 1993, The Leeway Foundation supports individual women artists, arts programs and arts organizations, focusing on the Greater Philadelphia region, in order to help them achieve personal and community transformation. 2003 Emerging and Established Awards will be granted to women artists working in Fiction/Creative Non-fiction. Application deadline to be in the fall of 2002. In addition to the Emerging and Established Awards, Leeway also administers a Window of Opportunity (WOO) grants program, which provides short-term, immediate assistance to individual women artists living in the Philadelphia area. For more information about the Photography/ Works On Paper Awards or other Leeway programs, call 215.545.4078 or visit www.leeway.org.