En Iwamura Receives Prestigious MJD Fellowship from the Archie Bray Foundation

En Iwamura, Clemson University MFA Art Department Alum (ceramics, 2016)  has been selected as the recipient of the 2016–2017 MJD Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation. This is a year-long, funded fellowship gives artists the opportunity to focus their attention toward producing a significant body of work during the residency.  An exhibition of Iwamura's results will be held at the Archie Bray Foundation near the completion of the year as the MJD Fellow.

En Iwamura, Beginning of Power, ceramic, 2016

Past Fellowship Recipients

The Bray’s fellowship program was started in 1999 by a generous donation made by Robert and Suzanne Taunt. Robert Taunt’s idea was to “provide much-needed financial support to an individual of exceptional talent and potential, it also would encourage the spirit of fellowship in its most generous sense among the resident community.”

The Bray has had the honor and privilege to award the following fellowships—Taunt, Myhre, Lincoln, Lilian, Matsutani, MJD, Speyer, Windgate, Lillstreet Art Center, Anonymous, Etchart-Satre fellowships—made possible by Robert and Suzanne Taunt, Eric Myhre, Joan and David Lincoln, Osamu and Grace Matsutani, Mary Jane Davidson, Tim Speyer, the Windgate Charitable Foundation, Lillstreet Art Center, Paulette Etchart and Jon Satre and anonymous donors.

The Archie Bray Foundation was the first artist residency program in the United States devoted solely to ceramics. For over sixty years the Bray has brought together artists with diverse backgrounds and approaches to the medium, creating an environment conducive to artistic exchange and individual expression.

Each fellowship awards $5,000 and a one-year residency at the Foundation to artists of exceptional accomplishment and promise. Beneficiaries are expected to embrace the Bray experience of community and exchange, and have the opportunity to focus their attention towards producing and exhibiting a significant body of work. 

About Archie Bray

The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts is a public, nonprofit, educational institution founded in 1951 by brickmaker Archie Bray, who intended it to be "a place to make available for all who are seriously interested in any of the branches of the ceramic arts, a fine place to work." Its primary mission is to provide an environment that stimulates creative work in ceramics.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Bray is located three miles from downtown Helena, Montana, on the site of the former Western Clay Manufacturing Company. Set against the wooded foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the 26-acre former brickyard is internationally recognized as a gathering place for emerging and established ceramic artists. The nearby mountains and brick factory ruins provide a backdrop for the creative environment; more important is the dynamic arts community created by the resident artists that come to the Bray to work, share experiences, and explore new ideas.

Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts
2915 Country Club Avenue
Helena, MT 59602

http://www.archiebray.org/