August 29–December 9, 2016
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI)
800 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
T +415 749 4534
[email protected]
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and Headlands Center for the Arts are pleased to announce artist Brad Kahlhamer as the recipient of the 2016 Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship. Established in 1998 by the family of renowned painter Richard Diebenkorn, who studied and taught at SFAI beginning in the 1940s, this fellowship makes it possible for a contemporary artist to both teach at SFAI and pursue independent studio work as an Artist in Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts.
Kahlhamer will teach two courses during Fall 2016 semester, give a public lecture in the Visiting Artists and Scholars lecture series, and engage with the SFAI community through individual student critiques and other academic activities, concurrent with a fully sponsored residency with studio and living accommodations at Headlands among a diverse community of other artistic practitioners.
Kahlhamer comments: “I am honored to be selected for the Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship. SFAI’s rich history in contemporary art, along with the diversity and vibrancy of San Francisco, is very compelling. I am thrilled to be among such an accomplished group and look forward to this opportunity.”
Kahlhamer lives and works in New York City. His work has been collected by institutions such as the Denver Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Milwaukee Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. He is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City and Andréhn-Schiptjenko in Stockholm.
According to Hesse McGraw, SFAI vice president for exhibitions and public programs, “SFAI is very pleased to welcome Brad Kahlhamer as the 2016 Diebenkorn Fellow. Brad’s exuberant, animated paintings fuse visionary traditions of Native American art with expressionistic painting, and blend monumental American landscapes with an interest in downtown New York street culture. His singular vision of realms both real and illusory will provide an exciting platform for student artists at SFAI to expand their own practices. Brad is the ideal Diebenkorn Fellow, in that his generosity to students is amplified by the searching quality of his own practice. We expect his challenging nature will infect the ambition of our students.”
Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship
The Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship is dedicated to the memory of distinguished painter Richard Diebenkorn. In January 1946, Diebenkorn enrolled at SFAI as a student, and in September was awarded the school’s Albert Bender Grant, which allowed him to travel and work independently for a year. Diebenkorn went to New York and, when he returned the following year, was offered his first teaching appointment at SFAI. He taught through 1949, and again from 1959 to 1966. The Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship was established in 1998 to honor his contributions as a teacher and to provide a similar opportunity to contemporary artists.
SFAI offers the Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship annually, and every other year, SFAI and Headlands partner to offer the additional component of the fully sponsored residency with studio and living accommodations for a non-regional artist. Through its semester-long structure, the fellowship not only offers each participating artist an invaluable opportunity to further his or her own studio practice, it also contributes profoundly to the contemporary art world by enriching dialogue among students, professional artists, and other art-interested individuals.
This prestigious award has been given to 17 artists since 1998, including Brad Brown, Shaun O’Dell, Iona Rozeal Brown, Josephine Taylor, Monica Majoli, Polly Apfelbaum, and Liam Everett. See a complete list of recipients here.
The Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship is funded by the generosity of the family of Richard Diebenkorn.
About San Francisco Art Institute
SFAI, founded in 1871, is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious institutions in the practice and study of contemporary art. As a diverse community of working artists and scholars, SFAI provides students with a rigorous education in the arts and preparation for a life in the arts through an immersive studio environment, an integrated liberal arts and art history curriculum, and critical engagement with the world. Committed to educating artists who will shape the future of art, culture, and society, SFAI fosters creativity and original thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary context.
SFAI offers BFA, BA, MFA, and MA degrees, a dual MA/MFA degree, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, and a range of exhibitions, public programs, and public education courses. SFAI enrolls approximately 680 students in degree programs. Notable past faculty and alumni include Lance Acord, Ansel Adams, Kathryn Bigelow, Enrique Chagoya, Angela Davis, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Kos, George Kuchar, Annie Leibovitz, Barry McGee, Manuel Neri, Catherine Opie, Peter Pau, Laura Poitras, Clifford Still, and Kehinde Wiley.
About Headlands Center for the Arts
Headlands Center for the Arts is a multidisciplinary, international arts center located in the Marin Headlands, and is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Headlands’ Artists Programs provide opportunities for research, experimentation, professional development, and peer-to-peer exchange for artists working across disciplines at critical times in their careers. Unique among programs for artists, Headlands’ dynamic residency program provides meaningful resources—time, space, community, and financial support—to artists who are engaged in catalyzing new modes of thought, work, and discourse. By bringing together artists from a wide range of disciplines—visual and interdisciplinary arts, architecture, performance and dance, music and sound, writing, criticism, and curating—the programs emphasize a balance in developing an individual practice, a valuable exchange with other artists and visitors, and a meaningful engagement with place.
SFAI media contact
Michael Radlick, Cinch PR: T +415 392 2212, [email protected]
Headlands media contact
Vanessa Kauffman, Communications & Outreach Manager:
T +415 331 2787 x23, [email protected]
